92 INTERIOR ARRANGEMENTS. 



questionable taste, as placing the conservatory in the middle of 

 the kitchen garden, or in the orchard ; and if any kind of hor- 

 ticultural structure is to be attached to the mansion, it ought, 

 by all means, to be a conservatory. 



As an illustration that conservatories may form prominent 

 portions of a mansion, or even a whole wing of it, without 

 destroying its architectural character, we might point to a design, 

 in the December number of the "Horticulturist" for 1849, by A. J. 

 Downing, Esq., of Newburgh, which is introduced to show how 

 a simple structure of this kind ought to be treated so as to give 

 the whole an architectural and harmonious character, and show- 

 ing, also, how this may be accomplished without rendering the 

 conservatory opaque on either side, except the one end by which 

 it is attached to the house, a circumstance which will be 

 indispensable in conservatories attached to houses, unless they 

 be joined by means of a veranda, which gives them somewhat 

 of an isolated character. This house which we have referred 

 to is the kind of conservatory which we like, being satisfied, 

 from experience, that, unless they be constructed somewhat 

 after this method, they can never give the proprietors that satis- 

 faction which they have a right to expect ; and we trust Mr. 

 Downing will go on with creations of this kind, till these trans- 

 parent conservatories become more general than they are at 

 present. 



Although it is not necessary, on account of perfect adapta- 

 bility, to place conservatories apart from dwelling-houses, yet 

 we generally find that structures, standing detached from the 

 mansion, are better suited for the growth of plants : first, because 

 there is less temptation to introduce massive workmanship, on 

 purpose to harmonize with the house ; and, secondly, there is, 

 in most instances, more facility of making the house to satisfy 

 the requirements of vegetation, and, consequently, less likelihood 

 of departing from the principles of erection which science and 

 practice have determined as essential to the successful cultiva- 

 tion of plants. 



In many instances, it is absolutely impossible to comply with 

 these principles, whatever interior arrangements may be adopted. 

 Where the conservatory is a mere lean-to, stuck-in attachment, 



