SUBURBAN HESIDENCES." 55 



a mansion. The most ancient description of plant-house is what is called an 

 orangery ; in which formerly orange-trees, planted in large boxes or tubs, 

 were kept during the winter, and set out of doors during the summer season. 

 Such houses almost always fronted the south : the back wall was of masonry, 

 the roof covered with slates, tiles, or lead, and the front contained a range of 

 large glass windows. Beneath the floor there was sometimes a flue for 

 heating ; and at other times this purpose was effected by means of German 

 stoves. As the object of the orangery was merely to keep the trees from the 

 frost, and they were not expected to grow while in the house, this description 

 of building suited them perfectly ; and it might still be very properly added 

 to a mansion, provided no other plants were placed in it than orange-trees, 

 and a few other evergreen trees or shrubs, and succulent plants, such as 

 myrtles, olives, cactuses, agaves, aloes, &c. Such houses, however, are totally 

 unfit for plants which grow or flower in the winter season ; such as camellias, 

 heaths, acacias, and all those Cape and Australian trees and shrubs which, by 

 their flowers and newly-produced foliage, constitute the great charm of British 

 conservatories during the winter months. To render an orangery fit for 

 keeping such plants, it is necessary that the roof should be entirely of glazed 

 frames, to admit perpendicular light, without which no plant in a growing 

 state can thrive ; and when this is the case, according to the common usage of 

 gardeners, the building is no longer called an orangery, but a conservatory ; 

 a word which appears to have been first applied to plant-houses by Evelyn, in 

 his Calendarium. A conservatory, properly speaking, is, however, a house in 

 which beds of earth are formed in the floor, and the trees and shrubs are 

 planted in them, instead of being kept in tubs and boxes. This, indeed, is 

 almost the only kind of plant-house now attached to first-rate mansions. The 

 term green-house is now generally confined to houses having glass roofs, 

 which are kept at the same temperature as the orangery or conservatory, but 

 v.'here the plants are grown in pots, which are usually small, and elevated 

 upon stages, so as to bring them at once near the light and near the eye of 

 the spectator. Tlie characteristic of a conservatory is, that it grows a few 

 plants to a large size, and so as to produce scenery of a magnificent exotic 

 aspect ; while that of a green-house is, that it produces a great many different 

 kinds of plants of small size, which may be considered as merely living 

 botanical specimens of exotics. The green-house is, consequently, much 

 better adapted for the smallest description of suburban residences than the 

 conservatory ; and a modification of the green-house, which may be called a 

 plant cabinet, or cabinet green-house, in which a few choice plants are kept, 

 and always taken away and renewed as they begin to fade, is, perhaps, still 

 more appropriate. What are called plant-stoves, tropical plant-houses, or 

 hot-houses, in flie proper sense of the word, are unfit for being attached to 

 dwelling-houses, from the great heat and moisture required to render their 

 atmosphere fit for the plants of hot climates. We shall give some designs for 

 green- houses and conservatories, with details for their construction, filling 

 with plants, and general management, in a subsequent part of this work. 



81. The enjoyments afforded by a green-house, however small, to the female 

 part of the family are very considerable ; and, where there are children, these 

 enjoyments maybe mingled with useful instruction, by teaching them in it the 

 names and nature of plants, and their culture and management at seasons, or 

 during weather, when it cannot be done out of doors. A green-house also 



