210 



THE VILIA GARDENER. 



306. The conservative wall (ff) should not be a common erection, pre- 

 senting only a flat perpendicular surface and a horizontal line at top ; it may 

 have piers at regular distances, terminating in caps surmounted by vases, 

 above the height of the wall, but arranged in form and pi'oportion, so as to 

 harmonise with the conservatory and the house. In the case of a Gothic or an 

 Elizabethan building, these piers and their terminating ornaments should, of 

 course, vary accordingly. Instead of piers, the face of the wall might be 

 broken by arched recesses; and, while a more delicate kind of plant was 

 trained against that part of the wall which formed the back of each recess, a 

 more hardy sort might be trained against the projections between them. We 

 have seen a wall of this sort at Genoa, on which all the recesses were covered 

 with roses, and the piers with ivy ; the effect of which was beautiful, as the 

 roses continued in flower throughout the year. The same effect might be 

 produced in England, by having the wall flued, and protected by matting 



