390 



TIIF, VILI,A GARDENER. 



470. Grottos and 

 Moss-houses are very 

 agreeable additions 

 to pleasure-ground 

 scenery in a large 

 place ; but they re- 

 quire to be managed 

 with skill to produce 

 a good effect. When 

 it is practicable a 

 preparation should 

 be made for a grotto 

 by psssing througli 

 rocky scenery, and 

 gradually descend- 

 ing, till the path be- 

 comes a mere passage between rocks, and these rocks appear to form them- 

 selves into the entrance to the grotto. As this plan, however, is not only 

 very expensive, but requires considerable space, in most cases it is judged 

 sufficient to have merely a 





kind of summer-house, like 

 that shown in Jiff. 244., to 

 mark the entrance ; or an 

 outway as shown in Jig. 

 245. to lead to it. 



471. Moss - houses are 

 built with a framework of 

 wood, as shown mjig. 246., 

 which is the ground plan of 

 a moss-house, designed and 

 executed by Mr. Toward, 

 in the flower-garden of 

 Her Royal Highness the 

 Duchess of Gloucester, at 

 Bagshot-park. The form is 

 an irregular heptagon {fig. 

 247.), with a Gothic portico 

 in front, supported on rustic 

 pillars. The ceiling of the 

 portico is inlaid with moss of various colours, representing a star and 

 diamonds, as shown in fig. 248., with a cornice of pinaster cones. The floor 

 under the portico is a copy of the ceiling in dift'erent coloured elliptical- 

 shaped stones of a small size. On each side of the doorway are panels 

 formed in the rustic style with different coloured woods. The entrance into 

 the house is Gothic ; opposite to which are two Gothic windows, with stained 

 glass of various colours ; under these are four square panels, with a large 

 diamond in the centre of each, all formed with moss. Along the sides, 

 between the doorway and the windows, are seats {fig. 246, a) made of stained 

 cherry-tree : above these is a skirting of rustic wood 18 in. deep (see / in fig. 

 249.), the surbase of which projects about thi-ee-eighths of an inch beyond the 



