PLANT-HOUSES. 



491 



in pots or boxes, which only require a slight protection in winter from severe 

 frosts. 



541. Jardin d'hiver, or winter garden. — In conservatories of this kind, a 

 piece of ground of from 100 ft. to 500 ft. in length, and of proportionate 

 width, is laid out as a garden (as shown in the ground-plan fig. 371.), with 



^"~ ..• ' ■ ': -■■__. ^" .'■: ■ ' ' , ■ _, . _;__ 



: , . . "^ 



liofb. 



walks, beds of flowering shrubs, baskets of flowers, rockwork, fountains of 

 water, vases, statues, seats, or, in short, any kind of decoration common in 

 garden scenery ; and then the whole is covered with glass, and supported by 

 pilasters, which are made hollow to serve as tubes for conveying the rain to 

 cisterns underground, from which the fountains are fed. The pilasters, also, 

 serving as supports, round which climbing plants are twined; other similar 

 plants being trained along the rafters, and suffered to hang down, as in the 

 large conservatory in the Botanic Garden, in the Regent's-park. The out- 

 ward elevation of houses of this kind is generally very simple, as their claim 



372 



/o .-ft. 



for admiration depends on their interior, 

 which is generally very splendid. The 

 appearance of a garden of this kind may 

 be easily imagined. The mode of heating 

 is generally by hot air-chambers, or hot 

 water pipes carried under the walks, with 

 gratings at regular intervals to admit the 

 heat into the house ; and a very moderate 



U6 



