THE CONSERVATORY. 233 



readily in pots, as Heaths, Proteas, &c. need not 

 be chosen for standards in the conservatory, but 

 admitted as temporary residents only. In short, 

 while it is a repository appropriated to a selection 

 of the most interestingly ornamental plants, it is 

 also at all times a receptacle for every kind or 

 description worthy of cultivation. 



There are many beautiful aquatics, and some 

 of them natives of warm countries. For the pro- 

 per culture of these, an ornamental vase, or basin, 

 four feet or more in diameter, should have a cen- 

 tral place. This, half filled with fine rich loam, 

 serves instead of their native mud ; and when 

 the roots are put into it, the vase is nearly filled 

 with water, which is kept fresh by occasional 

 supplies. The foliage rises to the surface of the 

 water, and either floats thereon as Nymphea, or 

 rises into the air as some of the Hedychiums. In 

 their management, there is one thing should be 

 attended to ; that is, to imitate the rise and fall 

 of their native streams. The water should be 

 deepest when the plants are in the most vigorous 

 growth; and when the autumnal pause takes 



