Various Accessories 239 



them seems to be in the immediate vicinity of buildings, on or 

 near low terrace walls, at the ends of walks, on gravel, at the 

 corners of a square or oblong plot that is surrounded by walks, 

 in the center of a circular plot, or in the middle of two walks 

 where they cross each other. 



3. A greenhouse or conservatory is a luxury which few 

 who can afford it and are fond of plants will be disposed to 

 forego. When attached to the dwelling house, which is at 

 once a convenience and a disadvantage, it is too often erected 

 as an afterthought and thus appears as a patch to the building 

 or is merely tacked on to it by the architect as a part of the 

 first design on account of the difficulty of making it enter 

 into the composition of a structure. The difference between 

 a greenhouse and a conservatory is that the former is for the 

 entire cultivation of plants, and the latter only for their dis- 

 play when in a flowering or otherwise interesting state. The 

 mere fact of being attached to the house does not of itself 

 form a distinction, unless the bulk of the objects in it are 

 planted out in beds or borders, when it becomes a conserva- 

 tory, however small may be its dimensions or however it 

 may be otherwise employed. 



If united to the house it should be made a decidedly archi- 

 tectural object and not look like a superfluous appendage of a 

 different character. Light iron conservatories with curvi- 

 linear roofs can seldom, if ever, be properly blended with the 

 rest of the building. Sufficient lightness and elegance may 

 always be readily attained without such incongruity. The 

 front of a conservatory in the position under notice should 

 generally be as high as the ceiling of the ground floor of a 

 house, and its cornice range with the string course of the 

 building, if there be any. The roof may be kept as low as pos- 

 sible, so as to be very little seen. All heavy pillars, mullions, 

 etc., must be expressly avoided, for one of the most vital fea- 



