u 4 INDOOR GARDENS 



bunch of friends to see a lot of unrelated objects that are on 

 exhibition. But Mrs. Stewart's living room is a place to loaf and 

 invite the soul. This, then, seems to me the first great contribu- 

 tion toward an American style of greenhouse. (It is fully described 

 in Country Life in America for December, 1907.) 



The second important adaptation of the greenhouse to American 

 life has been made by Mr. Warberg, of White Plains, who has 

 combined the idea of a greenhouse and swimming pool. For 

 Americans are certainly fond of bathing, and swimming pools for 

 summer use are common among the rich. Why not, then, cover 

 the pool with glass and use it the year round? And why not 

 cover the walls of the greenhouse with beautiful tropical vines? 

 Thus the different members of a family may enjoy a swim before 

 breakfast, not only in complete privacy, but amid a scene of beauty. 



The third great American idea was contributed by the late 

 Samuel B. Parsons, in a book called "About Gardens." It is to 

 cover all the roofs in a great city with gardens of glass. These, he 

 thinks would furnish ideal playgrounds for children in the winter. 

 Such greenhouses need not be an added care to the family, for the 

 florists would supply caretakers. In the summer, when the house 

 is shut up, the plants could be sent to the florists. If the pater- 

 familias has to pass a night at home he could open the ventilators 

 and sleep in the greenhouse. Mr. E. H. Harriman had on the 

 roof of his New York house an outdoor sleeping room which was a 

 .sort of greenhouse. 



The fourth idea we are bound to develop is to build a house 

 around a garden and cover the garden with glass, as Mr. J. H. 

 Wade has done at Thomasville, Ga. The Spaniards have per- 

 fected the patio garden. It remains for us to adapt it to a country 

 that has zero weather in winter. 



