INDOOR GARDENS 115 



I could give other examples of originality in greenhouse 

 construction, e. g., Mrs. Thompson's aviary which has a tree in 

 it, but unique things, and things that are only for specialists, are 

 not helpful, as a rule. The important thing is that which suits 

 thousands or even millions of people. Originality in England has 

 often exercised itself in making grottos in greenhouses, with all 

 sorts of coloured lights and surprises. There is nothing in that 

 line of effort worth while. The one problem, in which American 

 originality should do its best, is the most democratic of all the 

 cheapening of the greenhouse so that everybody can have one. 

 Already we have a portable greenhouse for two hundred and fifty 

 dollars which will not fall down when you breathe hard, or rot to 

 pieces in ten years; and I hope for even better things. 



Hitherto greenhouses have been such ugly things that owners 

 of country places would not have them near the house. In Eng- 

 land, greenhouses are made to harmonize with any style of archi- 

 tecture, but at great sacrifice of the sun's rays. The American 

 houses, I believe, are the lightest on earth. A few years ago the 

 panes of glass were only eight inches wide; now they are twenty- 

 four. That awkward elbow has been abolished and snow can no 

 longer darken a house. Inside one of the new houses there is noth- 

 ing to break the sweep of vision or shade the plants. We have 

 evolved a type of greenhouse far brighter and cheerier than any I 

 saw in England. Its expression is efficiency a solid feeling of 

 permanence, combined with a smiling and inviting exterior. The 

 character of it is unmistakably American. It remains only to 

 bring the workshop and vestibule into harmony with domestic 

 architecture. 



There is one English idea, however, that we can import 

 bodily with profit, and that is the "fun of collecting." The 



