146 Recollections of a Gardening Tour. 



had a noble effect, from the splendid irregularity of the masses 

 of leaves and flowers which over-arched the paths, and clothed 

 the back wall with a surface of vegetation, from which many 

 branches protruded. It will require some management to pre- 

 serve this character of luxuriance, and prevent the plants from 

 choking one another and getting naked below. Cutting down 

 will not always do, unless the plants happen to be of nearly the 

 same degree of hardiness and vigour of growth, and grow and 

 thrive in the same kind of soil. The cutting down and the cut- 

 tino- in systems, are generally the most economical, and may, at 

 all events, be pursued for a few years ; but ultimately the entire 

 mass of soil, and all the plants, will require to be renewed. We 

 could refer to many conservatories in England, where, from al- 

 lowing every plant to assume its native vigour, and occupy what- 

 ever bulk it can in the house, the whole surface of the glass 

 comes at last to be covered with, perhaps, a passiflora, and one 

 or two acacias : and this takes place so gradually, that the pro- 

 prietors of such conservatories are often not aware of the result; 

 just as in some pleasure-grounds a few strong shrubs are allowed 

 to take the lead, and choke all the rest. We have generally found 

 that the best kept conservatories are those where the master or 

 mistress is without the cares of a family. A good beginning is 

 made at first when the party is perhaps newly married, but with 

 the increase of children there is a necessity for greater economy, 

 and the conservatory is one of the first gardening scenes con- 

 nected with the house that is neglected, or on which no expense 

 for new plants and soil is bestowed. This is far from being the 

 case at Garscube ; but we make this and similar remarks as being 

 the only means of giving any value to this notice, since, being at 

 the time in bad health, and having taken no memorandums, we 

 cannot pretend to give accurate descriptions. Neither will it be 

 supposed, we hope, that we intend to recommend a rigid and 

 formal system of pruning and training in conservatories, like 

 what we should wish to see in a peach- house or a vinery. Our 

 beau-ideal of what ought to be is this. Every plant planted in the 

 bed of soil taking its natural shape, and only gently cut in when 

 it began to interfere with the others, or to occupy a greater ho- 

 rizontal space at the top than it does at its base, because this 

 would deprive the sides of the plant of sufficient vertical light. 

 The climbers trained up the rafters ; and the evergreens such as 

 camellias, and other winter-flowering plants such as acacias, trained 

 against the back wall. The former we would allow to hang down 

 in festoons, and the latter we would at first train in till they 

 covered the wall, and afterwards allow the laterals produced by 

 the secondary branches to protrude themselves in a natural 

 manner, as they do in the conservatory at Redleaf, and at 

 various other places. This picture refers to conservatories 



