224 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XV. 



hottest months, they would be more appreciated than if in a hot 

 stove, and they could be taken back to their winter-quarters in 

 early autumn. 



But perhaps the best plea in favour of the fine-leaved plants 

 that can be urged is that they enhance the beauty of the ordinary 

 flowering-subjects in a remarkable degree. By their aid a few 

 flowers will suffice to produce a more beautiful effect than 

 was ever obtained by the abundant use of the blooming plants 

 alone. This is important, and particularly in winter, when 

 flowers are scarce. In winter, too, the aspect of houses arranged 

 on the system advocated is quite as good as in summer, and more 

 grateful from its contrast with the surrounding dreariness. A 

 correspondent of the ' Field ' writes as follows to that journal : — 

 "This subject has long been engaging my attention. Every 

 suburban villa boasts nowadays of its so-called conservatory ; 

 but whether such adjuncts are ornaments is most questionable. 

 In nine cases out of ten, I affirm, they are far from ornamental, 

 whether viewed from the inside or the outside, and it is a wonder 

 to me that people consent to have these ill-shapen, ill-adapted 

 greenhouses stuck on to their residences. Anyone visiting the 

 villas built within twelve or fifteen miles of London must have 

 noticed the conservatories, so named, attached to the houses. I 

 ask, are they even sightly ? 



" But there is a point I wish to insist upon much more than 

 upon the external ; it is the arrangement of the plants inside. 

 What do we find as a general rule ? Long lines of white stages 

 with sickly, leggy plants in pots all round the house ! If people 

 could all hire efficient gardeners, the thing would be different ; 

 the conservatory might then be filled with well-grown plants and 

 specimen shrubs. It is needless to say that the gardener could 

 do but little with only one house ; what I want to point out is 

 the advantage to be derived from a totally different arrangement 

 of the house. For goodness' sake get rid of all those weakly, 

 insect-infected Cinerarias, Primulas, Geraniums, and others, and 

 plant in borders round the house plants and shrubs alike easy of 

 cultivation and beautiful. 



" What I am aiming at is a graceful and novel kind of ' shrubbery ' 

 adjoining the house, rather than a house full of pots. Why not 

 make round the house rich borders of the same width usually 



