Chap. XV.] WINTEE GARDENS. 225 



devoted to these unartistic stages, and plant Camellias, Ficus, 

 and other such things ? 



" The aspect of these houses is equally beautiful in summer and 

 in winter. This is the most thorough praise that can be given to 

 the system. In St. Petersburg, where the climate is intensely 

 rigorous, conservatories are even more appreciated than here at 

 home. When people cannot afford these, you will find their 

 rooms crowded with plants of the Palm tribe and numerous 

 creepers, which thrive well all the winter ; and it must be 

 remembered that the windows are not opened from October till 

 April. In the conservatories of the wealthy what do we see ? A 

 shrubbery — a maze of luxuriant foliage. It matters not whether 

 there be 50 degrees or 60 degrees of frost : the promenade round 

 the greenhouse — truly a greenhouse — is always agreeable, always 

 charming. No words of mine could give you a true idea of the 

 beauty of these places, nor of their utility to those deprived of 

 plants and trees for six months in the year. One requires to see 

 these plant-houses thoroughly to appreciate them. 



" Some may object that they are more suited to Eussia than to 

 our country. Not so. Is it not a melancholy exhibition to see 

 our conservatories naked, nearly destitute of bloom, during 

 December and January, and equally disheartening to see them 

 full of flowers only when the gardens are becoming gay ? Depend 

 upon it, what we want, and what will some day be the cry, is an 

 agreeable promenade attached to the house — not a swarm of little 

 plants in pots, which none but the gardener can name or appreciate. 

 Then, again, look at the simplicity of the cultivation of the 

 plants whose cause I advocate. Plant them fairly in the border, 

 and they will always thrive. Azaleas, Geraniums, etc., are con 

 stantly requiring to be smoked or otherwise attended to. Are you 

 to take them outside, or into another house, each time they require 

 such attention ? If not, and the conservatory adjoins the drawing- 

 room, there will not unfrequently be a decidedly unpleasant 

 aroma there. I could go on to show other advantages connected 

 with the system I am endeavouring to put forward ; I could 

 attempt a description of the plant-house of the banker, Outchine, 

 at St. Petersburg ; but I feel I have already said enough. To 

 my thinking, it is, however, an important topic, and I hope to 

 live to see more interest taken in the beauty of the conservatory, 



Q 



