286 REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY. 



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 grace- > 

 fully-built plants that can be urged to the generality of culti- 

 vators, is that they enhance the beauty of the ordinary flower- 

 ing subjects in a remarkable degree, and that by their aid 

 one-sixth the amount of flowers will suffice to produce 

 a more beautiful effect than was ever obtained by the use 

 of the blooming plants alone. This is a great point at all 

 times, and particularly in winter, when flowers are scarce. 

 In winter too the aspect of houses arranged on the system 

 I advocate is quite as good as in summer, and more 

 grateful from its contrast with the surrounding dreariness ; 

 and in summer, when abundance of flowering plants 

 may demand more space in the " show house/ 5 many 

 of the fine-leaved ones may be placed in the open air, 

 much to their benefit and the improvement of the flower 

 garden. 



The greater part of the foregoing having appeared in The 

 Meld, the following response was drawn from one of its 

 correspondents : — " This subject has long been engaging my 

 attention. We do build more glass houses than any other 

 nation, for every suburban villa boasts nowadays of the so- 

 called conservatory ; but whether these adjuncts are orna- 

 ments or not 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. Any one 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 show plants and specimen shrubs creditable 



