CONSERVATORY AT THE GRANGE. 



233 



their native size. Building glass-houses so lofty, as we have already ob- 

 served, vre cannot approve of ; for were expense no consideration, and were 

 it possible to secure them against the effects of -^Ind, which it is not, the 

 plants when first planted would be so far from the glass that they woidd 

 soon become dra^vn up, and, however lofty the house may be, they would 

 endeavour to reach the top, while then- lower pai cs would present only 

 slender naked stems, presenting no beauty whatever. The idea of exhi- 

 biting exotic trees of their full size in this country is absurd, and can 

 answer no useful end, even if practicable. If exotics are well cidtivated 

 in houses not exceeding twenty or twenty-five feet in height, all that is 

 reasonably expected from them may be obtained. 



Elevation of the Conservatorif at the Grange. 



The dimensions of the Conservatory at the Grange, in Hampshire, one 

 of the seats of Lord Ashburton, the interior of which is represented at 

 the head of this section, and which was designed by C. R. Cockerell, 

 Esq., is seventy feet in length, forty-six feet wide, and twenty-one 

 feet high. The situation of this spacious area is adjoining the apartments 

 dedicated to the ladies, the \Nlndows of whose apartments are chrected 

 towards the Conservatory. This house, in regard to architectural and horti- 

 cultural proportions, two important points in similar structures, but seldom 

 agreeing together, or with a due regard to the various beai'ings of situa- 

 tion and cuTumstances, is, in our opinion, the most complete thing of the 

 kind that we have seen, either Mn this country or on the continent. We 

 do not object to the extent of area covered with glass for conservatory 

 purposes when the height does not exceed twenty-five feet, where the 

 proprietor chooses to display his taste and spend his fortune in such 

 rational luxuries, but it is when greater height is attempted that we 

 object to them, as being both extravagant and useless. A glance at the 



