374 



PLANT-HOUSES. 



by, might be greatly improved by show- 

 ing more breadth and depth of stream. 

 That such conservatories as the two we 

 have instanced — and we could point out 

 many more — are ill adapted to the growth 

 of plants, is not the fault of the principle, 

 but of the execution. And here we quite 

 agree with our excellent friend Mr Mar- 

 nock, that architects have not sufficiently 

 studied the subject, so as to make these 

 buildings plant-habitations, and at the 

 same time mural decorations to the man- 

 sion. The reason is obvious : the archi- 

 tect has in too many cases treated the 

 gardener with contempt, and has acted 

 in many cases unjustly towards his em- 

 ployers, by not making himself perfectly 

 acquainted with those natural laws which 

 regulate the growth of plants, or calling 

 in the aid of those who do. That there 

 are some amongst that honourable profes- 

 sion who have done so, there can be no 

 doubt ; and it would be an act of great 

 injustice in us were we not to declare 

 that, in one case in particular, that of the 

 late William Atkinson, Esq., the most 

 celebrated garden architect of his day, 

 we know from many years' intimate ac- 

 quaintance with him, he would not send 

 the plan of a common vinery, nay, even 

 of a common cucumber frame, from his 

 office, without consulting professionally 

 the most eminent garden authorities 

 within his reach. Mr Atkinson's guiding 

 principles in garden architecture were 

 economy and the raising structures fitted 

 for the end in view. Of course he met 

 with the opposition which all reformers en- 

 counter ; but, strange to say, scarcely one 

 of his principles has been controverted 

 or abjured. It is a want of co-operation 

 in the two professions, and a total igno- 

 rance of the subject on the one side or 

 the other, that has led to such incongru- 

 ous and unsatisfactory erections as we so 

 often see in this style of building ; and 

 until either an amalgamation of judg- 

 ment takes place, or a very great im- 

 provement in the information of both 

 the parties concerned, we need not look 

 for much improvement. 



With the view of rendering the conser- 

 vatory useful as a place of exercise or 

 recreation to invalids, and enjoyable at 

 all seasons, we may add, that in these 

 days of tunnelling we see no reason why 

 a conservatory, at a considerable distance 



from the mansion, may not be very com- 

 fortably reached by this means ; and in 

 that case it may be, by all means, a sheet 

 of glass. The tunnel need not be so 

 hideous as the Box one, or those near 

 Sheffield : it may be sufficiently lighted 

 from above, or laterally, and made inte- 

 resting by containing a collection of geo- 

 logical or fossil specimens. 



The large conservatory at Chatsworth 

 — the mammoth of its kind — is, inter- 

 nally viewed, a splendid sight. The ex- 

 ternal elevation is wanting in effect, and 

 only surprises by its magnitude, even 

 when contrasted with the natural scenery 

 around it, which is upon a scale of no 

 ordinary size. The sensation, on enter- 

 ing the massive portal, is not only one of 

 surprise, but of pleasure, and one feels as 

 if entering a new world. The length is 

 about 282 feet, and the breadth 120 feet 

 — consequently it contains 33,840 square 

 feet. It is about 60 feet high. At the 

 height of 25 feet from the ground, a 

 balcony is carried round the centre part 

 of the house, to which access is gained by 

 an easy and rather grotesque stair, built 

 within a mass of rock-work, of which, 

 however, we rather question the taste in 

 a glass-house. A broad walk surrounds 

 the whole, leaving, however, space for a 

 substantial stone table between it and 

 the glass, for the smaller plants in pots to 

 stand upon. A spacious straight walk 

 passes through the centre from end to 

 end, while another intersects it at the 

 middle of the house. The entrance is at 

 the ends, — the whole having the appear- 

 ance of a cathedral, with a large aisle in 

 the centre, and two smaller ones forming 

 the sides. This immense structure is 

 entirely of wood, and glazed with sheet 

 glass of a large size. The smoke is 

 carried away in a tunnel to such a dis- 

 tance that the nuisance, which would 

 otherwise be very offensive, is completely 

 got rid of. The roof is curvilinear, and 

 in the ridge-and-furrow manner. The 

 astragals are not in the usual rebated 

 form, but a groove is cut out in them, for 

 the reception of the glass, by machinery 

 of Sir Joseph Paxton's invention ; thus 

 saving an immense amount of labour, 

 and producing a much more efficient 

 roof, as the small quantity of putty 

 requisite to fill in round the glass cannot 

 be acted on by the weather, as in ordi- 



