288 



REFORM IX THE CONSERVATORY. 



Cinerarias,, Primulas^ Geraniums^ and others, and plant in 

 borders ronnd tlie house plants and shrubs alike easy of 

 cultivation and beautiful. You put forward a plea for the 

 fine-foliaged plants which it would be needless for me to 

 insist upon. Your readers must see that what I am aiming 

 at is a graceful and novel kind of shrubbery adjoining the 

 drawing-room, rather than a house full of pots. Why not 

 make round the house rich borders of the same width you 

 would have devoted to these unartistic stages, and plant 

 Camellias, Picus, and other such things ? You mention the 

 names of many suitable plants of the Palm and Pern tribes, 

 and the list could be added to a hundredfold if it were 

 necessary. Let us only see the attention of the owners of 

 conservatories directed towards this point, and lists of plants 

 will soon be published by the horticultural firms. 



As you say, 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. To pursue the subject 

 yet further I will illustrate. In St. Petersburg, where the 

 climate is intensely rigorous, conservatories are even more 

 appreciated than here at home. When people cannot 

 afford them, 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 conserva- 

 tories 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 your readers a 

 true idea of the beauty of these places, nor of then- 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. 



" Your readers may object that they are more suited to 

 Russia 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 w^hen the 



