990 



THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



sifted, as has been hitherto too much practised ; if they be 

 broken with the spade in the process of mixing, it will be suf- 

 ficient ; but this latter process should only be performed while 

 the whole is perfectly dry. Rich strong soils, as well as ma- 

 nure, should invariably be dispensed with, the former being 

 unfit for the roots of most exotic plants to run freely in, and 

 the latter encouraging a degi'ee of luxuriance not to be 

 desired. 



PLANTING. 



In planting a conservatory, it must be admitted that pic- 

 turesque effect would be desirable, but from the necessarily 

 limited space and value of the plants, this can seldom be ef- 

 fected, except to a very hmited extent. Cultivators, therefore, for 

 the most part, content themselves by planting in such a manner 

 as to give the plants such a situation in the house, which is 

 calculated to the size that each is likely to attain. With this 

 view, the loftiest are placed next the back of such houses as 

 are to be viewed only from the front path, and those which 

 have a walk round them have the tallest plants in the middle of 

 the bed ; while in others, which have two beds with a passage 

 between them, as in our plate, the more robust are placed in 

 the bed nearest the back, and those which are the most rare, 

 valuable, or of more humble growth, occupy the front border. 

 This style of planting is too often carried to the extreme, and 

 when the house is finished, the whole presents a formal and 

 stiff outline, appearing as if the plants were shorn into a re- 

 gular slope, without a single twig to break the sameness of 

 the surface. To remedy this defect, certain plants should be 

 chosen wherewith to form prominent objects, whose fine or 

 curious foliage, or general character, will break the straight 

 outline, and give a more natural as well as pleasing character 

 to the whole. 



Many beautiful exotics are indigenous to thickets and shady 

 situations, and others will thrive under the partial shade of 

 other plants, some of which should be made choice of to 

 plant as underwood, if it may be so called, which will not only 

 hide the naked stems of the loftier growing species, but also 



