46 



PARKS AND PLEASURE-GROUNDS. 



make a good adaptation and adjustment in houses ol 

 moderate extent, than in very large ones. The conser- 

 vatory, when entered from the house, should be consi- 

 dered as a glazed drawing-room, fitted, by its abundance 

 of light, and its command of warmth, for the growth of 

 fine exotic plants. Its internal arrangements should be 

 simple, its passages of ample width, and its whole ap- 

 pliances should be such as to permit a free exhibition 

 of the plants without their admirers crushing upon 

 them or being incommoded by them. The shelving 

 and stages, when these are introduced, should be kept 

 low, so that the plants, if not below the eye, may be on 

 a level with it, or not much raised above it. Such a 

 position is required by many plants, as, for example, 

 most of the heaths, camellias, cacti, pelargoniums, etc. 

 Others, as the fuchsias, acacias, passifloras, and gly- 

 cines, are seen with more effect from below, and may 

 therefore be allowed to grow up, or may be trained in 

 more elevated places in the house. When the conser- 

 vatory is constructed on a large scale, the stages, per- 

 haps, had better be omitted, and the shelves confined 

 to the north side ; and besides borders round the other 

 sides, the center may be arranged into wide plots for 

 the growth of large plants in groups or masses. A 

 paved walk may encircle the house, leaving a border 

 between it and the upright glass wralls, and the central 

 space may be irregularly divided by paths of clean 

 gravel, which will have a more garden-like effect than 

 when a number of intersecting pavements are em- 

 ployed. The internal framework of the house should 

 be simple, but elegant. Elaborate decoration in this 

 department has a tendency to detract from the effect 

 of the plants. Fine mouldings and caiwings harbor 



