THE CONSERVATORY. 
sure to become a good man. Every leaf has a 
lesson written upon it ; and even where men 
are, in other respects, uneducated, they can 
read these. To induce the higher classes to 
love flowers, is a task worthy of the best efforts 
of the best men. Example goes much further 
than precept ; and more good has been done by 
the wealthy portion of the public taking an 
active part in the cultivation and display of 
the magnificent gifts of Flora, than could 
have been done by the most effective writings, 
unaided by these examples. It is not a little 
gratifying to witness the prevailing taste for 
floral decorations at fetes and parties, and the 
use of bouquets at public entertainments. Had 
we our will in these matters, there should 
not be a balcony without its plants, a room 
without its nosegay, nor a town or city of any 
importance without its Horticultural Society, 
and periodical exhibitions. That such things 
help (o employ many thousands, and contribute 
mucli to the happiness of all around, there 
can be no doubt. To watch the progress 
of a science which is giving us something new, 
or teaching us something good, every month ; 
to record all that can interest the gardener or 
the employer, the professed Horticulturist or 
the amateur, is our task; and, aided by many 
of the most active and zealous practical men 
in the kingdom, we have every reason .to 
hope that our work stands alone, an historical 
record of everything that is useful and 
instructive to the admirers of British gar- 
dening;. 
GARDENING CALENDAR FOR JANUARY. 
THE CONSERVATORY. 
This should be the floral head-quarters : the 
conservatory should always be kept gay with 
flowers, continually prepared in the forcing- 
house, and placed here whilst in flower, and 
removed as they decline, their places being 
occupied by other plants similarly prepared. 
To keep up a good succession of flowers de- 
mands much skill, and even more attention ; 
and for the manner in which this maybe accom- 
plished, we must refer to another part of these 
instructions, under the head, Forcing-house 
for Flowers. ' > 
The general management of a conservatory, 
though it be what is usually termed a green- 
house conservatoi-y, differs considerably from 
that of an ordinary green-house. The prin- 
cipal and permanent plants are planted out 
into beds and borders of prepared soil, and are 
allowed to grow somewhat in their native 
forms and proportions : the vigour which this 
induces renders it necessary to secure as much 
light as possible, and hence they are generally 
constructed with glass on all sides, and ex- 
tending down to near the ground : for the 
same reason, where creepers are grown over 
the roof, they must be so trained as not to 
shade the other plants too much, except in 
summer, when the sun has great power, and a 
certain degree of shade is beneficial. Less air, 
too, is admitted, and the house altogether is 
kept warmer and closer than the green-house. 
Permanent Plants. — These are the 
plants which are planted out into the prepared 
beds of earth ; or other large specimens 
which occupy fixed or permanent situations in 
the house. 
Pruning and transplanting. — Where any 
of the plants are growing too thickly, or 
too straggling, prune away the redundant 
parts. If the plants themselves are too thick. 
let the least valuable be taken away, and 
the others be taken up and re-arranged, 
removing and replanting them carefully : this 
is often necessary after a conservatory has been 
planted eight or ten years ; the plants, being 
put in thickly, to produce immediate effect, 
soon become crowded after they commence 
growing, and hence the removal of some, and 
the re-arrangement of the remainder, is ren- 
dered necessary. 
Climbers. — The climbing plants planted 
out for the purpose of covering the pillars, 
walls, and rafters of the house, require the 
same kind of attention as that which will be 
noticed under Green-house, with this excep- 
tion, that as there is a greater space to cover, 
none of them should be pruned back so closely ■ 
as the plants in pots. One of the most beautiful 
of conservatory climbers is the Wistaria sinen- 
sis, which hardly ever wants pruning, and 
will extend to a great length, and in spring 
becomes loaded with its large pendent spikes 
of lilac, butterfly-shaped flowers. 
Banhsian Roses. — Two plants that ought— 
never to be omitted in a conservatory, are the 
white and yellow Banksian Roses. Than large 
bushes of these covered with flowers, nothing can 
be conceived more beautiful. The plants may 
at first be trained up by a pillar, or a pole, or 
upright trellis placed purposely for them, until 
they reach some ten or twelve feet high, when 
the branches are to be allowed to grow unre- 
strainedly, and they will form large, spreading, 
drooping heads, which at the proper season are 
" smothered" with blossoms. Till they attain 
some size they scarcely require pruning at 
all ; and afterwards, the removal of entire old 
branches, when they have become worn out, is 
all that should be done, leaving the younger 
ones to produce blossoms. 
