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PICTURESQUE AND GAKDENESQUE SCENERY IN HOTHOUSES AND CONSERVATORIES. 
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and instructive appendage to a private residence, all reasons for rendering its arrangement inconvenient 
and repulsive, disappear, and leave the ground clear for attempting some improvement which shall 
render the hothouse a more picturesque and attractive object, than, in ordinary eases, it has hitherto been. 
There are many modes in which such a structure might be rendered both picturesque and interesting. 
The present paper embodies a theory that has long been a very favourite one with me. A principal 
feature is to relieve the spectator from the impression that he is walking under glass, — thus destroying 
the illusion of a tropical scene, which the plants around him would otherwise convey. I propose to effect 
this by making the framework or skeleton for receiving the glass, of irregular forms, resembling inter- 
lacing branches of trees, which would greatly tend to encourage the illusion that the openings between 
the branches were actual openings, and not glazed. This effect may again be considerably heightened 
by training climbing plants over some of the framing branchwork, as though climbing the trunks of 
natural trees, while others of the simulated branches should be left bare. Bananas and Palms, by 
occasionally reaching near to the branch-work roof, would still farther aid in concealing its artificial 
character. In an experiment on a small scale, I would only have a path through the centre, so 
that the sides should also be concealed by plants rising above each other on an irregularly formed bank- 
Through the centre of the house a stream of tepid water should flow, in which, amid fragments of 
rock and large boulders, aquatic plants of the tropics should be seen displaying their wildest habits, and 
assuming all the varieties of character which they exhibit in their natural localities. This stream might 
also be enlivened, not only by gold-fish, but by other species of curious fresh-water fish of the tropics, 
and its borders might be enriched by shells suitable to the natural climate. The stream could be made 
to assume the appearance of a partially-dry forest torrent, such as would during the hot season leave a 
sandy or pebbly beach on either side of its dimini shed waters ; these again might form two pathways 
through the midst of this miniature forest imitative of an Indian or Brazilian climate. 
Some of the very finest Ipomoeas and Passifloras might form the matted foliage above, interspersed 
with the heads of a few trees and fine Palms of large foliage, without strictly confining the selection of 
trees to such as would be proper in forest scenery. The undergrowth should be intermingled with 
gigantic ferns and other green plants, to form a rich background for highly coloured flowers, which 
should be such as would flower best with only a moderate degree of light. A selection of very 
splendid plants might easily be made, which would actually flourish best under these circumstances, and 
the wild and forest-like effect of such a scene might be greatly heightened by the addition of a few of 
the more brilliant and sweet-scented Orchids suspended from the roof. 
Another addition to the scene, — one which I have alluded to in another work, — is the introduction of 
exotic butterflies, which, in such a situation, fluttering from flower to flower, opening and closing their 
gorgeous wings, and exhibiting their rich metallic hues in various lights, would impart a tropical life 
to the composition hardly to be obtained in any other way. This experiment might very easily be 
tried, as the capture and sale of tropical insects has become quite a trade in districts where they are 
remarkable for their beauty. The men employed in this pursuit might easily be instructed to procure 
chrysalids instead of the perfect insect ; and in the chrysalis state they are easily packed for carriage 
without the slightest risk of injury. Chrysalids so imported might be placed in secure positions in a 
hothouse of this description, and when the time arrived for the perfect butterfly to come forth, they 
would find a temperature suitable to their constitution and structure ; and if they did not become the 
parents of future broods, they yet would exist during their own natural term of life, and a fresh importa- 
tion could be made in the next season. In some cases, the eggs might be imported, as those of the silk- 
worm are, care being taken to provide the peculiar plants on which they feed, and this would probably 
prove the most effectual mode of naturalizing a family of exotic butterflies in an English hothouse. 
The structure I have been describing would not exhibit attractive features on the exterior, which 
should therefore be concealed by shrubberies— placed at sufficient distance, however, not to impede the 
light ; and the small open space between the building and the shrubbery might be made use of for 
raising cuttings or other unsightly operations where concealment is desirable. I propose that the ap- 
proach to the "tropical forest" should be through a valley of rocks well clothed with yuccas and other 
plants of exotic appearance that yet bear our climate well. In this piece of rock-work, a tunnel, or 
passage might be constructed, containing a door— the actual door of the hothouse, but which 
will not be seen from the interior of that structure, being concealed in the rocky passage. On emerg- 
ing from the comparative darkness of this passage, the height, light, and general dimensions of the 
building will expand upon the eye in a very striking manner, while the illusion will not be destroyed 
by the act of unlatching a glass door to effect an entrance — the door and all its appendages being con- 
cealed in the tunnel. When within the structure, the spectator, will only perceive, on looking back, a 
group of rocks with a cave-like opening, the exit at the other end being managed in a similar manner. 
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