The Conservatory , 
137 
but for larger sizes a Horse-shoe, Loughborough or Saddle boiler and piping 
is more satisfactory. 
The conditions imposed upon us by the scientific view of the subject—which 
is the only view to be taken if satisfactory results are desired—are quite com¬ 
patible with all the requirements of art. We might multiply designs to any 
extent, but happily these is no need for them : the horticultural builders publish 
admirable plans and proposals, combining beauty of outline with facilities for 
What shall we grow in the conservatory ? As this book is not intended 
to dictate on matters of taste, the question cannot be answered. But it is 
our duty to advise, and we begin by saying that the best conservatory 
plants are such as have nobility of character, hardiness, and a power of 
duration—such as, when skilfully grouped, will furnish a beautiful scene : such 
as, if tended with reasonable care, will afford exhaustless interest and 
entertainment, varying with the seasons, and increasing always as time 
develops their several characters. 
A word as to the arrangement of the interior. If a conservatory is to be 
a source of pleasure—and it certainly should be, since it is constructed with 
that end in view—every effort should be made to render its internal adorn® 
ment as complete as possible, not so much architecturally as florally. There 
are many ways of setting about a task of this kind, yet out of the whole there 
is but one that can really be deemed satisfactory, and that is one which will 
not only beautify the structure by its natural appearance, but enable the 
plants used for the purpose to display their distinctive qualities to the fullest 
advantage. To do so the architect’s work must be subordinate to that of 
the gardener; all ugly formal staging, mosaic tiling, and ornamental edging 
must be abolished and its place occupied by material of a different character. 
This may seem a somewhat sweeping suggestion to make, and to some an 
impracticable plan. It is not so, however, in any sense, and certainly the 
carrying out of it will afford more pleasure to those who pride themselves on 
their garden and its contents than the orthodox plan generally does. Formal 
stages on which are arranged rows of plants in pots equally as formal, the pots 
forming one of the most important features, are anything but beautiful to 
look upon, yet they have been tolerated for years in gardens of all sizes. If 
the plants that are used for the beds and borders of the flower-garden were 
arranged on the beds in their pots, instead of being planted, the very incon¬ 
gruousness of this would at once suggest an infringement of the laws of good 
