% #> 
The Conservatory. 
141 
together. After fixing, wash the whole over with liquid cement; and if you 
like, dust this whilst moist with red sand, and you will have a very good 
imitation sandstone. An end wall may be treated so that its pockets project 
widely near the base, and gradually join the raised bank, and form, as it 
were, a miniature mountain side. The realistic nature of this may be 
increased by forming a cascade, gradually widening as it reaches the floor, and 
entering a tiny pond containing aquatic plants. The water may be supplied 
from a pipe at the top. 
But supposing that neither of these methods of adorning the walls meets 
with the reader’s approval, there is yet another to fall back upon. We refer 
to virgin cork. The whole of the walls might be covered with this, securing 
it to strips of wood firmly nailed to the wall at short distances. In affixing 
the cork, select cylindrical pieces to form pockets for holding soil and plants 
or plants in pots. Arrange these freely over the surface, and then when filled 
with suitable plants a good effect will be obtained. The uprights of 
the front of the house will be improved, too, by having cork affixed to. 
them. 
In the absence of a blank back wall, owing to the entrance from the 
dwelling rooms being on this side, the bank in the foreground may be 
continued across the floor in the shape of miniature banks, slopes, and walks, 
these being planted with low growing ferns and mosses, and having the 
smaller class of flowering plants plunged in the foreground. The whole 
surface of the soil should, as far as possible, be covered with Selaginella 
Kraussiana and Tradescantia zebrincu No attempt must be made to plant 
or plunge the plants in such a manner as to convey the idea of a perfect 
slope, but rather endeavour to break this up by placing large and handsome 
plants boldly to the front as well as at the centre or background. Avoid 
overcrowding, and especially in the vicinity of good plants. The walks will 
be better formed of clean gravel or spar rather than tiles, which are not 
appropriate in an arrangement of this nature. Of course, the hot-water pipes 
have to be taken into consideration in arranging the beds. If these run 
round the sides and ends they should either be elevated to nearly the 
top of the bank, the soil being kept from them by means of a wall of burrs, 
or the bank must be similarly formed against the pipes, leaving sufficient 
space for the escape of heat. Wherever the pipes show themselves, their 
horizontal lines may be broken by means of such ferns as nephrodiums and 
pterises with graceful arching fronds, these being planted in small rock bed 
