September 12, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
25 
SEFTON PARK, LIVERPOOL. 
New WfNTER Garden or Conservatory. 
Liverpool is well to the fore in providing parks 
and open spaces for the enjoyment and education of 
its citizens. It was only last year that the Waver- 
tree Playground with an area of about ioo acres was 
thrown open for the free use—as its name implies— 
as a playground for that congested portion of the 
city. With this addition, Liverpool boasts of 850 
acres of parks and gardens. The largest of these is 
Sefton Park, on the eastern side of the city, com¬ 
prising 382 acres, costing £264,000. Of this total 
£250,000 was paid to Lord Sefton for 370 acres. The 
expenditure on the park was £147,000, and from this 
large acreage, 113 acres have been set aside for 
building purposes. This magnificent park was 
opened in 1872, and now, by the munificence of Mr. 
Yates Thompson, one of Liverpool’s generous sons, 
has been added one of the finest conservatories in the 
country, which will sh ortly be opened to the public. 
The building is hi ft. in diameter, or 133 ft., in¬ 
plants. According to the ground plan seats are to 
be placed with their backs close to the rockery, 
which will mar the effect of the grouping, at the 
same time hiding many of the Ferns and Lycopods, 
that should prove interesting and instructive to the 
student. If seats are necessary they should be 
arranged at intervals in the centre of the promenade. 
The house is composed entirely of granite, steel, 
iron, and glass, except the doors, which are made of 
teakwood ; the glazing with the exception of the 
sides, is 26 oz. clear sheet glass. The heating is 
by 4,000 ft. of 4-in. hot-water pipes supplied by two 
10 ft. rivetted steel Cornish boilers, fitted with 
Mackenzie and Moncur's improved triangular tubular 
water furnace bars ; eight rows of pipes are arranged 
near the granite base ; a like number inside the rockery 
of the middle bed, and three around the gallery. The 
boiler house is a detached building some forty yards 
from the conservatory, the mains and drain pipes 
being carried through a 4 ft. tunnel which will admit 
of free examination at all times ; the fuel to be used 
is anthracite coal for cleanliness. 
of the Liverpool Parks and Gardens. Amongst the 
most important plants already in the house, may be 
noted Latania borbonica, 12 ft. in diameter ; Phoenix 
dactylifera, 9 ft. in diameter ; four Seaforthia 
elegans from 20 ft. to 25 ft. in height. Photinia 
japonica, 8 ft. high; six Dracaena indivisa; two 
Cocos flexuosa, 25 ft. high ; four C. datyle, 6 ft.’ 
high; Cocos Marie Rose, 6 ft.; also Cycas circinalis, 
Chamaerops Fortuneii, Corypha australis, Phoenix 
rupicola, Araucaria excelsa, Bambusa aurea and 
B. Metake, Aralia quinquefolia, Clethra arborea, 
Acacia paradoxa, Rhododendrons, Himalayan, and 
Javan varieties, Camellias, etc. 
For a structure of these dimensions, and to afford 
variety and supply, a span-roofed house 114 ft. by 
20 ft. is now being erected in the Park Nursery 
Grounds. Arrangements are in progress with the 
intention of opening the house in October, when it is 
to be hoped that the donor will perform the opening 
ceremony under the presidency of the Earl of Derby, 
Lord Mayor of Liverpool, supported by the members 
of the Corporation 
New Conservatory at Sefton Park, Liverpool. 
eluding the porches; the extreme height is 82 ft. ; to 
the dome 68 ft.; and to the gallery 30 ft. The 
building is octagonal in shape, and is founded cm 
concrete with a polished red granite base, 4 ft. 6in. 
high ; the upright framework of the sides is built of 
cast iron and polished plate glass ; the roof is carried 
on steel girder framework with eight ornamental cast 
iron columns underneath the large dome; the whole is 
surmounted with an ornamental vane in the form of 
a ship, 6 ft. 6 in. by 6 ft. The gallery is reached by 
an iron spiral staircase, and is only intended for the 
use of the workmen, for ventilating, &c. The house 
has four entrances, which is of considerable advan¬ 
tage during cold windy weather. The cement 
promenade is 16 ft, in width, and will afford shelter 
when required, to many hundreds of visitors ; the 
pathway is in conformity with the house, bold in 
design, and octagonal in form. Around the central 
bed and on the sides of the outer beds, rockwork of 
white tufa, with ample pockets some two feet high, 
will form a natural position for a great variety of 
To those who like statistics, the structure may be 
briefly stated as composed of 690 tons of concrete, 
90 tons of granite, 200 tons of irOD, and 20 tons of 
glass. The cost of the structure is over £8,000 or 
with the furnishing will be fully £ro,ooo. The 
design is simple, but noble ; and may to some be 
termed dwarf in appearance in proportion to size; 
but horticulturists will state that is an advantage. 
The height is ample for stately Palms, etc., and the 
dwarfer plants will be nearer the light. Mr. Yates 
Thompson, the generous donor with the designers 
and builders, Messrs. MacKenzie and Moncur, 
Limited, hothouse builders, London, Edinburgh, and 
Glasgow, are to be congratulated upon every detail 
of this magnificent structure, which will not only add 
to the general appearance and utility of this lovely 
park, but will afford much that is instructive to the 
botanist and student. 
The furnishing of the structure has been entrusted 
to Messrs James Veitch & Sons, London, under the 
able supervision of Mr. H. Herbert, Superintendent 
VIOLA CONFERENCE. 
(Concluded from Vol. XII, p. 813). 
Mr. Moorman. 
In his opening remarks this gentleman paid a 
further tribute to the brilliancy, the beauty, and the 
general utility of the Viola. It was suitable alike for 
large as well as for small gardens. The self-coloured 
varieties were the best, but some of the fancies, of 
which mention might be made of The Mearns, were 
also good. Sylvia and Countess of HopetouD, were 
two of the best whites, and Bullion, and Ardwell 
Gem, two of the best yellows. True Blue, Archie 
Grant, Bluebell, Wm. Niel, J. B. Riding, Countess of 
Kintore, and Duchess of Sutherland were all good. 
What we wanted was hardy, free flowering varieties 
in which the blooms were raised well above the 
foliage on long stout stalks, as in the case of the 
Duchess of Fife and Archie Grant. 
Violas naturally did best in localities where the rain¬ 
fall was most abundant, and hence in places where 
