Page:The Amateur's Greenhouse and Conservatory.djvu/62

56 the stages and tables might be furnished. Happily, we are rich in noble plants adapted for the purpose, and that require for their preservation a winter temperature which exactly suits the human constitution, so that, by prudent selection and good management, a conservatory may be made a place of agreeable resort at every season of the year, and be especially pleasant to afford a change of scene and occupation in the winter season. It is, however, painfully common to meet with grand conservatories that are utterly unfit for their intended purpose, the work of architects and builders who were so unfortunate as to know nothing of plant growing. When we are approaching a conservatory with a bold frontage of stone pilasters and heavy cornice and recessed windows, in the style of a Grecian temple, we are fully advertised of the appearance the plants will present when we gain access to the interior. The conservatories that architects unskilled in horticulture provide for their employers usually have this distinguishing character, that no plant will thrive in them, and very few will live in them; therefore, as conservatories are costly things, it will be well for those who intend to pay for them, to take measures, in good time, to secure suitable designs, and employ competent persons to carry them into effect.