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fugacious beauty of thcir blossoms; but their unaccommodating form, and their influence
as to character in ornamental plantations, we consider as sufficient arguments against tlie
practice in general cases.
5110. D ecorations in shrubberies.
Those of the shrubbery should in general
be of a more useful and imposing
character than such as are adopted in
the flower-garden. The greenhouse
and aviary are sometimes introduced,
but not, as we think, with propriety,
oiving to the unsuitahlcness ofthe scene
for the requisite culture and attention.
Open and covered seats are necessary,
or, at least, useful decorations, and
may occur here and there in the course
of the walk, in various styles of decoration,
from the rough bench to the
rustic hut ( fiy . 877.) and Grecian temple ( fig . 878.). Great carc, however, must be
taken not to crowd these, nor any other species of decorations. Buildings being more
conspicuous than either
statues, urns, or inscrip- ‘ ■
tions, require to be in- ’¿ / Y /
troduced more sparingly,
and with greater caution.
In garden or ornamented
scenery they should seldom
obtrude themselves
by their magnitude or
glaring colour, and rarely
be erected but for some
obvious pui-pose of utility.
5111. Covered seats
and shelters arc introduced
of many forms, and
under a great variety of
names, such as roothouses,
heathhouses, mosshouses,
huts, shelters (fig . 879.),
bowers, caverns, caves, gi'ottoes, temples, mosques, &c., besides plain covered seats,
either of wood or stone. The imitation of temples or mosques is, as they must be on a
small scale, generally quite ridiculous. The
propriety of introducing the others depends
entirely upon the charaeter of the scene.
Light bowers formed of lattice-work, and
covered with climbers, are in general most
suitable to parterres; plain covered seats suit
the general walks of the shrubbery. Most
of tbe others may be introduced in romantic,
singular, wild, or melancholy places.
5112. Statues, whether o f classical o r geog
rap hic al interest, urns, inscrip tions, busts,
monuments, &c., are materials which should
be introduced with caution. None of the
others require so much taste and judgment to manage them with propriety. The introduction
of statues, except among works of the most artificial kind, such as fine architecture,
is seldom or never allowable; for when they obtrude themselves among natural
beauties, they always disturb the train of ideas which ought to be excited in the mind,
and generally counteract the character of the scenery. In the same way, busts, urns,
monuments, &c., in flower-gardens, ai*e most generally misplaced. The obvious intention
of these appendages is to recall to mind the virtues, qualities, or actions, of
those for whom they were erected : now this requires time, seclusion, and undisturbed
attention, which must either render all the flowers and other decorations of the
ornamental garden of no effect, or, if they have effect, it can only be to interrupt the
train of ideas excited by the other. As the garden, and the productions of nature,
are what are intended to interest the spectator, it is plain that the others should not
be introduced. This reasoning, while on the one hand it shows the absurdity of such
a practice, on the other directs that urns, monuments, &c., should only be placed in
1023
solitary unfrequeKtea places where the mind is naturally led to contemplate, and
» Y r T of *0 ™tues of great men, or the worth of relation now no
more, atod proper subjects for contemplation. But even in places apparently solitary
or secluded, these ¿ e been mtroduced in a manner so affected or improper as to
furnish reason for the greatest caution in future
5113. A cottage, when the walk of a shrubbery is of great extent, may sometimes be
¿•antageously mtroduced m a distant part of it, with an occupant, for the purpose of
keeping one apartment in order as a place of repose. Such a cV g e may be S g L d
m any style, accordmg to the taste of the owner, and may serve a variety of useful
pmposes. In our E n ^ c h p a d ia o f Cottage, F a rm , and V illa A rc h ite c tu re will be found if “ braidings, smtable for seats and shelters in gardens and pleasure-
igi-ees ’of j Z Z d I Z ™ ' %les, and with various
■f f / ¿ to t ff ip ta n tm g both flow e r-g a rd e ns and shrubberies we may remark
Itoft t r i d**' ^'‘’« ■ flM a n u a l that it is considered in much too un Jportant a
hght, both by gardeners and their employers. The business is almost every where per-
foimed at random, instead of bemg conducted with a specific object in view. To remedy
this evil, gardeners should fcst make a correct plan of the border, parterre, or plot, of
rf t i Iben having detennined the mode
of aiTangement most proper, and selected the names of plants to effect it from the
ihf o f n of. plant and its name should be determined on in
the plan, ¿ i s done, all these points should be coiTectly transferred to the ground and
ntomsf ® f “ oorrespondence with a list of the sorts. ’ Tho
plants being procured, should then be distributed and planted accordmg to these stakes
and numbers; and the stakes should be allowed to remain for a year or two to make
certain as to the sort to be replaced there, in the case of death or afedent. If me” his
£blv he d S f d™”® attain a high degree of perfection in Britain, it wiU proshf
K ™ f necessaiy to call in a professor to direct the an-angement of flowers
grouM-liton“ ^ shrubberies, as it is now to require his aid in arranging the
Chap. V.
Hothouses used in O rn am en tal H o rtic u ltu re .
6116. T h e Iwthouses o f flo ric u ltu re are the frame, glass case, greenhouse, orangery
conservatoiy, dfy^ove the bark or moist stove, in the flower-garden or pleasure-ground
and the pit and hotbed m the resei-ve-garden. In the constraction of .all of these the
greq object IS , 01- ou^t to be, the admission of light and the power of applying artificial
m tU i f f c fotoing-houscs it is requisite attend to ttie angle of the glass roof, so as to obtain most of the sun’s influence at thtoe
time the fhiit withm is to be ripened; but in the hothouses of the flower-garden or
pleasure-ground the construction ought to he such as to admit as much light as possible
in winter; for then m the stoves a heat is kept up by art, which is not to be found in
my natm-al chmate connected with so little light as is then afforded in our latitude
Hence, as a general prmciple, it may be afflrmod, that the roofs of aU plant or botanic
hothouses tiiould be steep rather than flat, and, perhaps, the angle of 45° may be fixed
on as the fattest average. It was adopted hy Miller, both in culinary and ornamental
hothouses, and is fitter for general purposes than any other.
51 O m am erd al hothouses, considered with reference to beauty of design, are still
very deficient. They ai-e too commonly left to be planned and executed by manufacturers,
or tradesmen, or practical gardeners, whose ideas on the subject of art are by no
means matured. Even architects have, for the most part, evinced very little taste in
their designs for this class of buildings. The reason is, they have no precedent for
them in the remains of antiquity; they do not fully understand their use; and, which is
the^eatest defect, we are persuaded that there are very few persons who call themselves
architects who really understand what constitutes art. We might, in proof of this refer
to a conservatory recently erected from the designs of one of the most populai* and
extensively employed architects of the day, in which the interior columns supporting the
root have capitals ornamented with leaves of sheet copper, coloured gi*een in imitation of
those ¿ a palm! What is this but a mimiciy of nature ? Among the numerous designs
published in the G ardener’s M a g a zin e, there are scarcely any that we can quote in this
chapter.^ What, then, can we recommend our readers to do in such a case? Our
answer is. Employ an architect of mind—a man who reads; and recommend him,
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