The conservative wall which separates the lawn from the park on the north is a most delightful scene, and confirms the observations of our correspondent in p. 23., "that a conservative wall is a very superior source of enjoyment to either a green-house or a conservatory." It is 340 ft. in length, and the direction being up a sloping surface, it is divided into panels about 27 ft. in length, and about 18 ft. high, rising above one another, with stone piers between each. The wall is flued and covered with a wooden trellis. It has a coping which projects about 1 ft. in front, with a rod under it on which the rings of curtains run. Piers are built every 27 ft. apart, which determine the length of the curtain rods; and half the curtain draws up against each pier, as in the case of a common window. The curtains are of stout hempen cloth, striped with blue; and in order to provide for the contraction and expansion, and also to keep the curtains tight when let down, the lower edge of the curtain is furnished with rings, which are put over hooks fixed on the edge of a board which lies flat on the border at the distance of 13.5 in. from the wall. The other edge of this board, which is 11.5 in. wide, is hinged to a rail 4.5 in. broad, which is made fast to stakes driven into the ground, and sawn off level with the surface. In consequence of this arrangement, when wet weather contracts the curtain, instead of shrinking up, and exposing a part of the wall to the weather, it merely lifts up the inner edge of the board, which sinks down again to its place with the return of dry weather. The edges of the curtain next the piers are made fast to slips of wood fixed to the wall, and the edges where the curtains join in the middle overlap each other, as in common window or bed curtains. Nothing is planted against the piers but dahlias during summer, and thus, by leaving these naked, they preserve the architectural dignity of the wall by contrast with the covered parts. With a view to this end, and also to the effect of the flowers on the plants in the panels, even the dahlias, in our opinion, would be better omitted. Fig. 63. is an elevation of part of the wall showing the piers (the one rising higher than the other, as the wall ascends a sloping surface), and the curtains drawn aside. Fig. 64. is a ground plan of the same portion of the wall; in which a is the dug border, b the rising and falling board, c fixed boards opposite the piers, d a border of turf, e a gravel walk 6 ft. wide, and f the lawn. Fig. 65. is a section of the wall, the wooden coping, the curtain, and the rising and falling board. Fig. 66. is a section of the lower part of the wall, the rising and falling board, and the ground rail to which it is hinged, on a larger scale. The following list of the plants now growing against this wall has been, at our request, kindly furnished by Mr. Paxton. They are arranged here according to the natural orders, for the sake of showing the great variety of species; but they are planted against the wall in no particular order, except that the more tender sorts, such as orange trees, Jasminum grandiflorum, &c., are generally placed together, so that the part of the wall against which they are placed may be heated by itself; whereas, if they were distributed over the whole wallwith the hardier sorts, such as Sophora microphylla, Tecoma capreolata, &c., which require no artificial heat, there would be a considerable loss both of labour and fuel. Ranunculaceï¾µ.
