A walk through the plant houses supplies continual food for wonder and admiration. The conviction is pressed upon us at every step that the power of cultivation "can no further go." And everything is done with a liberality as to space and conveniences which is quite of a piece with the fame of this establishment. The well-known success which attends the exhibition of plants from this place at the great metropolitan shows, will no longer be matter of surprise after the collection is seen. The only occasion for astonishment will be that any other competitor should ever be able to carry off the highest prize.

At the front of the principal group of plant houses is a somewhat square area, arranged as a flower garden, and having little wire temples, as supports for climbing roses, at the corners. Walls covered with climbers inclose it at the sides, and the charming Clematis montana is among the most conspicuous plants on these walls. There is a fountain in the center, and some vases are placed about in parts, while masses of stones at the base of the buildings, and in front of them, receive a variety of pretty trailing and alpine plants. The flower-beds are cut out of the grass, and are each furnished with a single kind of plant, in the usual manner.

The houses, which are composed of a series of span roofs, slightly varying in height, occupy a considerable space, but they do not present one uniform front. The two end compartments, which are supposed to be about 20 ft. wide by 75 ft. long, and each of which is covered by a span roof, are devoted to greenhouse plants. Between these and the centre of the group, there are two short houses, about 15 ft. long, against the back wall, leaving an open gravelled space in the front of them. These small houses are assigned to tall Cacti, large specimen plants, or a mixed collection. The central compartment is about 55 ft. wide, by 75 ft. long, and is roofed by three parallel spans, the middle one being highest. The whole of this portion is kept at stove heat, and it has a glass partition across the middle, separating the stove plants from the orchids. Two other glass partitions in the back part divide it into three unequal spaces, the larger middle portion being given up chiefly to the Amherstia, a small aquarium, and some mixed orchids and stove plants, while the side divisions are filled with orchids alone.

The first thing which we notice on entering the plant houses is, that they are raised fully 3 ft. above the ground level, and that therefore they are very dry, and may be made as airy as can be desired. Our next observation is that, although preparing the plants for exhibition is one of the primary objects of consideration here, yet the houses are constructed and the plants arranged so that they can be examined comfortably and displayed well. There is no want of neatness and finish in the buildings; and the stages, paths, etc., are contrived, and the plants disposed, as if everything were intended only to be enjoyed at home. There is no crowding, no inconvenient effort to make the most of the space, no putting the plants where they cannot be fully seen. Everything is planned with great simplicity, and each plant has a sufficient space accorded it to allow it to stand perfectly free, and bring every part of it into view.

A leading feature of the collection here is that the plants grown are all of the most ornamental kind. Although the bulk of the specimens are of rare kinds, and many of them are quite new - for Mrs. Lawrence spares no expense in obtaining the first available plants of a good new species, and often procures the original specimen - yet none but the really showy members of each tribe are cultivated, and everything that is not fit for making a fine display is excluded. Hence, there is scarcely a plant in the collection that does not, at some season of the year, perform an important part in maintaining its attractiveness; and all are capable of being so thinly placed about on the stages that each will have ample room to grow and to exhibit itself.

To obtain large specimens is another grand point aimed at here. But this is only sought in so far as it is compatible with extreme density of habit, and a complete mass of bloom. Plants that look old or ragged are not allowed a place. And the desired result is attained by growing the plants in large pots, (only the common pots and no kind of tub being used,) and employing rather coarse and lumpy soil, partially mixed with drainage materials. There is also a regular system of pruning and training adopted from the earliest stage of each plant's growth, so that it is never permitted to become thin or straggling. With many of the species, the shoots of young plants are stopped back several times in each year, and the most careful and constant attention is given to keep each shoot in its right place by sticks and ties. This plan, of course, imparts to the plants a somewhat formal appearance, and causes some of them to present a little forest of supporting sticks. But as the specimens become old enough to bloom well, they are less rigidly pruned, and begin to require fewer sticks, acquiring altogether a more natural aspect.

Indeed, it is pleasing to observe that it is now becoming more the fashion to allow plants to take their natural shapes, with less help from sticks, and only so much pruning as will secure a broad and close mass of flowers.

Provision is likewise made here against the loss of larger specimens, or the having to discard them on account of their size or poorness, by bringing on a succession of plants in different stages of growth; young specimens being generally found more healthy, and richer in all the qualities of show plants, except mere size.

For the facility of removal, and also to render each plant more manageable, and prevent the stronger growing ones from injuring the others, everything is here grown in pots, and not planted out. When, therefore, a plant becomes large, or bare, or unhealthy, or in any way undesirable, it can be instantly taken away, without making any gap in the collection. And for the recovery of specimens that may have fallen into bad health, or for retarding the bloom of those which are wanted at a particular time, or for retaining any specimens in bloom that may be required for a special purpose, there are various subordinate houses, pits, and large wooden boxes or frames, in which any of these objects can be quietly carried out. In moving about large specimens, too, a contrivance is here adopted which is very simple and efficacious. It consists in putting an iron hoop capable of just beneath the rim. This hoop is furnished with two strong hooks, one on each side, beneath which two hand spikes made to fit them are placed, and the plant is then carried as if it were on a hand-barrow.