360 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The color of the vase to be used is of importance. Gaudy reds 

 and blues should never be chosen, for they conflict with the delicate 

 hues of the flowers. Bronze or black vases, dark green, pure white, 

 or silver, always produce a good effect, and so does a straw basket ; 

 while clear glass, which shows the graceful clasping of the stems, is 

 perhaps prettiest of al!. 



The shape of the vase is also to be thought of. For the middle of 

 a dinner table, a round ball is also appropriate, or a tall vase with a 

 saucer-shaped base. Or, if the centre of the table is otherwise occu- 

 pied, a large conch shell, or shell shaped dish, may be swung from the 

 chandelier above, and with plenty of vines and feathering green, made 

 to look very pretty. 



Delicate flowers, such as lillies of the valley and sweet peas, should 

 be placed by themselves in slender tapering glasses; violets should 

 nestle their fragrant purple in some tiny cup, and pansies be set in 

 groups, with no gayer flowers to contradict their soft velvet hues; and 

 (this is a hint for summer) few things are prettier than balsam blos- 

 soms, or double variegated hollyhocks, massed on a flat plate, with a 

 fringe of green to hide the edge. No leaves should be interspersed 

 with these ; the plate should loofc: like a solid mosaic of splendid color. 



Stifl"ness and crowding are two things to be specially avoided in 

 arranging flowers. What can be uglier than the great tasteless bunches 

 into which the ordinary florist ties his wares, or what more extrava- 

 gant ? A skillful person will untie one of these, and adding green 

 leaves will divide the same flowers into half a dozen bouquets, each 

 more attractive than the original. 



Flowers should be grouped as they grow, with a cloud of light foliage 

 in and about them to set ofi" their forms and color. Don't forget this. 



FLOWERS IN PERFUMERY. 



In an elaborate paper on perfumery, furnished by Mr. Eugene Rim- 

 mel to the Society of Arts, London, and published in No. 391 of its 

 journal, scents in general use are classified in eighteen groups, and the 

 vegetable products used in this art are arranged in ten divisions, as 

 follows : 



1. The floral series; namely, jasmine, rose, orange flower, cassia, 

 tuberose, violet, jonquil and narcissus ; the attar, or otto, of roses is the 

 most valuable product of this division. 



2. The herbal series, comprising all aromatic plants, such as lav- 

 ender, spike, peppermint, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, geranium, pat- 

 chouli and winter- green, which yield essental oils by distillation. 



