COPVfllGHT, 1898, BY 



rUORISTS' PLIBL.ISt1IING CO.. 520-535 Caxton Building. CtllCAGO. 



Vol. n. 



CHICAGO AND NEW YORK, JUNE 30, 1898. 



No. 31. 



Detail of Wedding Decoration arranged by W. J. Smyth, Chicago. 



WEDDING DECORATION. 



We present herewith an engraving 

 from a very poor photograph of the 

 decoration arranged by Mr. W. J. 



Smyth, Chicago, for the wedding of 

 Postmaster Gordon last Thursday. 

 The church was large and dark and the 

 flashlight was not powerful enough to 

 bring out details satisfactorily. A gen- 



eral idea can, however, be had from 

 the picture. 



A large number of palms and lijvt: 

 decorative plants were used, and the 

 floral effect at the top was produced 

 mainly by the use of blooming hydran- 

 geas in pots, most of them being laid 

 on their sides. Occasional clusters of 

 white paeonies were also used, a 

 cluster being attached to each of the 

 standard gas fixtures and tied with 

 heavy bows of white ribbon. The font 

 at the left was also filled with white 

 paeonies, among finer white flowers 

 and foliage. Only the central portion 

 of the decoration is shown in the pic- 

 ture. 



A separate engraving is given of the 

 font, which was a very effective ar- 

 rangement. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM NOTES. 



Specimen plants should have their 

 last potting now, and while the soil 

 for previous pottings has not been of 

 so much importance, more care should 

 be exercised this time. Every grower 

 has his own particular compost, 

 though it never seemed so' necessary 

 to us so long as it was a good sound 

 rooting medium that would stand any 

 amount of feeding and watering with- 

 out getting sour. The mum is proba- 

 bly the most accommodating plant in 

 cultivation for adapting itself to soils 

 and environment, as proved by its do- 

 ing equally well throughout the coun- 

 try in soils differing in texture very 

 widely. 



Potting should, however, be done 

 carefully and firmly and some lumps 

 of charcoal will be of great benefit to 

 the pink varieties, their petals being 

 alwpys so predisposed to damp. The 

 final pot should not be too large, due 

 allowance, of course, being made for 

 the size of the plant. A specimen looks 

 better in a 9-inch pot than one larger, 

 unless the plant is very large, and 

 would be too much restricted. The 

 finest specimens we ever saw were in 



