1870.] TABLE DECORATIONS. 183 



the balls with silver-sand, using about four plants for the purpose ; 

 and with the sand I mingle some powdered charcoal to neutralise 

 the effect of any offensive smell that will sometimes arise after the 

 plants have been placed in the sand several days. After a sprink- 

 ling has been given to settle the sand about the roots of the Moss, the 

 branches should be pegged down neatly with small hair-pins. If 

 watered about once a- week, the Selaginella will grow very nicely, and 

 keep beautifully green for two or three months together. Scarlet Pelar- 

 goniums and other flowers can be stuck in the sand by their stalks to 

 give a finish to it. That popular form of the Maidenhair Fern, Adian- 

 tum cuneatum — perhaps one of the most lovely of the Ferns, notwith- 

 standing that it is common, and always a great favourite with the 

 ladies — is also of great value, and makes a beautiful fringe for the top 

 dish of a design, it being so light and graceful. Some five or six 

 years ago, Mr Charles Turner of Slough was a competitor at one of 

 the Crystal Palace exhibitions with a vase of Roses, and by way of 

 giving a finish to his vase, he used fronds of the Maidenhair Fern 

 among his Roses, which was a great improvement on the formality of 

 a bunch of this favourite flower, but the vase was disqualified by the 

 judges in consequence. ISTow, it is the custom for the schedule of 

 prizes to state Ferns can be used, and no disqualification follows as 

 a consequence ; and the same thing also holds good at South Ken- 

 sington, as well as at Brighton. 



There are certain plants that are very useful for twisting round the 

 upright stem of a stand used for the decoration of the dinner-table ; 

 and branches of these should be stuck in the sand, and then be neatly 

 and elegantly twisted round the stem ; and a few ties should be placed 

 up the stem at intervals, to keep it in its place — fine thread or wire 

 can be used. The Japanese Honeysuckle, Lonicera aureo-reticulata, is 

 one of the best things for the purpose ; so is Dioscorea battatas. The 

 common Ivies I find to be too heavy. Tradescantia zebrina is a nice 

 thing to hang over the top dish, especially if some cuttings are placed 

 in a 32-sized pot in some light sandy soil, and allowed to hang over the 

 sides of the pots till rooted, and then shaken from the soil and laid 

 round the dish, with a little silver-sand about the roots. The heads of 

 the plants should hang over the sides, and they will grow freely, and 

 last for six months if required. Of pendulous growth, and variegated 

 foliage, the effect is charming and effective. The silvery-leaved Cen- 

 taureas candidissima and argentea vera make a nice change, and 

 the leaves can be used to make a layer inside the Ferns in the bottom 

 dish. Besides the scarlet-flowering Pelargoniums, the white-flowering 

 ones, like Madame Vaucher, as well as the sweet-scented kinds for the 

 perfume the leaves yield, are also very desirable. The flowers of the 



