CHAPTER XLVIII 



FOURTH WEEK IN DECEMBER 



/CHRISTMAS is here, and family gatherings are every- 

 \^4 where taking place, with much joy to the children, 

 and many bon-bons. But for these festivities it is 

 not always easy to keep up the supply of cut flowers for 

 table decoration, and the bulbs which are so easily cultivated 

 for winter (as before explained) I are now invaluable. 



We do not need elaborate decorations for home gatherings, 

 yet the table must be made to look bright and tasteful ; 

 whilst holly, suitable enough for Christmas Day, cannot 

 be considered all that is necessary. Scarlet tulips (Van 

 Thols) are already opening their buds, however, and 

 Roman hyacinths far more elegant than the splendid, 

 but rather stiff, blossoms of the larger hyacinths are 

 some of the best flowers we have for filling small china 

 bowls or any quaint receptacle which may be at hand. 

 They only need to be carefully raised from the boxes ot 

 light soil in which they are grown (in the greenhouse, or 

 even in a window) just as their buds are opening, and 

 packed into the china with a little fresh moss, some tepid 

 water, and perhaps a few fronds of small ferns. If not 

 exposed to the fumes of gas they will last for weeks, and 

 it is easy to vary their effect with different table-centres, or 

 leaves, bunches of berries, &c., laid flat on the tablecloth 

 in a star-like pattern from the centre, holly and ivy being 

 very effectively used in this way. 



Christmas roses (Helleborus niger) are excellent flowers 

 for cutting just now, for they last well in water for two or 



1 See p. 273. 

 455 



