92 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



gift. Regret and sorrow are sweetened by these pleasant memo- 

 ries. The giver receives the blessing of those who give the cup 

 of cold water "In His name." 



Our modern weddings are incomplete without masses of 

 flowers for the church service ; doorways, piano and mantel are 

 daintily trimmed at the house. Roses for bride and groomsman ; 

 bouquets for bridesmaids and train-bearer. "We wreath our 

 dead with flowers ; they are the best we have to offer ; 'tis the 

 last we can do for them." "Gethsemane was a garden." 



In the arrangement of flowers there are some rules to follow 

 but usually each person has individual taste. The tendency now 

 is for finer flowers than formerly, depending more on graceful 

 arrangement, in contrast with the stifif bouquets and short stems 

 of the past. Another point emphasized now is one kind of 

 flowers in each vase or bouquet instead of a variety of flowers, 

 also an effort is made to use the foliage belonging to the flower 

 instead of green of another shade. Long stems and tall, slender 

 vases with plenty of foliage are in favor with city florists. We 

 all know it greatly depends on the flowers we have and the sur- 

 roundings. This is something I am very anxious to learn about 

 and shall be more than interested in the coming discussion. 



The custom of decorating dining rooms and tables is almost 

 universal, especially when guests are invited, and there are hun- 

 dreds of tables among our working people, where you always 

 find some dainty wild flowers in spring and summer ; banks of 

 brilliant leaves take their places later, while bright geranium 

 blooms, which grow and bloom for anybody, anywhere, brighten 

 the plain rooms and frugal meals during the long New England 

 winter. 



