November 9, 1876. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICUL.TUEB AND COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



407 



can only say that I have never known any difference of opinion 

 even amongst those who had to work it, save that Mr. Donglas 

 himself, with a chivalry worthy of his name, thought we ought 

 with an empty exobequer to have offered prizes and arranged 

 for an autumn show this year. The truth is, we were from the 

 very first dependant on the contributions of one of the great 

 Companies — the Crystal Palace or Alexandra — for our exist- 

 ence, and when they both gave us up we had nothing to fall 

 baok upon. Autumn shows do not pay in London, and the 

 Crystal Palace Company is obliged to add other attractions to 

 make theirs pay. Florists' flowers eeem hopelessly at a dis- 

 count in the south. 



Mr. Douglas alludes to the fine bank of Picotees and Car- 

 nations -at the Royal Horticultural Society in July. There 

 were fine flowers there according to the present notion, but 

 there were just five exhibitors — three from the neighbourhood 

 of London, one from Ipswich, and one from Bath — a very 

 poor foundation on which to rest a hop9 of a revival of the 

 taste. He speaks of the National Auricula Society coming to 

 London. I should bo delighted to see it hold its show there, 

 but they will not come unless some society guarantees them 

 £20, the same that the Manchester Botanic il Society gives 

 them, and I do not know where the money is to come from. 

 — D., Deal. 



PLANTS SUITABLE FOR DINNER-TABLE 

 DECORATION IN WINTER, 



In the summer season when plenty of flowers can be gathered 

 out of doors it is a Eimple matter to make the dinner table 

 attractive, but for the next five or six months plants will have 

 to be chiefly depended upon for table adornment. Many plants 

 which are extremely ornamental and becoming on a table 

 surrounded with flowers lose much of their beauty without 

 them. These are mostly green-leaved plants ; but there are 

 others, again, which instead of cut flowers adding to their 

 beauty they only detract from it. It is this latter class of 

 plants which should be cultivated almost exclusively for winter 

 table decoration. All plants for the dinner table should ba as 

 elegant in habit and as different in character as possible, be- 

 cause when one plant is placed very frequently on the table it 

 appears to lose much of its attractiveness, and plants which 

 are similar to one another are not likely to be fully appreciated. 

 The following are enumerated ns superior :— 



Draccenas. — Some of these are amongst the best of plants 

 both in habit and colour for placing singly on the centre of 

 the table. Some excellent new varieties have been raised 

 lately ; and although many of them are well adapted for grow- 

 ing into specimens for exhibition purposes, I have not found 

 any of them more useful for table decoration than the old 

 D. terminalis and D. tsrminalis stricta. They are compact in 

 habit, with elegant leaves ; their colours are always bright and 

 pleasing, the rich bright crimson being especially attractive in 

 both natural and artificial light. D. Chelsonii I consider too 

 dark in colour for our purpose, and the same might be said 

 of D. Mooreana and one or two others. Indeed none of those 

 of deep metallic hue are very showy on the table. All the Dra- 

 cranasof the indivisa section are excellent plants for th9 table, 

 as they are most elegant in habit, and they may be grown in a 

 cooler place than most of the other sorts. Dracaenas are easily 

 multiplied by cutting up the stems into pieces about 2 inches 

 long and covering them over with soil in a smart bottom heat 

 any time during the winter. They may be laid closely together, 

 and when the leaves are about 3 inches long the young plants 

 should be potted singly into small pots, using a mixture of 

 loam, peat, and silver sand, and shifting into larger pots as it 

 becomes necessary. The leaves should be sponged frequently 

 to keep them free from insects and dust. 



Pandanus Veitchii. — This is the finest of all the Screw Pines, 

 and undoubtedly the best for table decoration, both its form 

 and colour being in its favour for this purpose. The leaves 

 are splendidly striped with lines of deep green and puro white, 

 and droop in a graoefal manner. Plants for the table may be 

 grown in G-inoh pots. I find the leaves are brightest in colour 

 when the plants are grown amongst plenty of Bilver sand. 



Aralia Veitchii. — In a small state this plant is exceedingly 

 elegant in outline, its slender undulated leaves being of a 

 beautiful dark glossy green. It is quite different in character 

 from the preceding, and is a fine change from it on the table. 

 It is propagated from cuttings and eyes, and thrives in a 

 mixture of peat and silver sand. 



Abutilon Darminii tessellation. — This is the finest marked of 



all the Abutilons, and a plant which nearly everyone admires. 

 Its habit is not quite perfect for the table, but its curious 

 marking makes up for this slight deficiency. The leaves grow 

 to a good size, and are beautifully marked all over with small 

 squares of deep green and golden yellow, the latter appearing 

 on the former like particles of inlaid wood. It is raised from 

 cuttings, and grows freely, under greenhouse treatment, in a 

 mixture of loam, leaf soil, and sand. 



Palms. — CocosWeddelliana and Geonom a gracilis are amongst 

 the finest for table decoration. Both are alike elegant, only 

 the latter droops a little more than the former, and is slightly 

 paler in colour. Both require a stove temperature, and luxu- 

 riate in a mixture of peat and sand. There is nothing peculiar 

 required in their treatment, and they may bo grown success- 

 fully in any stove structure. 



Crotons. — The best of these are C. majesticum, C. pictura- 

 tum, C. Johannis, and C. Youngii. No other plants possess 

 the same colour and habit as these, their long, narrow, green, 

 yellow, and crimson leaves having a grand appearance. They' 

 are propagated from cuttings, which require a warm place and 

 good attention to strike them, but when once rooted they grow 

 freely amongst other stove plants, provided their pots are well 

 drained and the roots have some good peat and silver sand to 

 work amongst. They are rather subject to the attacks of 

 insects, especially thiips and red spider, and to prevent these 

 from doing harm the leaves must be frequently sponged and 

 syringed. 



Ficus clastica. — This is not by any means such a rare or 

 even beautiful plant as any of the above, but it is easily grown, 

 and on this account it may meet the wants of many ; and at 

 the same time it is not wholly destitute of ornament, as the 

 dark, bright shining green leaves have a very massive appear- 

 ance, and they have the advantage of remaining fresh in close 

 rooms much longer than is good for most plants. It is only 

 in a young state when the plants are from 12 to 18 inches 

 high that they can be used on the table. I have propagated 

 numbers of this plant without the assistance of bottom heat 

 by simply making the eyes like Vine eyes and inserting them 

 singly in small pots filled with a mixture of leaf soil and sand 

 in about equal parts, and plaoing them in a close framo until 

 they were rooted. These plants will grow in almost any kind 

 of soil, and do not require a warmer place at any time than a 

 greenhouse. 



Epiphyllums. — Many of these are in perfection just now, and a 

 succession of them will keep on flowering for the next few 

 months to come. When well grown and bloomed no flowering 

 plants are more lovely on the table. The best plants for this 

 purpose are those with stems from 1 to 2 feet in height with 

 drooping bnshy heads. To have them in this form they must 

 be grafted on the PereBkia or some other suitable stock. Plants 

 "worked" now would be in good decorative condition two 

 years hence. They delight in a rough soil such as fibrous loam, 

 peat, silver Rand, and small lumps of charcoal and broken pots 

 or bricks. They do not require potting every year, and useful 

 plants may be grown for a long time in (j-inch pots. They should 

 be grown in a warm moist place, and removed into a cooler and 

 drier situation when the growth is completed. They should be 

 kept rather dry at the roots when the plants have ceased grow- 

 ing, but they must not be allowed to shrivel up for want of 

 water. All insects, especially mealy bug, must be sponged-off, 

 care being taken to clean it well out from the joints of the 

 leaves. A few good varieties are E. truncatum amabile, white, 

 upper part of the petals marked with purple; E. truncatum 

 cruentum, dark purple; E. truncatum roseum, bright rose; 

 and E. truncatum coccineum, deep scarlet. 



Spircea japonica. — Well-grown plants of this old Meadow- 

 sweet when forced into flower in the winter time are well 

 adapted for the table, the deep green leaves and pure white 

 flowers being in excellent harmony. Spirit as delight in an open 

 soil, with plenty of water at the roots while growing, and may 

 be had in flower any time from November until April. 



Ferns.' — The old Adiantum ouneatum, and indeed most of 

 the Maidenhair section, are suitable for the table. A. gracil- 

 limum is very neat, but not quite showy enough; but the 

 opposite is the case with A. Farleyense, the fronds of which 

 when fully developed have a rich appearance by artificial light. 

 But, except for a change, I find Ferns are not in ench demand 

 for dinner-table decoration as fine showy foliage and flowering 

 plants. 



The above is by no means an exhanstiva selection of table 

 plants for the winter, but I have found all of them exceedingly 

 useful, and those who possess them will have no difficulty 



