March 9, 1871. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOKTICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



181 



that month, Mr. A. R. Wallace in the chair. After the appointmont 

 o£ Vice-Presidents, election of new members, etc., Mr. F. Bond ex- 

 hibited some rare Moths from Scotland, including Pachnobia alpina, 

 Westw., Gelecbia boreella, Larentia cwaiaria, and some very dark 

 specimens of Thera jnniperata ; also a portion of the wel), 2 or 3 yards 

 long, spun by the gregarious laryse of one of the small Ermine Moths, 

 Hyponomeuta Padella, likewise a cpecimen of Vanessa Atalanta in the 

 ■winged state, which still retained the head of the caterpillar enclosing 

 the head of the butterfly ; also four singular specimens of the common 

 Brimstone Butterfly, Goncpteryx Rhamni, in which the wings exhibited 

 a greater or less mixture of the dark and light colours peculiar to the 

 two sexes, as well as a series of photographs containing highly magnified 

 representations of the eggs of yarious bird parasites, some closely re- 

 sembling sea anemones, from slides prepared by Mr. Norman. The 

 Eer. H. S. Gorham exhibited Oxytelus fulvipes, Jirichson, a Beetle 

 new to Britain, from Staffordshire. 



Professor Westwood exhibited specimens of a minute water Bug 

 (Cocixa Gvivora, WcsUn.)^ which is very destructive to the ova of 

 freshwater fishes in India, proving a great enemy to experiments in 

 pisciculture in the east ; also drawings of a singular species of Scale 

 Insect (Coccus stellifer, Westw.), injurious to the leaves of Cypri- 

 pedium niveum, from Siam. The male scales are extended into eight 

 radiating plates tipped with white, and with a white rib down the centre 

 of each. The Professor had fortunately extracted a winged male from 

 beneath one of the scales. 



Mr. A. Miiller exhibited some curious galls on species of Oak from 

 Tangiers, collected by Mr. Blackmore ; and Mr. Butler read descrip- 

 tions of a new genus and seven new exotic species of Butterflies be- 

 longing to the Pierides. 



DINNER-TABLE DECORATION.— No. 2. 



I NOW come to another feature in dinner-table decoration, 

 and that is the use of materials different from those which the 

 gardener usually employs ; one of these is the use of large 

 sheets of mirror glass laid flat on the table, the various kinds 

 of ornament or requirements of the table being placed upon 

 this glass. Here we have sheets about 5 feet long and a little 

 less than 2 feet wide ; these we find quite wide enough. There 

 are other sheets which are shorter, in order to fit the length of 

 table wanted, and as many of these as are necessary are laid 

 along the centre of the table upon the naked cloth. I ought, 

 however, to observe that the sheets of glass are fitted to slight 

 frames sufficient to move them with, and rest upon a very thin 

 boarded back perfectly flat, so that no weight likely to be put 

 upon them will break the glass. The frame is about an inch 

 thick at the edges, and not more than half that in width. On 

 the side next the glass this edging in our case is simply painted 

 green, as we invariably surround it with a bordering either of 

 Lycopod or some made-up wreath of flowers or evergreens, 

 generally, however, with the trough ; and it has been thought 

 good taste to stick in sprigs of a graceful small-leaved plant, 

 say Panicnm javanicum variegatum, sprays of Pampas Grass, 

 or something of the kind, but nothing higher than 4 or 5 inches. 

 These being reflected by the mirrors look well. At Christmas 

 a wreath of Holly all round has also a good efl'ect. The stands 

 of flowers, the candlesticks, and other things proper for the 

 centre of the table may all be placed in their usual position ; 

 but care should be taken to hide the joints of the frames where 

 the portions of glass meet ; a stand or something similar will 

 help to do this. No fuither bordering on the table is needed ; 

 the frame, either of evergreens or flowers, to the looking-glass is 

 generally quite snfiBcient. Besides the stands in their usual 

 places, some small baskets of flowers of a neat and effective 

 kind, that will be mentioned hereafter, may also have a place 

 it there be room. It is, however, not advisable to crowd the 

 looking-glass, but to leave plenty of space for the flowers to be 

 reflected from ; a little experience will teach when enough has 

 been placed on the glass. It ought not to be so thickly studded 

 with objects as the cloth might be, otherwise the purpose for 

 which it is used — namely, to reflect the objects upon it, is to a 

 great extent defeated. When many superficial feet of mirror 

 are used in this way, the number or efficiency of the lights 

 ought to be increased, for, to borrow a humble phrase, it is 

 astonishing how the glass seems to swallow up the light, cer- 

 tainly more so than a green cloth or a mass of foliage. 



The seeming necessity for using flower-stands alternately 

 with the candlestioks having been frequently alluded to by me 

 in previous articles, I may add that the kinds we have here 

 are partly of the March design and another of about equal 

 height. These we dress in the usual way, filling the bottom 

 dish mostly with short-stemmed flowers fully expanded, while 

 those for the top are of a more feathery description, and some 

 pendent ones bang over the edges of the top dish, for which 

 purpose nothing exceeds Fuchsias or the berries of Eivina 



humilis. The most effective flower for the bottom is the beau- 

 tiful star-shaped Eucharis amazonioa. I am not sure if this 

 does not exceed Water Lilies ; certainly it does so in one very 

 important feature, for the flower does not shut up at night 

 when its beauties are most wanted. It can be had in mid- 

 winter, and when cut keeps longer, I believe, than any other 

 flower I know. The Eucharis has been with us the most valu- 

 able plant grown for the purpose, and a few blooms will go a 

 long way, as it is not advisable to crowd them. Of course a 

 certain amount of green in some form is necessary, including 

 the invaluable Maidenhair Fern, which ought to bo kept in 

 reserve till the last, as it withers so soon. Covering the edges 

 of the stand is best accomplished by foliage that will haog over 

 in a natural manner. Well-selected leaves of Tricolor Gera- 

 niums do very well, while for a change we have sometimes the 

 Palm-looking leaves of Helleborus Icetidus, and sometimes the 

 much larger yet equally elegant foliage of the common Berberis 

 Aquifolium, especially when a sufSoient number of rich crim- 

 son ones can be procured. In hue these leaves far exceed 

 those of any Draciena I am acquainted with, and being bright 

 and glossy they look well at night. In summer an abundance 

 of materials can be had, but often in winter everything that can 

 be turned to account is brought into requisition, and a very 

 common plant will in many cases look as well as the occupants 

 of exotic houses. We have for several winters used along with 

 other things the berries of some large plants of Cotoneaster 

 Simmoudsii, which are growing against the walls of houses 

 facing the north. These bright shining berries, of a clear 

 orange colour, look well when numbers of them are clustered 

 on the spurs of the tree, as they are when it is grown against a 

 wall and properly pruned, but they are of little use when it is 

 grown as an open bush, and the birds do not seem to attack 

 them so readily as the fruit of the Pyraeantha and other Cratte- 

 guses. A set of troughs dressed with the short trusses of Lau- 

 rustinus blooms and a few of these tufts of berries put in 

 amongst them, look very showy, the edges of the troughs being 

 hidden by overhanging Ivy leaves. Holly berries are more 

 difficult to manage, but they, too, are used, and on one parti- 

 cular evening Mistletoe may be worked in ; still I am no advo- 

 cate for indiscriminate mixtures, nor, in fact, for mixtures at 

 all, except it be of only two kinds. Perhaps in the tops of the 

 flower-stands this rule may be disregarded, but employing too 

 many different materials there is also objectionable. 



Little things often materially augment the general effect, 

 and we have frequently thrown in some green when none was 

 near, by putting a star or other device underneath the candle- 

 sticks, generally using selected Portugal Laurel leaves that are 

 flat. A portion of their base being cut off, they are sewn upon 

 a piece of white paper or card with their points outwards, care 

 being taken to keep the whole as flat as possible. These stars 

 are useful in many ways. Sometimes when plants are sub- 

 stituted for the flower-stands, and the pots either covered with 

 ornamental paper or placed in silver vessels, the stars are placed 

 beneath these. 



Apart from the ordinary upright flower-stands which have 

 been described, we have a number of small glass baskets, each 

 about the size of a tea-saucer but deeper, and having a twisted 

 handle. The bowl of the basket rests on globular knobs, 

 and beneath it is placed a prepared circular mirror-stand 16 or 

 17 inches in diameter, separate from the basket, and having 

 a bordering of crimson chenille. These little baskets when 

 filled, not crowded, with flowers, can be placed anywhere, and 

 in my opinion look better than the taller ones, and are as 

 useful for the drawing-room table as for the dinner-table. On 

 the latter they can be introduced to fill up any spare place that 

 may be desirable. They are made of ordinary white glass, all 

 plain excepting the handle, and its presence amongst the 

 flowers, &c., is pleasing. — J. Koeson. 



VERBENA CUTTINGS FAILING. 



FoK two years my Verbenas have been suffering from the 

 same cause as " K. F." mentions, and particularly Purple King. 

 The cuttings when inserted in the autumn were not quite so 

 good as I should have liked, still they struck readily enough, 

 but after the first pinching that I gave them they began to 

 look worse, and gradually died down from the point to the 

 root, till I am now almost out of stock to propagate from. Last 

 year it was Geant des Batailles that suffered most. 



On seeing Verbena cuttings were gradually going off I have 

 often thought over the subject, and I have come to the con- 

 clusion that the chief cause is that the stock is worn out. The 



