Rooms, Halls, and Passages. 165 



confused clumsy mass. Crowding of flowers should 

 always be carefully avoided, and the outline or contour 

 kept as near as possible to what they are when 

 growing. A vase of cut flowers can hardly be arranged 

 too light and elegant. A few Fern fronds, small 

 branches of Asparagus, leaves of variegated grasses, 

 and sprays of Selaginellas, and slender creeping plants, 

 should be placed first in your vase ; then a few bold 

 flowers of clear decided colours added. By using only 

 one or two blooms of each kind a great variety can be 

 obtained. The great object in all cut flower arrangements 

 should- be to avoid heavy confused masses of flower 

 and foliage. It requires a great deal of study and 

 practice before you can be proficient in this. Ladies 

 with their nimble fingers and quick fancies are always 

 the best hands at floral decorations in the dwelling. It 

 is a department in which they are always at home. 

 This is as it should be. For shallow vases and table 

 glasses wet sand is the best thing you can use for 

 keeping the flowers fresh ; wet moss is also very good 

 when the arrangement is only for a short time. Water 

 should be as seldom used in flower vases as possible, it 

 is always so apt to spill. Of course, in glass vases, 

 trumpet and finger glasses it must be used, for sand 

 would have a bad appearance seen through the glass, 

 but in shallow vases, or where you can hide the glass 

 with Fern fronds or sprays, sand should be used, satu- 

 rated with water. 



Flowers are always more natural looking dressed 

 with their own foliage. The JAly of the Valley for 

 instance never looks so nice as when dressed with its 



