CHAPTER V. 



Floral Decoration of Apartments in Paris. 



jOU can grow good plants in England without doubt — 

 nobody denies that merit to English growers ; but now- 

 a-daySj when the tast,e for having plants indoors is be- 

 coming so prevalent, it is not enough to have good specimens — we 

 should know also how to arrange them tastefully. That in England 

 conservatories are occasionally well arranged is as much as we can 

 say 5 for the absence of the plants that are indispensable to good 

 arrangement, is too prevalent to permit of that being at all general. 

 And as for indoor decorations in London or elsewhere in Britain — 

 well, of course some nurserymen who " furnish" extensively, can 

 and do arrange plants nicely for balls, &c. ; but it is rare to see 

 anything really well done in that line — while the way plants are 

 arranged at the Linnean and Royal Societies and other important 

 places, on special occasions, is almost sufficient to prevent people 

 tolerating plants indoors at all. As compared to the plant decora- 

 tions of one of the balls at the Hotel de Ville, anything seen in the 

 British Isles is poor indeed; and yet the plants are not better 

 than may be seen in England in good gardens. The ditference 

 is caused by exceedingly tasteful and frequently peculiar arrange- 

 ment. What the Parisians do as regards arrangement may perhaps 

 be best gleaned if I describe the decorations for one of the balls 

 of the past season at the Hotel de Ville. 



Entering the Salle St. Jean, the eye was immediately attracted 



