THE USE OF FLOWERS. 



DECORATION OF DINNER-TABLES. 



We shall not pretend to entirely cover or exhaust 

 at once this fashionable and fascinating department 

 of decorative art, but hope, as the season advances, 

 to suggest, by a few examples, how satisfactory re- 

 sults have been and may be obtained — now, by a 

 design that has been employed on one of the ducal 

 tables of Great Britain, and, again, by a picture 

 of wild flowers gathered and arranged by an ar- 

 tistic American girl on some rustic dinner table. 

 But why enumerate ? Better than all, if our friends 

 will send to us photographs of artistic work with 

 varied flowers from different sections of the country, 

 then will our efforts have a greater interest than 

 could be imparted by any other means. As in the 

 case of all decorative work, the great effect depends 

 upon the harmony of details ; but even these should 

 be kept subordinate to the general scheme. But 

 before going into particulars, let us take into consid- 

 eration a few general principles that should be 

 always regarded. In all decorations, fitness to 

 place and occasion is important to success. Beauty 

 and grace cannot be too prominent, but the attempt 

 to increase them by crowding too many flowers upon 

 a small space only gives an impression of vulgar 

 ostentation. If we have roses in the profusion of 

 LucuUus, let us not pile them up until they fall 

 and smother our guests, as at the feast of Helio- 

 gobalus ! 



In giving consideration to the fitness of things, 

 let us remember that a dinner differs from a banquet 

 or entertainment on so large a scale that numerous 

 tables or tables of great length are employed so that 

 necessarily they are in great part beyond the imme- 

 diate observation of anyone guest. But let us con- 

 sider a modern dinner where all the guests are 

 seated, and let us not forget that politeness and 

 humanity require us to give them the first consider- 

 ation ; that the dinner is for them, not they for the 

 dinner. Let us then avoid the use of flowers with 

 strong odors, which are so liable to become oppres- 

 sive and disagreeable to many when inhaled for anj' 

 length of time, as some of the magnolias and lilies. 

 Knowing the favorite flowers of any guest we delight 



to honor, it is sometimes a delicate attention to 

 make them prominent. Among those who have 

 given the subject their practical attention, it is uni- 

 versally conceded that for the sake of good form, 

 the decorations in the center of the table should be 

 kept so low as not to interfere with one's view of 

 others, and give a sensation of hiding behind a 

 floral hedge. We may then be spared the embar- 

 rassment of a hostess who was politely requested 

 by an honest gentleman to have one of these elab-' 

 orate structures removed to enable him to see the 

 ladies opposite. 



All the theories of color and principles of decor- 

 ative design can be worked out upon our festive 

 boards, and the result will add another pleasure for 

 those able to understand the effect, but none of us 

 need despair, for much of the most beautiful work 

 has been done by those who never even heard the 

 names of Chevruel or Dresser. 



True beauty is not achieved by rare and expensive 

 flowers alone ; just as beautiful are the leaves and 

 flowers of forest and field and the product of our 

 cottage gardens. The yellow and white of butter- 

 cups, or the common field daisies on a damask cloth, 

 rival the beauty of golden orchids and allamandas. 

 Roses, always beautiful, are sometimes tiresome to 

 our society belles from their constant appearance 

 on the table, and a person accustomed to their use 

 and price can tell at a glance the cost of such a 

 winter arrangement, and they sometimes make the 

 pecuniary side of the entertainment undesirably 

 prominent. After all, the daintiest, prettiest ar- 

 rangement of roses for a dinner I ever saw, was 

 composed of wild sweet-briers, perfect in their cup- 

 like form and rosy-pink color, placed in a low 

 plateau, filling the center of a large table and re- 

 lieved by sprays of the pure white variety, the whole 

 banked with abundance of their own fresh delicate 

 foliage. 



"Green dinners," in which Maiden-hair fern 

 (AJianfiiiii ciineafuni) is alone used without flowers, 

 have been justly popular, and nothing makes a pret- 

 tier setting to the silver and china of the table ser- 



