R us tic A dorn me tits. 
are much more desirous of advancing the good points of the new system 
than of pointing out its possible defects. Horticultural exhibitions have 
in our time accomplished one most useful purpose, in the promotion of 
good taste in dinner-table decorations, by means of the numerous competitions 
that have been instituted for the purpose throughout the length and 
breadth of the land. 
The exhibitions resulting from the invitations given have had a marked effect 
on the taste displayed at home in the employment of flowers as embellish¬ 
ments, and, to a certain extent, as necessary adjuncts to festivities and family 
gatherings. Much talent hitherto latent, or but rarely called into exercise, 
has been quickened into activity, and many who could appreciate good 
teaching in matters of taste have benefited by the lessons offered. In our 
visits to exhibitions, we have been deeply interested in watching the 
development of the art of decorating in this particular department of the 
economy of the Home of Taste, and it is with delightful satisfaction we have 
observed the steady improvement from year to year by which these exhibitions 
have been marked. When they were first instituted, many clumsy con¬ 
trivances for the reception of fruit and flowers, and many ill-judged 
combinations of colours, were displayed ; there was, indeed, for a time a 
sort of indefinable want felt by many of some type or standard of perfection, 
which was in part supplied when the Misses March made their debut, and 
attained the highest honours at South Kensington, by means of what were 
immediately designated the “ Marchian 6pergnes.” In a typical group, there 
was a central vase of three tiers, and two smaller vases of two tiers each, all 
of colourless glass, and of a simple and elegant design ; and many variations 
of the “ Marchian ” glasses followed, with cornucopias, and hanging baskets, all 
in clear glass. Great as was this improvement on the older forms of dinner- 
table decoration, these glasses had several weak points, one of the most 
troublesome being the difficulty with which the flowers were induced to stay 
in the flat saucer-shaped trays; one or two heavy blossoms often causing the 
whole to fall out, just as they were complete in arrangement. Another 
difficulty arose, when flowers became scarce in winter; for a large number 
of various kinds of bloom was necessary for a “ Marchian ” vase, and few 
horticulturists cared to cut so many flowers during the cold season. The 
monotony, too, of having constantly the same form in the centre of our 
dinner-tables, before long began to pall on the senses, and the idea of a 
carefully thought-out scheme of colour in one or two tints only (which could 
