February 10,1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
117 
Maidenhair Ferns were also sparingly placed among the fruit. Of 
course, a large dining table is required to justify the use of so 
striking a centrepiece. 
A very handsome centre arrangement for a large table may be 
set up in the following way. Select a good plant about 4 feet in 
height. Place this in the centre of a good-sized ordinary oval 
serving tray. At each side of this plant put an Asparagus plumosus, 
and round the outer edge of the tray a few foliage plants, such as 
Dracaenas, Crotons, or Palms, though it may be noted here that 
none is better for all purposes than green-leaved plants, and this 
more particularly when flowers are used to any great extent. After 
the various plants are set in position fill in between the balls with 
moist well-worked clay. If flowers are scarce the clay may be 
covered with the common Selaginella, and have a few graceful 
flowers over its surface. When the tray is set on the table finish 
off the edge. Seedling Adiantums laid on the cloth in a slanting 
position are best for this purpose, and a few of these may be intro¬ 
duced among the Selaginellas with good effect. If there are plenty 
of flowers, however, instead of using the moss the entire surface 
may be dotted with some particular kind, as, for instance, white 
Chrysanthemums, white Azaleas, Paper-white Narcissus, or double 
white Primulas, and among these place wired sprays of Lily of the 
Valley, white Tulips, Roman Hyacinths, Calanthe vestita, or white 
Odontoglossums. Richardias and Eucharises are also very good, 
but these should be kept low. Coelogyne cristata is capital for 
finishing off the edges. Among white flowers sprays of the common 
variegated Panicum add greatly to the effect, and if it is considered 
necessary to add more green than that afforded by the plants a few 
trailing sprays of Ficus repens or Myrsiphyllum asparagoides are 
preferable to Ferns. 
Coming now to flowers, it may first of all be noted that nothing 
surpasses pure white flowers for table decoration. For breakfast or 
lunch the addition of yellow adds to the effect without in any way 
destroying the chasteness of the white. However, by candlelight 
yellow and white appear very much alike, and orange and brown 
shades or soft rose may be employed to give colour. An occasional 
richness of tone may be attempted, crimson Tulips being very 
good. Amaryllises are also good. Clematis Jackmanni affords a 
very effective hue. When plushes are employed it will be found 
much better to harmonise the flower used with these. Thus, a 
yellow plush may have all the flowers white or greenish yellow, as 
Cypripedium insigne ; or soft rose, when Chinese Primulas, Pelar¬ 
goniums, or Tulips may be used ; or orange-browns are admissible. 
A deep lilac, like Aster bessarabicus, is also good. 
There is no better medium for setting-up flowers than common 
globe-shaped glasses. In these one good bloom or truss may be 
placed, or a large number of flowers and foliage may be arranged with 
good effect. These glasses have the primary advantage of showing 
the flowers themselves, which ought to be (but unfortunately is 
not) the end of floral decorating. Tall glasses in any shape are out 
■of place for table work. Crystal shapes of trough shape are in 
occasional use. When well done these are pretty, but they are 
extremely wasteful of material. There is some difficulty in getting 
foliage and flowers to remain in position in these receptacles, and 
various methods are employed to secure this end. Nothing, how- 
over, does better than small sprays of common Box put in thickly 
among the water, the stalks of the legitimate occupants being held 
tightly among these. Much the same remark applies to the “ fairy 
lamps,’ which are apt to give trouble through the flowers falling 
out of place. Box, as above indicated, makes a perfectly secure 
medium to hold the flowers in position. As it is necessary to veil 
the shades with foliage, the heat from the lights causes great waste 
of material, Ferns being completely spoilt in one night. Sprays of 
Thuias gigantea, Wareana, or Elwangeriana stand better than any- 
thing, and are fairly good for the purpose in other respects. The 
prettiest of all the shades are, I think, the yellow ones. With the 
glasses filled with white flowers and foliage only these are soft and 
pleasing in effect. For breakfast the lampstands may be utilised 
by putting small globe dishes filled with flowers in the place of the 
lights and shades. A very pretty method of using flowers is to 
stand them on the tablecloth am mg foliage. During summer good 
blooms of Roses wired are set un among their own foliage. Lapa- 
gerias, Eucharises, Michaelmas Daisies, Marguerites, Chrysanthe¬ 
mums, Tulips, &c., are suitable for this purpose. 
I or single blooms a strong ordinary bouquet wire is bent so as 
to stand quite firmly on the cloth and support thi flower, which is 
tied to the upright portion of the wire, the portion on the cloth 
eing hidden among foliage. With longer and stronger wires large 
arrangements are set up. All the flowers are of course wired, and 
are tied to the central one. Flowers are also extensively used for 
ajing on the cloth, either with or without any method of 
arrangement. Good Orchids are most suitable for this purpose 
■and m any case only the best of flowers should be used. Of foliage 
that is suitable for table work are various Ferns, Ivy, Ivy-leaf 
Pelargoniums, Chrysanthemums, Carrots, the autumn-tinted foliage 
of various trees, Virginian Creepers, Coleuses, Roses, &c. 
The decorator of tables will do well to bear in mind that his 
help is called in as accessory, and not by any means as of primary 
importance. The lights and necessary appointments of the table 
must always hold the first place, and no matter what form the 
disposal of flowers may take, they must always be held as subordinate 
to these. Working with these limits defined in his mind there is 
more likelihood of producing effective arrangements than by taking 
a view which places flowers first, and everything else in the second 
place.—B. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM CULTURE. 
I HAVE read with interest Mr. Shoesmith’s paper on “ Chrysanthe¬ 
mums for Exhibition,” and he has produced wonderful stands of blooms, 
so that his advice is worth following. He mentions that there is an 
idea among some who are not successful that their more favoured 
brethren have some patent medicine wherewith they obtain such grand 
results, but I should say that idea generally is exploded. I remember 
when living at Emsworth, Hants, visiting a very successful grower of 
Chrysanthemums, and as it was dark we were shown them by candle 
light. We were a small party, and determined to find out what was 
used to produce such fine flowers, so one of our party felt the soil very 
carefully whilst we held the gardener in conversation ; but judge of our 
mirth when coming to the light find the detective’s [face more like a 
nigger’s than anything else. The grower had only been using a 
sprinkling of soot.— Sydney White. 
NEW PLANTS OF 1886. 
(Continued from page 94.) 
Ind., Inflorescence.— L., Leaves.— Fl., Flowers.— Fr., Fruit.—JET., Hardy. 
— H.H., Half-hardy.— G., Greenhouse.— 3., Stove.— Per., Perennial.— 
Shr., Shrub.— In., Inches.— Lin., Line = One-twelfth of an inch.— 
Ft., Foot or Feet.— Diam., Diameter.— Pet., Petals.— Sep., Sepals. 
N.B.—Unless specified, all Orchids may be considered to be stove epiphytes. 
Cycas Duivenbodei. (Cat. Comp. Cont. d’Hort., p. 9.) S. A fine 
Cycad, having a spiny trunk, covered with blackish brown scales, and pin¬ 
nate 1. 3-3J ft. long, with crowded acuminate leaflets an in. broad. 
Moluccas. 
Cymbidium eburneum, var. Philbrickianum. (G. C. iiv,, p. 585.) 
Orchideas. A white variety resembling C. Panshii in growth, with rather 
narrow sep. and pet., and.the side lobes of the lip well apart from the nar¬ 
rower middle lobe ; the callus is narrow, with a most obscure mid-keel. 
Cypripedium apiculatum. (G. C. xxv., p. 617.) A hybrid between C. 
barbatum and C. Boxalli, with rather broad obscurely reticulated 1. FI. 
Bhining inside. Dorsal sep. cuneate oblong acute, reddish brown, with 
black-purple veins, and an ochieous margin ; lower sep. oblong, acute, 
green with reddish-brown veins. Pet. somewhat spathulate, ciliate on the 
inner margin, light brown-purple, the lower half yel'owish from middle to 
base, and there spotted with purple-b ack. L!p nearly like C. Boxalli in 
form, brown in front, greenish-ochre with small brown spots at the base. 
Staminode transversely oblong, apiculate, with a deep green knob in front. 
Garden hybrid. 
Cypripedium Barteti and[C. Laforcadei. (G.C.xxv., p. 532 ; R. E. 
1886, p. 84.) Two [hybrids between C. barbatum and C. Cbantini, raised 
from the same seed pod. The two are much alike, but Barteti is the better 
of the two, having a broad dorsal sep. with a green ground flushed with 
rose, blackish-purple nerves, and bordered with white ; pet. narrow yellow¬ 
ish, striped with reddish-brown, shining, conspicuously veined. Both are 
figured in the “ Orchidophile.” Garden hybrids. 
Cypripedium callosum. (G. C. xxvi., p. 326.) Something in the way 
of C. A'gus, with a very large, transversely elliptic, acute dorsal sep. of a 
white colour washed with purple and having numerous green nerves. 
Lower sep. half as long as the lip, ligulate acute. Pet. ligulate, pendulous, 
green, purple on the top, ciliate, and marked with black shining warts on 
the margins and disk. Lip like that of C. superbiens. Staminode reddish, 
marbled with green.n Siam. 
Cypripedium concolor, var. chlorophyllum. (G. C. xxvi., p. 294.) A 
variety having the 1. free from any marbling, and the fl. full of small spots. 
Cypripedium concolor, var. Re ynieri. (G. C. xxv., p. 362.) A fine 
variety, with large well marbled 1., and yellow fl.; with a purple blotch on 
the outside of the sep.; the staminode is ochre clotted with purple, and his 
a white margin in front. Cambodia. 
Cypripedium Geuminyanum. (G. C. xxv., p. 200.) A hybrid between 
C. villosum and C. hirsutissimum, resembling the latter in the fl. The 
dorsal eep. is oblong, undulate, green with a shining brown disk ; pet. 
iigulate-oblong, spreading, green, and spotted with brown at the base, the 
broaderjfront part purple ; lip greenish-yellow, brown in front, Garden 
hybrid. 
Cypripedium insigne, var. albo marginatum. (W. 0. A. pi. 232.) A 
distinct variety, having the dorsal sep. yellowish green with a very broad 
white margin, spotted on the green part with brown; the pit. are tawny 
yellow with darker .veins; and the lip is pale brownish, yellow iDside. 
India. 
Cypripedium Io. (G. C. xxv., p. 488.) A fine hybrid between C. 
Argus and C. Lawrenceanum, with 1. like those of the latter, and fl. resem¬ 
bling that of C. Argus. The broad dorsal sep. has the median nerves 
green, and the side ones purple ; lower sep. small, green nerved ; pet. brown 
at the tips. Garden hybrid. 
Cypripedium Lawrenceanum, var. Hyeanum. (L. pi. 42 ; G. C. xxv., 
p. 680.) A distinct form, having the veins of the large white dorsal sep. 
