6 
COMPANION TO- THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 
running stream, you will find Forget-me-not fringing the bank, and small 
waving reeds and grasses. With these and similar materials carefully 
selected, a group may be elaborated which, in its humble way, is almost 
a work of art.” Equally sound are his notions with regard to colour and 
contrast, the conclusion at which he arrives being that “ wherever three 
epergnes are used at a dinner-table I should prefer using a single bright 
colour in each epergne, but all the colours different, or one colour in the 
centre ornament and another colour in the two side epergnes, keeping 
these two alike.” 
The f Practical Directions* thoroughly deserve the name. Mr. March 
takes for granted that his readers are supremely ignorant, and hence 
leaves nothing unexplained. Now this we conceive to be a great merit. 
Oftentimes, for want of a little explanation, which, of course, the writer 
thought every one knew, a whole subject is misunderstood and spoiled. 
Thus, we ourselves tried our hand at these epergnes, and we never could 
quite make out how it was that we failed to make them equal our expec¬ 
tations. But, lo ! the clay was the point, we had never thought of that; 
and now we knew how it was that we failed. With regard to border 
leaves, the three best, in Mr. M.*s opinion, are, the Fern, the Ivy, and 
the Oak. Laurels should be avoided. Some verv common leaves, such 
as Coltsfoot, Dock, and Mallow, he also suggests may be used under cer¬ 
tain conditions; while the Maidenhair and the common Male and Lady 
Fern are universally admired. 
In the arrangement of the Flowers he divides his subjects into four 
classes, and gives very minute directions under each of these heads, and 
several examples are given of the effect produced. We may here men¬ 
tion that some very beautiful drawings have been published to accompany 
the work. They have been drawn from photographs, and represent what 
Mr. March considers the most successful “ hits** he has made. The 
group of Lilies-of-the-Valiev and Forget-me-not is, to our mind, the 
most beautiful, the exquisite simplicity of the design being its chief re¬ 
commendation. Flowers to be avoided are also noticed, so that it is well- 
nigh impossible for any one to go astray when taking Mr. M. as their 
guide. 
The subject of Dinner-table Decoration occupies barely half of the book, 
the remainder of it is devoted to kindred subjects, such as the ar¬ 
rangement of baskets for the drawing-room, then border and ribbon gar¬ 
dening ; the cultivation of plants on the leads of a house in London. Ve¬ 
randa gardening and London conservatories are noticed in their turn; 
but, as our object has been rather to direct attention to the subject of 
dinner-table decoration, we must leave them unnoticed. Sufficient has 
been said to give an idea of the general character of the work, and we 
hope to induce our readers to study it for themselves. There are few who 
may not be benefited by it, however excellent their taste and large their 
experience. 
