By Henry T. Williams. 
NEW YORK, JANUARY, 1878. 
No. 73. Price 12 Cents. 
TWO PRIZE TABLE DESIGN'S. 
At an exhibition of the Massachusetts Horticultural 
Society, a prize was offered for the best arranged 
table design, not exceeding four feet in height. I trill 
endeavor to describe from memory the design that 
won the prize. 
From a glass tazza, about a foot in diameter, arose 
a stalk of glass about two feet high, which ended in 
a trumpet, also of glass. From the stalk, about half 
way up, sprang three curved branches, each supporting 
a trumpet, also. The tazza and trumpets were filled 
with choice flowers most exquisitely arranged. With 
the exception of scarlet and white Fuchsias, I do not 
remember what varieties of flowers were used, but I 
shall never forget how delighted I was at the sight of 
the beautiful thing. There were just flowers enough ; 
not an unnecessary one, and each one just where it 
belonged. I believe there was some Smilax used, 
though I am not sure ; but the crowning grace of the 
whole thing was the delicate mist of Adiantum, 
which seemed almost to float in the air above the 
flowers in the trumpets, producing an effect im¬ 
possible to describe. The tazza had an edging of 
handsome Ferns, which showed to the best advantage 
on the white cloth cover of the table. 
The same society awarded, in 1876, the 
for a larger and showier one, and this I w 
first prize 
ill describe 
bells of the Echeveria. Each of the branches sup¬ 
ported a tiny oval basket filled with lovely flowers 
tastefully arrange!!, and having in the centre a blos¬ 
som of Erythrina, whose peculiar blood red color pro 
dneed a unique and charming effect. Three alternate 
baskets drooped a little lower, and hung a little closer 
to the centre than the other three, adding thereby to 
the effect. I noticed that the baskets'were without 
handles, also that they had the appearance of being 
suspended by one end, by which means the flowers 
were all faced outward. The tazza at the bottom was 
filled with rich, bright flowers, and fringed with Ferns. 
From the base of the lute drooped strings of Smilax, 
which were caught up on the branches near the bas¬ 
kets. 
I will add before I close, a word or two about the 
idea in table designs from Tilton's Journal of Horti¬ 
culture for 1867: 
“ Such ornaments for the dining-table are confess¬ 
edly the most difficult arrangements that taste has to 
achieve. If very dwarf, they are insignificant 
except to the guests beside them ; if of medium 
height, and closely ornamented with foliage and 
flowers, they intercept all vis-a-vis communication, 
and destroy the effect which ought to be produced 
by the tout ensemble of the table ; if tall, so that a 
portion of the floral decoration is above the heads 
of the guests, and the remainder on a level of the 
table, the effect of those separated portions is ex¬ 
traordinarily weakened.” M. G. 
Jardiniere, with Hyacinths. 
Fernery and Rockery in Aquarium. * 
as well as I can. From a large tazza, forming the 
base of the design, arose a standard, composed of six 
small galvanized iron rods, surrounding a larger cen¬ 
tral rod. These rods were bound firmly together for 
about eighteen inches. At this point they separated, 
the six outside rods curving outward and downward, 
while the central one continued about a foot above the 
point of separation, and was surmounted by a small 
lute composed of choice light-colored flowers. The 
strings of the lute were formed of the scarlet and golden 
