to its utmost limits with a dozen different flowers
of as many shades, only one, two, or at most three, kinds are now used,
and these are set out in as =graceful and airy= a manner as possible.
=Plain glass vases=, as a rule, show the blossoms off best, though pale
green or ruby occasionally looks very well. The water need not be changed
every day in all cases; it depends on the flower; wall-flowers, for
instance, turn the water putrid very soon, while it keeps fresh much
longer where roses are concerned. =The vases should, however, be filled up
once a day=, as the stems suck up moisture rapidly. Hard-wooded flower
stalks should receive special attention, or they will droop directly.

=STEM-SPLITTING.= Lilac, when cut and placed in water will absorb no more
moisture than a lead pencil, unless the stems are split up; this can be
done either with a hammer or a knife or both. As many leaves as possible
should be left on the stems, for when under water they largely help to
make the blossoms last well; it is only where the stalks are nearly
leafless that the splitting and peeling is necessary.

=Maidenhair fern may be made to last= much longer if the end of the black,
wiry stem is hammered for about an inch up.

It must not be forgotten that =cutting from a plant strengthens it=, and
induces it to continue sending up flower-stalks. People often seem chary
of cutting their roses with any length of stem, I suppose because it has
leaves and shoots all the way up, but this is an error; they should be cut
with about eight or ten inches of stalk; pansies and _violas_ also look
much more natural when a portion of the shoot is cut along with each
blossom.

=BY PARCEL POST.= On hot summer days, when flowers are to be sent by post,
=they should be picked early in the morning=, several hours before they
are to be sent off, and placed in bowls of water; then, if they are packed
close together in tin, wood, or even card-board boxes they will arrive
quite fresh at their destination, where otherwise they would be hopelessly
faded. When a box of flowers is received, the contents should be put =in
luke-warm water= in a dim light for an hour or so; they can then be
re-arranged in the vases they are intended to occupy.

=BLUE--A DAYLIGHT COLOUR.= Some colours respond to artificial light much
better than others. =Most shades of blue are not suitable for decorating
dinner tables=, because they turn almost brown, or at best a dull mauve.
In