This section is from the book "The Gardener's Monthly And Horticulturist V27", by Thomas Meehan. See also: Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long.
A correspondent of the London Journal of Horticulture says: "Above all avoid overcrowding. In general few plants are wanted at the dinner table; at one for four persons, I should put two Crotons, Chelsoni or interruptus aureus, one on each side of the centrepiece, or two Asparagus plumosus canus, and two Rivina laevis, one at each end to correspond. Their red fruits show up well, but do not let them stop in more than one night, or their berries may fall. The plants near the centrepiece should be 6 inches lower than the centrepiece, the end plants to be half the height of the centrepiece. As many small glasses as there are guests should be arranged, each with a buttonhole".
 
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