as require carving, after having been once placed on the dinnertable, are removed to a side-table, and there carved by an expert servant. Serving several dishes at one time, of course, impairs the quality of many, on account of the impossibility of keeping them hot. This might, in fact, render some dishes quite worthless.
And now, before giving the details of serving a dinner on the newer compromise plan, I will describe the "setting" or arranging of the table, which may be advantageously adopted, whatever the mode of serving.
In the first place, a round table five feet in diameter is the best calculated to show off a dinner. If of this size, it may be decorated to great advantage, and conveniently used for six or eight persons, without enlargement.
Put a thick baize under the table-cloth. This is quite indispensable. It prevents noise, and the finest and handsomest table-linen looks comparatively thin and sleazy on a bare table.
Do not put starch in the napkins, as it renders them stiff and disagreeable, and only a very little in the table-cloth. They should be thick enough, and, at the same time, of fine enough texture, to have firmness without starch. Too much can not be said as to the pleasant effect of a dinner, when the table-linen is of spotless purity, and the dishes and silver are perfectly bright.
Although many ornaments may be used in decorating the table, yet nothing is so pretty and so indicative of a refined taste as flowers. If you have no épergne for them, use a compotier or raised dish, with a plate upon the top, to hold cut flowers; or place flower-pots with blossoming plants on the table. A net-work of wire, painted green, or of wood or crochet work, may be used to conceal the roughness of the flowerpot. A still prettier arrangement is to set the pot in a jardinière vase.
At a dinner party, place a little bouquet by the side of the plate of each lady, in a small glass or silver bouquet-holder.
At the gentlemen's plates put a little bunch of three or four flowers, called a boutonnière, in the folds of the napkin. As
