ies
against twenty gentlemen.

* * * * *

=Invitations to a Garden-party= should be issued in the name of the
hostess, and within three weeks to a week of the date fixed. "At home"
cards should be used for this purpose, and the words "and party" should
be invariably added after the names of the invited guests.

"Croquet" or "Tennis" should be printed in one corner of the card, the
hour, 3 to 7 o'clock, above, the day and the date beneath the name of
hostess. "Weather permitting" is seldom written upon the card, and the
guests are expected to arrive even though the afternoon should be
showery and overcast, and only a thoroughly wet afternoon, with no break
between the showers, should prevent their appearing. In the country,
ladies think little of a drive of ten miles to attend a garden-party.

* * * * *

=Arrangements for Garden-Parties.=--Garden-parties or croquet-parties
are given on different scales of expenditure, and the preparations are
regulated accordingly.

When a garden-party is given on a small scale, and the preparations are
comparatively few, refreshments should be served in the house. (For the
usual refreshments provided, and for the general arrangements, see work
entitled "Waiting at Table," p. 82.)

A good supply of garden-chairs and seats should be placed on the lawn
and about the grounds, rugs spread on the grass for those who sit out,
and several sets of croquet provided for players.

At large garden-parties a band is considered a necessary adjunct, and
the band of the regiment quartered in the vicinity is usually available
for these occasions.

A band gives _eclat_ to an out-door gathering and confers local
importance upon it. Apart from this, the strains of a band enliven an
entertainment of this description in no little degree. The place where
the band is stationed is a rallying-point for the company, and the
expense and trouble consequent upon engaging a band are repaid by the
amusement it affords.

The matter of engaging a military band is generally undertaken by the
master of the house, rather than by the mistress, as, in the first
place, the consent of the colonel of the regiment has to be obtained as
a matter of form and courtesy before the arrangements are completed with
the bandmaster.

Conveyance for the band has also to be provided and discussed with the
bandmaster, and also refreshments for the bandsmen; and these