February 17, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



133 



mast be kept 

 tepid water. 



luite clean by oooasionally sponging them with 



THE ARRANGEMENTS OF COLOURS 



IN THE BEDS OF THE LONDON PARKS AND GAEPENS.— No. G. 

 Laboe masBee of black or dark brown are always productive 

 of more effect than large masses of white or grey. Black and 



Bed H. 



4. Lobelia pumila graudiHota. 



5. Stellaria gi'aminea auvea. 



1 . AUeruantbera am<:tna epectabilis. 

 tj. Lobelia puiniJa graudiilora. [jor 

 8. Alternanthera paronyi-hyoides ma- 

 white in masses should be sparingly introduced everywhere 

 where the end to be attained is gaiety, variety, and beauty. 

 The good colourist has not only to study harmony of combina- 

 tions, but suitableness and local fitness, and he will require to 

 vary his scale of colours in depth and tone. For some aspects, 



Fig. 34 —Bed I. 



1. Coleus VerF<cbaA'eltii spleudeus. 



2. Little Golden Christine Geraninm, 



pink flower and golden leaf. 

 8. Lobelia Blue Bonnet, a xieh blue 



with a white eye. Very good and 

 effective. 

 MesembryaQthemum cordifolium 

 variegatam. 



are necessary. It should be remembered that if any of the 

 primary colours have a mixture or shade of another primary 

 it loses its purity and becomes, iu a degree, secondary. The 

 secondary which is complementary to it must contain more of 

 the remaining primary. Thns, if red tends towards scarlet, 

 which is an orange red (red with yellow in it), the green, to be 

 truly complementary, should incline towards the remaining 

 primary blue, and be a blue-green. When red, on the contrary, 

 tends towards crimson (red with a blue in it), then the com- 

 plementary green should incline towards yellow, and be a yellow- 

 green, and the Uke rule holds good as to other primaries. 



In the harmonies of tertiary hues, as well as of tints and 

 hues, some of the most refined and beautiful arrangements 

 will be found. Thus, primrose, which is a tint of yellow, is iu 

 harmony with lilac, which is a tint of purple ; while straw 

 colour, which is a tint of orange slightly neutralised, is con- 

 trasted with a negative blue tint. These intermediate shades 

 and tints, when nicely arranged, are very satisfactory to the 

 eye, and when harmony is attained from their arrangements 

 the pleasure is greater than from those of the simpler and 

 more obvious kinds of contrasts. 



The examples submitted require only a few varieties of 

 plants, and their simple flowing arrangement presents an 

 agreeable change to the more elaborate modes of planting 



such as near the house or building, he must use cold and 

 soft colours ; for distant e£Eect, warm, deep, and rich colours 



Fig. 35.— Bed J. 



1. Coleus Verschafifeltii. 



2. Golden Pyrethrum. 



8. Alternanthera magnilica. 



4. Echeveria seounda glauca. 



5. Stellaria graminea anrea. 



which have previously been given as suitable for cii'cular beds. 

 I will next consider how oval-shaped beds may be effectively 

 planted. — N. Cole, Kensington. 



GLASS COPING AND FRUIT CROP FOR 1875. 



No. 2. 



While admitting that glass coping afforded but little assist- 

 ance last spring towards the fruit crop, I am equaUy satisfied 

 that in many, and perhaps in most seasons, it would be of the 

 very greatest value — for instance, a cold, wet, boisterous spring 

 with sharp frosts alternately, would ruin any prospect without 

 the protection of coping and its appendage a screen. 



The screen, I am persuaded, is no less valuable than the 

 coping in inclement and windy weather. The south-westera 

 are the winds that prevail just at the critical time of flower- 

 ing. Now with these winds the coping iu itself would cut a 

 poor figure to save the crop. I look on these wet cutting 

 winds to be far more destructive than the hard dry frosts. The 

 wind drives home to the very flower, carrying death to the 

 tender herald of our hopes — a crop. That dry flowers will stand 

 harmless a few degrees of frost is well known, hence coping is 

 so strongly recommended. Coping alone with " south-westers " 

 avails but little, but a good screen in conjunction will make all 

 Bafe and comfortable. When I advocate coping I inolnde its 



