HARMONY OF COLOURS. 



595 



tainly by far the greatest experience in 

 the matter, Mr Repton, says — " A beau- 

 tiful garden is not more defective because 

 it would not look well on canvass, than a 

 didactic poem, because it neither furnishes 

 a subject for the painter or musician." 



Were a parterre in form of an arc, or 

 part of a circle, planted with parallel lines 

 of flowers, as near as possible in colour 

 to the seven prismatic colours in the rain- 

 bow, its appearance would bear a sorry 

 resemblance to the original. How much 

 more must this harmony be disturbed, 

 when the colours are scattered over a 

 surface of several acres, with large and 

 irregular masses of green lawn, or brown, 

 black, or white gravel intervening ! Some- 

 thing approximating this sort of harmony 

 in colours may be effected in one mass, 

 or in the building of a nosegay; but 

 to carry this by repetition over a large 

 surface, would appear extremely mono- 

 tonous, and would probably afford much 

 less satisfaction than if the whole had 

 been left to the taste of the planter, pre- 

 suming that he is a person of taste, and 

 of sufficient experience in such matters. 

 Without wishing to depreciate the opinions 

 of others, still we hold that, to arrange 

 the colours in a large flower-garden so 

 that it shall meet the full approbation of 

 the painter, however much it may be 

 desired, is a feat in gardening not likely 

 to be completely realised. That there is 

 room, however, for rendering our gardens 

 more beautiful in respect to the arrange- 

 ment of colour and forms than they often 

 are, is undeniable ; and with such mate- 

 rials as we have at our command, in the 

 shape of plants and flowers, we believe 

 that, in the hands of such men as Mr 

 Beaton, and many others who are actively 

 engaged in this subject, good results will 

 ultimately be brought out. In the pre- 

 sent state of our knowledge of the subject, 

 it will be safer to be guided by the prac- 

 tical experience of the intelligent flower- 

 gardener, than to follow the theories laid 

 down by painters, however eminent they 

 may be. The principles inculcated by 

 artists may all be correct enough as re- 

 gards the specific subject to which they 

 have applied them, but may be of very little 

 importance in planting the flower-garden. 



In conformity with the above opinion, 

 we have avoided giving, in our coloured 

 illustrations of flower-gardens, arrange- 



ments of colours founded upon any of 

 the theories propounded by the authori- 

 ties quoted. We have offered those which 

 our own practical experience in such 

 matters suggests to us as at once practi- 

 cable and agreeable to the generality of 

 tastes, and by such tastes we are willing 

 to be judged. 



It may not, however, be uninteresting 

 — nay, we deem it right, to glance briefly 

 at a few of the theories laid down, because 

 this subject is at present engrossing very 

 general attention ; but, at the same time, 

 we do not hold ourselves responsible for 

 the correctness of those opinions. 



The two first leading authorities on the 

 subject of colour were Sir Isaac Newton 

 and Field. The views of the former were 

 followed by Sir David Brewster and other 

 philosophical writers on chromatics ; and 

 their theory w T as, that there were seven 

 simple or homogeneous colours employed 

 to produce the white solar light. The 

 theory of the latter was, that three only 

 were required — namely, red, yellow, and 

 blue, and that all others resulted from 

 them. To this theory Sir David Brewster 

 eventually became a convert, and it seems 

 now adopted by most writers on colouring 

 connected with the fine arts. 



The following experiment, made by M. 

 Buffon, and since illustrated by men of 

 science, is given in confirmation of this 

 theory : " If we look steadily for a con- 

 siderable time upon a spot of a given 

 colour, placed on a white or black ground, 

 it will appear surrounded by a border of 

 another colour. And this colour will 

 uniformly be found to be that which 

 makes up the triad ; for if the spot be 

 red, the border will be green, which is 

 composed of blue and yellow ; if blue, 

 the border will be orange, composed of 

 yellow and red ; and if yellow, the bor- 

 der will be purple, making, in all cases, 

 a triunity of the three colours, called 

 by artists homogeneous." From these 

 three primary colours, by proper com- 

 bination, every variety of tint or hue is 

 said to be produced. 



" From the combination of the three 

 primary colours," D. R. Hay observes, 

 "the secondary arise. These are, orange, 

 which is composed of yellow and red, in 

 the proportion of three to five ; purple, 

 which is composed of red and blue, in the 

 proportion of five to eight; and green, 



