596 



LAYING OUT FLOWER-GARDENS. 



composed of yellow and blue, in the pro- 

 portion of three to eight. These are called 

 accidental or contrasting colours to the 

 primaries, with which they produce har- 

 mony in opposition, in the same manner 

 in which it is effected in music by accom- 

 paniment ; — the orange with the blue, the 

 purple with the yellow, and the green with 

 the red. This neutralising or compensat- 

 ing power is the foundation of all agree- 

 ment and harmony amongst colours, and 

 upon it depends all the brilliancy and 

 force of every conception. 



" From the combination of these second- 

 aries arise the tertiaries, which are also 

 three in number, as follows : Olive, from 

 the mixture of the purple and green ; 

 citron, from the mixture of the green and 

 orange ; and russet, from the mixture of 

 the orange and purple. These three 

 colours, however, like the compounds 

 produced by their admixture, may be 

 reckoned under the general denomination 

 of neutral hues, as they are all formed by 

 a mixture of the same ingredients — the 

 three primaries, which always, less or 

 more, neutralise each other in triunity. 

 These tertiaries, however, stand in the 

 same relation to the secondaries that the 

 secondaries do to the primaries — olive to 

 orange, citron to purple, and russet to 

 green ; and their proportions will be 

 found to be in the same accordance, and 

 neutralising each other integrally as 32. 

 Out of the tertiaries arise a series of other 

 colours, such as brown, marone, slate, &c. 

 in an incalculable gradation, until they 

 arrive at a perfect neutrality in black." 



A proper arrangement, according to the 

 principles of harmony, is more easily 

 arrived at than an arrangement by con- 

 trast, at least so far as the full effect 

 which it is possible to produce is con- 

 cerned. An arrangement by contrast is 

 perhaps more striking at first sight, and 

 hence so popular, when the study of the 

 effect is not fully entered into. 



As a practical rule in planting par- 

 terres, the most intense colours should be 

 placed in the centre, gradually softening 

 down towards the margin of the bed or 

 the sides of the garden. Hence, bright 

 scarlet make the best centres, and whites 

 the best margins. 



In a leading article in the Gardeners* 

 Chronicle, the following explanation of M. 

 Chevreul's views is given as they apply 



to the contrast of colours, as laid down in 

 his interesting work, De la Loi du Contrast 

 simultane des Couleurs : — 



" Every ray of white light is composed 

 of a certain number of red, yellow, and 

 blue rays, combined in certain propor- 

 tions. Red, yellow, and blue, are called 

 simple colours ; other colours, being pro- 

 duced by a combination of two or all of 

 these, are called compound colours. When 

 white light falls upon any surface, it is 

 either wholly absorbed, wholly reflected, 

 or partly absorbed and partly reflected, 

 by that surface. In the first case, the sur- 

 face looks black; in the second, white; and 

 in the third, it takes the colour of the 

 reflected ray or rays. In the last case, it 

 is evident that the effect of the absorbed 

 and of the reflected rays, if combined, 

 would be the reproduction of white light. 

 Now, this property, possessed by rays of 

 different colours — or, in other words, by 

 different colours — of producing, when 

 combined in certain proportions, white 

 light, is expressed by saying that such 

 rays or such colours are complementary 

 the one to the other. 



" Thus, we say that 



Red is complementary to green, and vice versa. 

 Orange „ „ blue „ „ 

 Greenish yellow „ violet „ „ 

 Indigo „ „ orange yellow „ 



Because red and green, orange and blue, 

 greenish yellow and violet, indigo and 

 orange yellow, produce white light by 

 their respective combinations. 



" By the simultaneous contrast of colours 

 is meant the effect produced on the eye 

 by two different coloured bodies placed 

 side by side. By contrast of tone is meant 

 the modification in depth, or intensity of 

 colour ; and by contrast of colour, the modi- 

 fication in the optical composition of 

 each contrasted colour. 



" The first great point to remember with 

 regard to this subject is, that whenever 

 the eye perceives at the same time two 

 substances, differing from each other in 

 appearance, it sees them as dissimilar as 

 possible, both as regards their optical 

 composition, and the depth or tone of 

 their colour. 



" With respect to the tone or intensity of 

 colour, it is universally true, that if two 

 colours of different intensities, or if two 

 portions of one and the same colour, 



