263 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 
be in tlie centre, paler roses should bo near to it on 
either side as well as above; if geraniums prevail in 
our group, the scarlet should be in the centre, and 
the lighter tinted varieties more distant from it, ac¬ 
cording to then- hues. 
One correspondent asks us “ which we think should 
be the most prevalent colour in bouquets?” But it 
is impossible to lay down any rule for this. All 
are beautiful, and the decision of which is the most 
so varies with the taste of the judge, and that taste 
is influenced by such circumstances as associated 
colours, climate, and seasons. Thus, we thought, 
when about to settle for a time within the tropics, 
that green would be a cool and refreshing colour for 
the eye to rest upon; but, so far from this being the 
case, we found that crimson was the most pleasing 
for the furniture of our rooms. In some degree this 
arose from the excess of that cold absence of colour 
—white—which predominated in the objects around, 
from the costume of the native servants to the entire 
walls of the apartments. Yet it is the same, we 
think, even in England. Here, a bouquet of the 
brightest flowers is more agreeable to the eye in our 
drawing-rooms than one of paler tints during the in¬ 
tense heat of a summer-day’s noontide. 
On these points we have received the following 
letter from a correspondent evidently accustomed 
to practise what good taste dictates:— 
“ One of the most beautiful bouquets I ever saw 
was composed of a mass of scarlet geraniums inter¬ 
spersed with fairy white roses, and surrounded by 
half-blown double white camellias. A very pretty 
bouquet for mourning may be formed of white flowers 
surrounded by double violets. No bouquet is good 
without a rich green and a dead white. The flowers 
should be arranged in masses. For instance, gather 
myrtle for the green, scarlet geranium, a large tea- 
scented rose or two, a gardenia or Italian jessamine 
(if not come-at-able, some common jessamine), some 
golden calceolaria, and a bunch of nemophylla in¬ 
signia or blue salvia, and we have the three primitive 
colours at once, which cannot fail to be pleasing to 
the eye, whether in painting, needlework, or the fur¬ 
niture of a room, in fact in every artificial arrange¬ 
ment of colours.* I have never "been able to make 
a small nosegay look well where purples and lilacs 
were introduced, unless all reds and blues were ex¬ 
cluded. In a large vase, of course, the compound 
colours may be separated from the primitive, and look 
extremely well.f The flowers I have named are se¬ 
lected because they are found in every garden- Cras- 
sula coccinea would be a splendid substitute for the 
geranium; dwarf magnolia for the rose, and blue 
achimines for the salvia. The plumbago larpentee 
is also a lovely flower for the purpose. A bouquet 
for the hand should be formed by winding a long 
string round the centre flower and successively round 
each as it is placed, which will bind them firmly to¬ 
gether.” 
A physician, who wishes “ Vibgyor” to appear as 
* The three primitive colours, from which all others may be com¬ 
posed, are red, blue, and yellow. 
t The compound colours, so far as flowers for bouquets are con¬ 
cerned, are orange, green, indigo, and violet. 
the shadow of his name, observes in another letter 
now before us :— 
“ Transplanting plants in flower, to accomplish 
various desired effects in the way either of harmony 
or of contrast, brings to my mind a work of Sir D. 
Brewster’s on Natural Magic, or some such popular 
subject, where he gives very valuable hints on this 
matter. As well as I can remember his hints, I be- 
believe that he takes the seven old colours of the 
rainbow; and, as a general rule, each colour harmo¬ 
nizes with the one next before or after it, and con¬ 
trasts well with the third or fourth from it. 
We all know that the colours of the rainbow are 
arranged as follows, beginning from the inner edge 
of its arch :—Violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, 
orange, and red. These, if arranged in what may be 
termed “ The Rainbow Round Robin,” will stand 
thus, and illustrate the author’s statement. 
V harmonizes with I and R, and contrasts with G 
and Y; Y harmonizes with G and 0, but contrasts 
with V and I, and so with the others. 
“ I have a great idea that this would make a good 
design for a set of flower-beds, each of one colour ; 
and they might be surrounded by seven more, the 
outer set contrasting with the inner, and the centre 
might be white.” 
Any of our readers intending to build a conser¬ 
vatory will do well, before carrying their design into 
effect, to pay a visit to that connected with the resi¬ 
dence of Josiah Wilson, Esq., of Stonard House, 
Stamford Hill. It is not large, but the proportions 
are excellent, and the whole is characterized by 
elegance. The length, inside, is 29 feet 9 inches; the 
breadth 17 feet 3 inches; and the lr eighth of the 
sides 17 feet. From these spring an arched roof of 
glass, and it is to this that we would request particu¬ 
lar attention. The roof is of rough plate glass, the 
largest plates being more than feet long and 4 
feet broad; they are three-eighths of an inch thick, 
and curved so as to form the arch of the roof with 
but slight interruption of light by any framework, 
which is very slight, and none of the bearers nearer 
than 4 feet, to suit the width of the glass plates. 
Now, we do not advocate either that the glass be 
more than half the above thickness, or that the plates 
be so large as those employed by Mr. Wilson, though 
the size adds to the beauty, but the rough glass we 
recommend for adoption most decidedly. The light 
is as clear as it is without doors, but the glare of the 
sun’s rays is intercepted. It is a softened, grateful 
light, which, after two years and a half of experience, 
both Mr. Wilson and his gardener testify is most 
favourable to the growth of plants, and we can also 
bear evidence as to the healthy appearance of those 
