October 17, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
661 
Photography for Garden Liovers. 
By the Rev. F. C. Lambert, M.A., F.R.P.S. 
/ -+■ 
(Continued from -page b^o.) 
VI.-PHOTOGRAPHING LEAVES WITHOUT A CAMERA. 
Photography without apparatus sounds 
inviting, and in truth it is as effective 
md interesting, and is easy and inexpen¬ 
sive. , 
I invite the attention of those readers of 
these pages who have hitherto never at¬ 
tempted the making of a photograph to 
the following method of making faithful 
copies of leaves, fronds, and other like 
objects. 
Our outfit is very simple, and may be 
obtained for a few pence. We require 
one pound of “hypo.” crystals (2d.), a 
packet of “ self-toning glossy -printing 
out paper ,” generally called P.O.P. by 
photographers (6d.), and a photographic 
printing frame of J-plate size (6d.). 
From any photographic friend may be 
obtained for the asking an old negative 
which will fit our printing frame. This 
old negative is soaked in warm water to 
which a tablespoonful of kitchen or wash¬ 
ing soda has been added. The water softens 
the gelatine coating of the plate so that 
it can be easily scraped off with a table 
knife. Any small scraps which escape 
the knife can be removed by rubbing with 
a piece of wet loofah or coarse rag. The 
glass is then dried and put in the print¬ 
ing frame. 
From the autumn leaves which sprinkle 
the ground we select two or three of pleas¬ 
ing shape and size, somewhat less than 
our printing frame glass (4^ x 3i inches), 
being careful to pick out by preference 
such leaves as are the most transparent to 
light when held close to the eye and 
looked through towards the sky. The 
leaves are put between blotting paper, 
and then in a book under pressure (e.g., 
a pile of books, a brick or twm, etc.) for 
24 hours, so as to dry and flatten them as 
much as possible. We take a dried and 
flattened leaf, and lay it on the clear 
glass in the printing frame. Then from 
the packet of light sensitive paper we 
take one piece and lay its glossy side 
flat down on the leaf and clear glass; 
then put in the hinged back of the print¬ 
ing frame and close the springs. Here 
note very carefully once for all that we 
can safely examine either half of the 
paper by freeing one spring of the print¬ 
ing frame at a time, but whenever we are 
examining printing operations we must be 
careful to open only one spring at a time , 
and close this before the other spring is 
set free. If this be not done", our picture 
is almost certain to be spoiled owing to 
the shifting of the back, paper, leaf, and 
glass relatively to each other. Having 
closed both springs of the frame, put it 
out in a good strong light, but where it 
cannot get wet by rain. After an hour 
or so open one half of the frame and bend 
back (without creasing) one half of the 
paper. By this time the part under the 
clear glass will have darkened consider¬ 
able. but the part under the leaf may not 
have darkened to any very appreciable 
extent. Close the frame, and continue 
the printing until the light has penetrated 
through the leaf, and you have a rather 
dark picture showing the veins, etc., of 
the leaf. (See negative illustration.) 
This printing will very likely take 
a whole day, or even longer. But 
do not hurry matters. Carry on printing 
until the leaf image is rather overdone. 
We do this because the “fixing” opera¬ 
tion will make our print somewhat lighter 
than it is when it leaves the printing 
frame. Next we prepare the fixing solu¬ 
tion by putting half a pound of hypo, 
crystals (we need not be particular to 
half an ounce either way) in a clean wine 
bottle, and then filling up the bottle with 
warm water. The bottle is corked and 
turned over and over for two or three 
minutes, when the crystals will quickly 
dissolve. The solution is then set aside 
to cool. It may conveniently be prepared 
a day or two in advance, as it keeps in 
working order for a considerable time. 
The print is now removed from the print¬ 
ing frame and laid picture side up in a 
pie dish or soup plate. Then enough 
fixing solution is poured over it until we 
get a depth of about an inch of solution. 
The print-is then turned over and over 
in the solution every half minute or so, 
anv air bubbles clinging to the paper 
being removed by drawing the paper 
along the edge of the dish. The print is 
left in the fixing bath 8 to 10 minutes. 
It will then have changed colour, and 
also become somewhat lighter, but still 
the background remains decidedly dark. 
The print is now put into another dish 
containing only cold water, and turned 
over every 2 or 3 minutes. At the end of 
10 minutes the water is poured away, and 
the operation repeated with a fresh lot of 
water. After four or five such bathings of 
10 minutes each, it is removed, held by 
one corner to drip and drain for a mirtute 
or so, then laid face up on a dry 
towel and allowed to dry. This 
print forms our negative, i.e., a light 
leaf on a dark ground. Next we place 
our negative print on the glass of the 
printing frame, with its picture side up. 
On it we put a new piece of printing 
paper, glossy side down, so that the two 
paners have their glossy faces in contact. 
The printing frame is closed as before, 
and put out to print. Note' that in the 
first instance we'printed through the leaf 
itself, but in the second we print through 
the paper of our negative print. This 
printing will not take so long as it did 
when printing the negative, as the light 
has now only to penetrate paper instead 
of the coloured leaf. The “positive,” or 
second print, is examined from time to 
time by opening the printing frame, and 
printing likewise carried on until the pic¬ 
ture looks a little darker than we want 
it to be when finished. It is then put into 
the fixing bath and washed in just the 
same way as described for the first (nega¬ 
tive) print. We now have a positive, i.e., 
a dark leaf on a light ground. Thus the 
negative and positive are just the comple¬ 
ment and counterpart of each other. 
I need hardly linger to point out the 
many ways in which these leaf pictures 
may” be made use of for a thousand and 
one decorative purposes, such as menu 
cards, fans, lamp shades, window decora¬ 
tions, greeting cards, etc. Nor need I 
pause.to tell the readers of these pages 
where to look for leaves of various sizes 
and shapes. Any leaf that can be flattened 
and dried may be used if only the print¬ 
ing light can get through it. Therefore 
the more transparent it is the better for 
our purpose. 
—— 4 - 4-4 - 
At Toddington, near Linton, a wonder¬ 
ful Mushroom has been gathered, which 
is possibly the largest ever gathered from 
the open field in England. It measured 
46 inches in circumference, with a dia¬ 
meter of 15 inches. 
Horticultural Club. 
The home dinners of this club were re¬ 
sumed on October 13th, at the Hotel 
Windsor. During the evening Mr. 
Arthur W. Sutton gave a lecture on “A 
Holiday on the Nile,” illustrated by 
painted slides from original photographs. 
The lecture was very interesting, and Mr. 
Sutton was cordially thanked for his kind¬ 
ness. 
John Laing and Sons, Ltd. 
Mr. William Henry Russell, of Haver- 
stock Hill, London, having purchased 
the well-known business of John Laing 
and Sons, Forest Hill, S.E., nurserymen, 
seedsmen and florists, is promoting a 
company for the purpose of acquiring the 
business as a going concern. The Com¬ 
pany was registered on September 25th, 
with a capital of .£5,000, in £1 shares. 
The directors are Mr. Maurice Miroy, 
merchant, of Wood Street, E.C. ; Mr. 
Lamantine Theodore Russell, gentleman, 
of St. Leonards-on-Sea; and Mr. W illiam 
Henry Russell, the vendor. The pur¬ 
chase price to be paid to the promoter 
of the Company has been fixed at £4,000, 
payable as to £3,000 in cash and £ 1,000 
in fully paid ordinary shares' of the 
Company. The registered office is 300, 
Stanstead Road, Forest Hill, S.E. 
