220 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 3, 
I 9 ° 9 - 
Fig. 3 shows the -pieces of wood. A, B and 
C, which fit into the. legs or supports of the 
camera ; D, the strut holding up the hinged 
portion; E, the place for the screw that fixes 
the camera. 
ends, and this I find gives the legs a 
safe grip of the floor either in or out¬ 
doors. 
(It may be useful to know that G. 
Mason and Sons, Armley Grove Place, 
Armley, Leeds, supply at a moderate 
price a great variety of such fittings, e.g., 
struts, screws, hinges and other odds and 
ends of metal fitments. Every amateur 
carpenter is glad to know where to get 
things of this kind which save him so 
much time and trouble.! 
Finally, in Fig. 4 we have a specimen 
of the kind of work one may easily do 
with the vertical camera stand arrange¬ 
ment. 
Now a few hints about work of this 
kind. The background requires careful 
thought so that it may be a background, 
i.e. , a help both to the lights and shades 
of the flowers. The best, i.e. , most gen¬ 
erally useful, is rough surface paper, but 
at times we can use a wood panel, or a 
piece of fabric such as silk, velvet, or 
smooth card. As to colours either green 
and neutral grey are both useful. But 
if limited to one only the grey is prefer¬ 
able. We should have a light (not white), 
a medium, and a dark (not black) paper. 
Quite white or black are useful only for 
exceptional cases. 
The lighting of the subject is of first 
importance. The beginner generally 
makes the mistake of too much light and 
shade contrast. This results in a hard 
black and white, chalk and soot print 
where the high lights are blank patches 
of paper and the shadows impossibly 
dark. Of course, each subject requires 
special consideration, but speaking gener¬ 
ally we shall get the best range of grada¬ 
tions by using a rather subdued light such 
as one gets on a fine but slightly cloudy 
day. The flowers must not be too near 
the window. The larger the window the 
further away from it we must go. As a 
rough guide I would suggest that if the 
window be 4 feet wide we shall try the 
effect about 4 feet from the window. It 
is a good plan to look at one’s subject 
(from close -alongside the camera), with 
eyelids very nearlv closed. In this’way 
we can more easily get an idea of the 
light and shade than when the eyes are 
fully open. 
Arrangement.— T his I put last of all 
because it is the crux of picture making. 
There seems only one rule, namely, that 
the arrangement must not suggest ar¬ 
rangement. There must be nothing sug¬ 
gesting formality on the one hand or un¬ 
tidiness on the other. One must aim to 
avoid a row of flowers in a straight line, 
and also avoid several blooms at just the 
same distance from each other. It is 
quite a common thing to see three blooms 
placed equidistant and so suggesting the 
corners of an equilateral triangle or four 
arrayed so as to suggest a diamond pat¬ 
tern. 
•In the gioup given the aim was to 
avoid showing any two blossoms in ex¬ 
actly the same position and yet keep them 
sufficiently similar so as to suggest re¬ 
lationship. Again the eye should be 
agreeably led from point to point so that 
the various parts seem to belong to each 
other and not form two separate-groups 
side by side. But in all matters of ar¬ 
rangement simplicity and gracefulness of 
line must be kept in mind. The less 
arranging the better, or, perhaps I should 
say, the less the apparent arranging the 
better. 
-- 4-44 - 
America’s “ National Emblem.” 
The Golden Rod (Solidago Virgaurea) 
has been adopted as “ America’s national 
emblem.” The leaves of the Golden Rod 
were formerly used as snuff. 
International Horticultural Exhibition.- 
An International Horticultural Exhibi¬ 
tion, promoted by the Zeist Committee of 
the Netherlands Horticultural Society, 
will be held at Zeist, Netherlands, from 
25th August to the 16th September next. 
Primula sinensis. 
This useful winter-flowering plant doe 
not always receive the cultural attentioi 
its merits deserve. For one thing, it i 
usual for most growers to sow the seei 
far too late. From the middle to the en< 
of March is the proper time, if fine, large 
profusely-flowered specimens are desired 
Any good, sweet, light Compost will dc 
to sow the seeds in, and these should bi 
scattered rather thinly, as even the ver 
best Primula seed germinates very errati 
cally, and it is often necessary to prici 
off the more forward plants long befor 
the others are ready. As very often th 
best kinds are slowest in coming up, th- 
advantages of thin sowing will be obvi 
ous. Plunge the pots, or pans, in ; 
moderate, but moist bottom heat, or se 
in a box, and cover with a sheet of glas. 
and brown £aper. While the soil shouh 
never be kept saturated, it is mos f im 
portant that it never becomes - dry, 0 
failure is certain. 
As soon as the first rough leaves an 
produced, prick off into .boxes of simila 
soil to that in which the seed was sown 
Keep in a moist, fairly warm house, o 
pit, shading from all direct sunshine 
When well advanced and becominc 
crowded, shift -into 2h inch and afterward- 
into 5 or 6 inch pots, in which fine speci 
mens may be grown. A cold frame i 
very suitable for this Primula from Jul\ 
till middle of September. 
. C. Blair. 
Preston House, Linlithgow. 
