444 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  13,  1902. 
way  that  the  ray  falls  on  to  it.  If  a  screen  is  placed  at 
some  distance  behind  the  prism  it  will  be  found  that 
the  ray,  on  emerging  from  the  other  side,  will  cast  on 
to  the  screen,  not  a  ray  of  clear  light,  but  a  band  of  the 
seven  distinct  colours  named  above,  and  in  the  same  order, 
the  violet  being  at  the  top.  If  one  wishes  to  carry  the 
experiment  further  they  may  again  collect  these  rays  and 
combine  them  as  a  clear  ray  again.  This  is  done  by 
arranging  seven  small  mirrors  on  stands  in  such  a  way 
as  each  one  reflects  a  band  of  the  decomposed  ray  or 
spectrum,  and  then  making  the  reflections  all  converge  on 
one  spot.  Every  object,  unless  it  be  black,  reflects  one  or 
more  of  these  colours,  and  absorbs  the  remainder.  In 
the  case  of  a  green  leaf,  the  violet,  indigo,  blue,  yellow, 
orange,  and  red  are  absorbed  by  the  leaf,  and  the  green 
alone  reflected.  Thus,  an  object  has  no  real  colour,  but 
only  reflects  a  certain  colour  or  colours.  This  may  seem 
a  strange  truth  to  many,  but  it  can  easily  be  proved,  as 
if  the  light  is  deprived  of  its  green,  the  leaf  no  longer 
appears  green,  but  is  colourless  or  black. 
To  test  this  fact,  a  green  plant  may '  be  stood  in  a 
room  lit  by  a  pure  yellow  light,  when  it  will  be  seen  that 
all  the  colours  will  be  cut  off,  with  the  exception  of  the 
yellow,  and  all  objects  in  the  room  not  naturally  reflecting 
a  yellow  shade  will  be  black.  In  order  that  a  plant  may 
perform  all  its  functions  properly  it  must  have  the  whole 
of  the  colours  found  in  a  sun  ray,  and  to  have  any  of 
them  shut  out  is  to  have  a  marked  effect  on  the  condition 
of  the  plant.  Those  of  an  experimental  turn  of  mind  may 
care  to  take  the  trouble  to  grow  plants  under  coloured 
glass  and  note  the  results. 
For  the  benefit  of  those  who  have  not  the  time  to  in¬ 
vestigate  the  matter,  I  may  say  that  under  the  effects  of 
the  colours  of  the  red  end  of  the  spectrum  the  growth 
will  be  long  and  sappy,  while  the  colours  of  the  blue  end 
encourage  a  very  stunted  growth.  One  often  sees  the 
green  shading  used.  I  am  of  opinion  that  this  is  one  of 
the  most  unsuitable  of  colours,  and  I  think  my  theory  is 
well  based  and  well  supported,  for  most  plants  absorb  all 
the  colours  but  green,  and  it  they  reflect,  and,  therefore, 
when  shaded  with  green  all  the  essential  colours  are  cut 
off,  and  only  the  rays  that  most  plants  refuse  to  absorb 
are  allowed  to  pass.  Under  the  influence  of  coloured  light 
the  functions  of  a  plant  soon  lose  their  proper  balance, 
and  are  thus  prone  to  disease  and  an  easy  prey  to  insects. 
The  sooty  deposits  on  glass  in  the  neighbourhood  of  towns 
have  a  very  marked  effect  on  plants,  as,  starting  out  as 
they  do,  many  of  the  rays  of  the  violet  end  of  the  spec¬ 
trum,  the  growth  is  out  of  proportion  owing  to  improper 
assimilation,  and  the  leaves  and  stems  very  soon  become 
excessively  drawn  and  sappy  if  the  conditions  are  allowed 
to  continue.  The  gardener  here  has  the  remedy  in  his 
own  hands  ;  but  in  the  case  of  a  smoke  fog  he  is  powerless, 
as  the  smoke  in  the  atmosphere  cuts  off  almost  all  other 
rays  but  red,  yellow,  and  orange,  and  thus  overthrows  the 
balance  of  Nature,  and  makes  plants  doubly  sensitive  to 
the  chemical  action  of  the  smokv  matter  on  their  tissues. — 
J.  G.  Cole, 
Economy. 
( Concluded  from  pacje  396.) 
The  Up-keep  Bill. 
We — gardeners- — have  a  grievance  ;  no  fanciful,  ghostly  thing, 
hut  a  real,  tangible  grievance,  when  from  economical  or  other 
considerations  a  loosely  formed  estimate  of  supplies  is  made  to 
cover  the  gross  total  of  expense.  Whether  it  is  the  methods  of 
modern  living,  or  whether  it  is  something  else,  which  causes  a 
falsely  frugal  sentiment  to  prevail  it  matters  not ;  prevail  it  does, 
and  that,  too,  in  places  where’one  would  least  expect  to  find  it, 
for  millions  of  money  form  no  harrier  to  the  bete  noir.  Bred, 
probably,  in  some  poverty  stricken  garden,  it  spreads  as  rapidly 
as  the  Potato  blight,  until  it  reaches  the  rich  man’s  table  at  such 
time  as  dinner  parties  are  in  vogue,  and  then,  like  a  bolt  from  the 
blue,  all  sorts  of  questions  are  sprung,  and  very  disagreeable  ones, 
too^  unless  the  man  most  concerned  is  prepared  for  a  contingency 
which  may  arise  at  any  moment.  There  is  the  visitor  ironically 
known  as  “  The  gardener’s  friend  ’’  who  flits  from  place  to  place, 
regarded  by  the  visitors  as  an  authority  upon  all  matters  horti¬ 
cultural  ;  and  the  gardener,  if  wise  in  his  own  generation,  sacri¬ 
fices  on  the  altar  of  hyper-criticism  peace  offerings  of  the  best  of 
his  produce  during  the  visit,  all  of  which  receive  due  meed  of 
praise,  with  the  qualification  that  the  Grapes,  Melon,  or  Pine 
were  rather  better  finished,  higher  in  flavour,  or  slightly  larger 
at  the  last  place  visited,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  “  That 
faint  praise  which - ”  The  gardener’s  friend  is  very  well  known 
to  them,  and  rightly  credited  with  making  things  uncomfortably 
hot;  and  once  the  ball  is  set  rolling  it  gathers  momentum  that 
may  take  a  mountain  of  hard  facts  to  stop  it.  However,  it  some¬ 
times  rebounds  from  the  last  visiting  place  ahead,  or  “  ahint,” 
the  sufferer  being  solaced  by  hearing  that  his  produce  was  “  rather 
better  finished,  a  little  higher  in  flavour,  or  slightly  larger.”  Now 
and  again,  unfortunately  but  rarely,  it  ricochets  to  its  manufac¬ 
tory,  the  dinner  table,  when,  if  all  such  opinions  are  not  knocked 
on  the  head,  the  sting,  at  least,  is  extracted  from  the  tale.  Prior 
*to  the  visit  of  a  gardener’s  friend  to  one  particular  place  the  noble 
host  was  wont  to  smilingly  say,  “  Quiz,  your  friend  is  pajung  us  a 
visit;  beware.”  Familiarity  with  that  friend’s  (?)  gardening 
opinions  had  at  last  bred  the  contempt  they  deserved  from  the 
master  as  they  had  at  first  from  the  man. 
All  of  this  is,  cf  course,  a  little  aside  of  our  subject,  but  in 
direct  relation  to  the  disagreeable  analysis  another  one  makes  of 
the  cost  of  production.  But  recently  a  “rattling”  bunch  of  Ham- 
burghs,  fully  51b  in  weight,  was  dished  up  because  Mr.  So-and-so 
was  coming  to  dinner  ;  and  very  fine  it  was,  although  the  grower 
says  it.  “What  do  you  think  of  that,  So-and-so?”  said  “His 
Honour,”  as  he  lifted  the  bunch  by  the  nice  little  bit  of  nut- 
brown  wood  attached  to  show  its  proportions.  “Ah!  very  fine, 
very  fine  ;  but  look  at  what  it  cost  you  to  grow  it  :  all  the  firing,, 
and  all  the  men  you  have  to  keep  ;  ycu  could  buy  it  cheaper.”  At 
first  sight  that  bunch  of  Grapes  cost  a  good  deal,  and  from  that 
view,  which  is  nothing  short  of  a  moral  squint,  employers  are  apt 
to  frame  their  estimates.  It  takes  the  second  sight  cf  a  gardener 
to  furnish  the  addenda  which  puts  the  matter  in  a  totally  different 
light  ;  for  that  second  sight  sees  the  vineries  now  being  pi-epared 
for  the  great  .Chrysanthemum  crop,  to  be  followed  by  a  heavy 
batch  of  bedding  plants,  which  are  no  sconer  cleared  than  the 
temporary  tables  are  filled  with  Maidenhair  Ferns,  and  every  inch 
of  spare  space  utilised  for  something  else.  So,  in  the  cost  of  pro¬ 
duction,  there  are  many  factors  to  be  taken  into  the  account; 
and  under  this  head  most  men  are  able  to  show  a  very  good 
balance  to  their  credit,  in  spite  of  being  further  handicapped  by 
the  time,  taste,  and  thought  expended  in  keeping  the  houses 
clean  and  dressy — in  fact,  in  that  state  suited  to  a  gentleman’s 
or  nobleman’s  establishment.  Under  these  conditions,  which 
most  employers  look  for  and  all  gardeners  invariably  desire  to 
have,  it  is,  to  say  the  least,  unfair  to  draw  comparisons  concern¬ 
ing  the  cost  of  production  between  private  and  market  growers, 
for  between  the  two  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed,  which  all  the 
subtlety  of  logic  educated  people  bring  to  bear  upon  it,  aird  which,, 
alas!  gardeners  are  so  deficient  in,  can  never  bridge  over. 
Important  as  is  this  phase  of  the  matter,  it  is  small  com¬ 
pared  with  the  general  up-keep  of  an  entire  garden  comprising  the 
kept  grounds  and  all  pertaining  to  it — wherever,  indeed,  the 
gardener’s  foot  goes  and  whatever  his  hand  touches.  Moreover, 
there  are  many  moderate-sized  places,  and  very  good  places  too, 
in  which  frequent  calls  are  made  upon  the  gardener  and  his  men 
for  work  wholly  extraneous  to  their  immediate  sphere  of  labour. 
Probably  most  gardeners  know  all  about  this — at  the  time — and 
there  are  very  good  reasons  for  men  to  keep  that  knowledge  in 
black  and  white  ready  for  use  in  their  hour  oUneed.  A  diary  of 
daily  doings  is  a  simple  matter,  but  a  safe  one  ;  and  when  a  man 
is  not  able  to  speak  for  himself  that  will  speak  volumes  for  him. 
If  weekly  returns  of  produce  supplied  with  its  market  value 
attached  can  be  kept  so  much  the  better,  and  with  an  annual 
report  and  balance-sheet  showing  all  these  items  on  the  credit- 
side  against  the  sum  total  of  expenditure,  the  gardener  will  in¬ 
variably  be  found  to  come  out  very  well.  Even  cut  flowers  and 
furnishing  plants  alone  form  no  inconsiderable-,  item  in  many 
places.  Needless  to  say  that  a  honest,  impartial  report  must  be 
shewn,  for  the  value  of  all  statistics  depends  upon  their  accuracy. 
Perhaps  such  reports  and  balance-sheets  may  never  be  wanted ; 
if  so,  they  need  never  be  ostentatiously  paraded,  but  rest  quies¬ 
cent  on  the  shelf  as  a  more  powerful  weapon  of  defence  than  all 
vague  logic  weakened  by  bad  memory  could  ever  be.  In  conclu¬ 
sion,  some  may  ask  what  new  lines  under  the  head  of  up-keep 
have  been  thrown  out  for  a  struggling  man  to  grasp  wherewith 
he  can  further  accomplish,  the  desideratum  of  saving  something 
without  sacrificing  to  that  hateful  god,  poverty  ?  Men  so  situated 
may  be  able  to  say,  honestly,  they  are  already  doing  their  utmost 
to  give  a  maximum  return  at  a  minimum  of  expense,  and  that 
they  can  do  no  more.  That  is  so  ;  neither  can— Quiz. 
Laburnum  Flowers  from  Co.  Dublin. 
Mr.  G.  Carroth,  gardener  at  Sutton  House,  Sutton,  Co. 
Dublin,  sends  a  number  of  Laburnum  shoots  clustered  with 
flowers,  and  a  letter  as  follows:  “Enclosed  please  find  sprays 
cf  Laburnum.  The  tree  is  in  full  flower  for  -the  second  time 
this  year,  and  is  growing  in  the  shrubbery  in  the  elevated 
pleasure  grounds  of  Andrew  Jameson,  Esq.,  D.L.,  overlooking 
Dublin  Bay.  These  gardens  have  a  south-westerly  aspect.  This 
note  may  be  of  interest  to  the  readers  of  your  Journal.”  [In 
August  we  saw  a  Laburnum  in  flower  at  Edinburgh. — Ed.] 
