The Florist and Pomologist: A Pictorial Monthly Magazine of Flowers, Fruits, and General Horticulture ..., Volumes 5-6

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Published at the "Journal of Horticulture" Office, 1866 - Floriculture

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Page 129 - The effect upon vegetation of the non-visible calorific rays at the other extremity of the spectrum have been but little studied. Accordiag to the experiments we have on this subject, they would appear to have but little power over any of the functions ; but it would be worth while to investigate further the calorific regions of the spectrum by employing Dr. Tyndall's process, that is, by means of iodine dissolved in bisulphide of carbon, which permits no trace of visible light to pass. How interesting...
Page 130 - With the blue glasses, which allowed some green and yellow to pass, that which was red or yellow in the leaf had spread, so that there only remained a green border or edge. Under the nearly pure violet glasses the foliage became almost uniformly green.
Page 129 - Julius Sachs, in a series of very important experiments, again affirmed the truth. It is really the yellow and orange rays that have the most power, and the blue and violet rays the least, in the phenomena of vegetable chemistry, contrary to that which occurs in mineral chemistry, at least in the case of chlorid of silver.
Page 128 - The best ascertained facts are the importance of sunlight for green coloring, the decomposition of carbonic-acid gas by the foliage, and certain phenomena relating to the direction or position of stems and leaves. There remains much yet to learn upon the effect of diffused light, the combination of time and light, and the relative importance of light and heat. Does a prolonged light of several days or weeks, such as occurs in the polar regions, produce in exhalation of oxygen, and in the fixing of...
Page 133 - Charlatanism may slide in among flowers. Botany, on the contrary, is a science, and consequently rests on the investigation of pure and simple truth. A horticulturist who allows himself to be influenced by a scientific spirit necessarily frees himself from over-selfish tendencies. Natural history, on its side, by reason of the perfection of its method, its nomenclature and its minute observations, has something technical and dry about it, which contrasts with the grandeur of nature, and with the...
Page 128 - I should like, were it possible, to have a greenhouse placed in some large horticultural establishment or botanic garden, under the direction of some ingenious and accurate physiologist, and adapted to experiments on vegetable physiology; and this is, within a little, my idea of such a construction : — The building should be sheltered from all external variations of temperature; to effect which I imagine it should be in a great measure below the level of the ground. I would have it built of thick...
Page 127 - ... progress has been made in these matters. The evil consists in this, that when it is desired to observe the action of temperature, either fixed or varied, mean or extreme, or the effect of light, it is exceedingly difficult, and sometimes impossible, when observations are made in the usual manner, to eliminate the effects of the constant variations of heat and light. In the laboratory it is possible to operate under more exactly defined conditions, but they are rarely sufficiently persistent;...
Page 131 - ... crops, but a short distance off, may be more or less ordinary in quality. The two shrubs require a temperate climate, but the vine needs heat and no rain during summer...
Page 128 - With a view to these researches, of which I merely point out the general nature, but which are immensely varied in details, I lately put this question :* — " Could not experimental greenhouses be built, in which the temperature might be regulated for a prolonged time, and be either fixed, constant, or variable, according to the wish of the observer?
Page 156 - ... of mignonette, or rather ornament a vase half full of mignonette with a few blooms of sweet peas, and you get a charming effect, because you follow the natural arrangement by avoiding the crowding of the blooms, and putting them with the green foliage, which they want to set them off.

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