On the grading numbers of direct products of chains

For a finite lattice L, denote by $\text{l}{}^1\text{(L)}$ and $\text{l}{}_1\text{(L)}$ respectively the upper length and lower length of L. The grading number g(L) of L is defined as $\text{g(L) = l}{}^1\text{(}\text{Sub}\text{(L))-l}{}_1\text{(}\text{Sub}\text{(L))}$ where Sub(L) is the sublattice-lattice of L. We show that if K is a proper homomorphic image of a distributive lattice L, then $\text{l}{}_1\text{(}\text{Sub}\text{(K)) < l}{}_1\text{(}\text{Sub}\text{(L))}$; and derive from this result, formulae for $\text{l}{}_1\text{(}\text{Sub}\text{(L))}$ and g(L) where L is a product of chains.