Cultivation of \ tola tricolor. 591 



fourth part of the whole at a time. If the melon or the pine- 

 apple were so treated, the liquid manure for the melon need not 

 be rich; and concentrated manure, reduced to mouldy would 

 probably answer best for the pine-apple. — Co?id. 



Art. X. On the Cultivatiori of Y\ola tricolor. la a Letter to Mr. 

 Gorrie by Dr. Miller of Perth. 



My dear Sir, 



I ENCLOSE a letter to you from an old acquaintance of yours, 

 to which I hope you will specially attend. In my opinion, poor 

 Viola has much to complain of, even at your hands ; for, after 

 having fairly launched her into the giddy tide of popularity, you 

 ought to have remembered that, unless she was furnished with 

 certain rules for her guidance, she would naturally suffer at the 

 hands of the ignorant or designing characters with whom she 

 would come in contact. 



I consider the outline of the pansy Tenebrosa very near to that 

 of a perfect flower. You will observe that it is as broad as it is 

 long. If you divide the surface of the flower into thirteen parts, 

 the upper petals will exhibit six, the two side petals four, and 

 the under petal three, of these parts. The great fault of the 

 most of our pansies is, that the lower petal is out of proportion 

 to the others. The two upper petals, in a good flower, should 

 occupy about the half, and the lower petal should always be less 

 than the visible portion of the two side ones conjoined. Add to 

 this, that the colours should be clear, distinct, and not blending; 

 and if there is a regular lacing round the three lower, or the 

 whole five, petals, so much the better. The upper petals should 

 fall, or rather join gracefully with the side ones, and they again 

 with the under one : none of them should occupy a prominent 

 place, but the one must support and combine with the other, so 

 as to form a harmonious whole. No flower, in my opinion, 

 should be classed with good ones, where the colour is muddy, 

 confused, or changing to a dull hue after it is fully expanded. 



I have made figures of several other good flowers ; but, on 

 analysing them, I find they are pleasing or not, exactly as they 

 approach to, or differ from, the above proportions. I am there- 

 fore inclined to adopt them as the standard. I remain. 



My dear Sir, yours truly. 

 King Street, Perth, Aug. 2. 1836. James Miller. 



Mr. Gorrie's Answer. 

 My dear Sir, Annat Garden, Sept. 15. 1836. 



Such is my opinion of the justness of your remarks regarding 

 the criterion of a fine violet heartsease, that, in place of publish- 



XX 2 



