90 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t February i, mbs. 
than crowns, and generally only used the latter in cases where 
the former were not plentiful. It often happens that the fruits 
are sent where the crowns cannot be got back for propagation, so 
we may say that suckers form the principal means of propagation. 
If they can be obtained they may be potted from this time on to 
September, or even later. When I had good suckers they were 
invariably taken off and potted, no matter what time of the year 
it was. Suppose a lot obtained in February, they should be potted 
in G or 7-inch pots, well drained, and potted firmly in rather light 
fibry loam ; no bones need be added till the fiual potting. If the 
soil is moderately moist no water need be given till there are 
signs of rooting, and then only with great care ; when watered 
giving a good soaking, but not repeating the dose till the soil is 
again becoming dry, but not dust-dry. Many suckers are spoilt 
by overwatering/ When potted the suckers should be plunged in 
either tan, leaves, cocoa-fibre refuse, or sawdust; any of these 
materials will do. Bottom heat should not exceed 85°; if the 
bottom-heat thermometer shows more than that temperature the 
pots should be loosened in the bed, thus allowing some of the heat 
to escape. 
When plenty of roots are seen at the outside of the ball of soil 
the suckers should be shifted into their fruiting pots, which need 
not be more than 11-inch. Some growers give them two shifts, 
but I have found this unnecessary. This time the same kind of 
loam should be used, with the addition of a good sprinkling of 
fine bones. I have found them act quicker than larger pieces ; and 
when twelve months is about the time that strong plants require 
to occupy their fruiting pots, the advantage of giving them what 
they can obtain most benefit from in that period is obvious. In 
potting, at least an inch of space should be left for watering, as 
when done it should be a good soaking. 
No water should be given after shifting till the new soil has a 
good number of roots in it. The bottom heat should be kept at 
j from 80° to S5° — a genial temperature maintained in the house, 
; allowing it to run up to 85° in the daytime with sun, and keeping 
the night temperature about G5°. If the temperature is about 
70° at the close of daylight it will be quite sufficient. Syringing 
and damping-down must be attended to, but by all means avoid 
a stagnant atmosphere ; admit a little air whenever such can be 
done ; examining the plants for those that are showing signs of 
fruit, selecting them and placing them where they can be pushed 
along as required occasionally. If only one house is devoted to 
Pines this selecting should still be practised, as it is much better 
to have all the fruiting plants together. When the fruits are ap¬ 
proaching maturity syringing and damping must be discontinued, 
and watering also. When the latter is practised after the ripen¬ 
ing stage has begun the fruits are sometimes found bad in the 
centre. 
During winter those plants intended to start about January or 
February should be rested for a couple of months—November and 
December. The temperature need not be more than 65° by day, 
and as low as 55° by night. All temperatures and the amount of 
moisture maintained in Pine stoves must be regulated by the out¬ 
side conditions. No hard-and-fast rule can be laid down. When 
the weather is cold and dull a correspondingly low temperature 
and drier condition of the house should be preserved. These and 
other things can only be learned by observation and attention. A 
steaming atmosphere and great fire heat in dull cold weather are 
to be avoided. 
The Queen is the best for fruiting during the summer. Smooth 
Cayenne is best for a winter supply. Black Jamaica is a good 
variety for winter, possessing a fine flavour. Charlotte Rothschild 
has proved good both in winter and summer. Where only one 
house is devoted to Pine-growing it will be extremely difficult to 
maintain a succession of fruiting plants ; still, by potting suckers 
at different times, and selecting the most forward for the warmest 
end of the house—should there be such—much can be done to 
forward some, and when approaching maturity much can be done 
to retard, if such is desired, by removing to a cool house or any 
other cool place. The extensive grower does not need so many 
makeshifts when he has his sucker-pit, his succession and fruiting 
houses. Extra good suckers well cared for can be made to pro¬ 
duce fruit in about twelve months, but more ordinarily it is from 
fifteen to eighteen months. Old stumps of such a kind as the 
Smooth Cayenne, which does not show suckers freely, should be 
plunged among sawdust or fibre in a good bottom heat, when a 
good supply of suckers can generally be obtained, which can be 
potted as required. 
Pines are sometimes subject to scale and mealy bug. Never 
having been much troubled with either of these pests on Pines, 
I cannot from experience recommend a cure, but there are several 
receipts given by others for the eradication of these pests. Finally 
Pine-growing is simple enough when certain conditions are main¬ 
tained, keeping up a continuous succession of fruit being one of 
the most difficult matters, as conditions of weather often upset the 
most careful calculations, and sometimes hasten when such is 
not wanted, in other cases retard when that is not desired. 
Overwatering, overpotting, overcrowding, overstewing, and 
overshading are all to be guarded against. Indeed, shading has 
been very seldom practised by me, and then only with newly 
potted plants. Liquid manure in the form of guano water should 
be used when the plants have rooted well in their fruiting pots ; 
of course in a weak condition, as when strong, the roots suffer. 
When the plants are resting during the winter two months may 
elapse before they need water, and when given the soil should be 
stirred up, and firmed round the edges of the pots, as it sometimes 
shrinks from the sides, when the water would simply round 
down without wetting the ball at all. 
There are numerous other matters which might be descanted 
upon, but enough has been said, 1 trust, to enable anyone about to 
start Pine-growing to comprehend the requirements.—J.] 
THE COLOURS OF FLOWERS. 
(Continued from page 55.) 
The foregoing observations and facts adduced are sufficient to 
prove that, with a few exceptions that can scarcely be said to in¬ 
validate the general rule, Decandolle’s opinion was not so erro¬ 
neous as at first sight might appear to be the case. The subject 
is, however, an interesting one, and we may pursue it a little 
farther with soms advantage, commencing with a few 
COLOUR STATISTICS 
In the following remarks it must be borne in mind that, though 
pointing to some curious facts, they have no direct bearing upon 
that portion of the subject already discussed. The previous ob¬ 
servations chiefly had reference only to the changeability of 
species individually, but we may now consider the relative pro¬ 
portion of colours in different genera. Of course these can only 
be regarded as groups of allied species, of similar value to the 
larger groups of tribes, sub-orders, and orders under which plants 
are arranged, and it is to this circumstance that the bearing of the 
facts here named is quite different Jrom those first advanced. I 
have carefully examined the majority of the cultivated species 
(nearly three thousand) included in 2-10 genera, distributed over 
the whole vegetable kingdom, and as a result I have obtained the 
following numbers, indicating the relative proportion of colours, 
which may be taken as fairly representative of the general charac¬ 
teristics, as the largest and most distinct genera possessing coloured 
flowers have been selected for the purpose. Of the 210 genera, 
39 include species bearing blue and yellow flowers, 57 have purple 
and yellow-flowered species, 26 have blue but no yellow-flowered 
species, 28 purple without yellow, 105 yellow without blue ; but 
as the latter includes the 57 purple and yellow-flowered genera, 
there are only 50 genera with yellow flowers, but without blue or 
purple. Thus there are 96 genera comprising blue aud yellow 
tints, and 124 in which either is exclusive of the other, the remain¬ 
ing 20 containing neither colour. In reference to the large num¬ 
ber in which there is a combination of colours, it must, however, 
be observed that of the 1626 species comprised in the 39 genera 
possessing blue and yellow flowers, 981 are blue-flowered species, 
and only 221 yellow-flowered—an extraordinary difference, and 
upon which some remarks will be offered later on. Red (includ¬ 
ing scarlet, rose, and pink) and white are comparatively evenly 
spread over the two series ; but the former appears to be more 
frequent in the xanthic, and white in the cyanic groups, though 
the latter occurs in nearly all the larger genera. 
In regard to the comparative proportion of colours several 
observers have recorded some curious results, but the most 
striking are those given by Kohler and Schubler, who examined 
four thousand species in twenty-seven natural orders, and ascer¬ 
tained that 1193 had white flowers, 957 yellow, 923 red, 594 blue, 
307 violet, 153 green, five orange, and eight nearly black. It has 
also been remarked that amongst five hundred members of the 
Rose family blue is not found, nor yet in the 1300 Myrtle allies, 
whilst red is unknown in the five hundred Campanulaceous plants, 
excluding varieties obtained in cultivation, f urther attention 
will be devoted to these peculiar facts when discussing the merits 
and defects of the latest dissertation upon the colours of 
flowers—viz., 
HR. GRANT ALLEN’S THEORY. 
Any consideration of the facts bearing upon the changeableness 
of colours and the laws determining their combinations in flowers 
would be incomplete without some reference to the theory re¬ 
cently advanced by Mr. Grant Allen first in the Cornhill Magazine, 
