THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 197 



aroma and piquant flavour peculiai- to them, which cannot always be 

 ensured when they are purchased. Pine-apples can be kept a very- 

 long time indeed without showing any signs, outwardly, of their 

 being any the worse for it, and not uufrequeutly they are so long on 

 hand that they become flat and insipid as compared with those in 

 perfection. Pines can be kept for a short time without detriment, 

 indeed the fl.avour is improved thereby, but where too long a period 

 elapses between their removal from the plant and their appearance 

 on the table, they certainly do not improve in quality. How long 

 a time pine-apples may be kept w^ith advantage does not concern us 

 at this point, and ray object in alluding to it here is to show that 

 pine growing has sufficient advantages to counterbalance its appa- 

 rent costliness. Of course, in comparing the cost of the fuel with 

 the produce obtained, it will be needful, to be able to strike a fair 

 balance, to take into consideration the market price of the fruit, at 

 the time it is cut. 



The most suitable structure for the garden of the amateur is a 

 span-roof pit, with a walk down the middle to admit of the stock 

 receiving proper attention during the winter season, with a certain 

 amount of comfort, and without exposing it to cold draughts, 

 which are most iDJurious at all times, and especially so during the 

 winter season. The wadth of the pit should be from nine to twelve 

 feet, the length from twenty to forty, and the height just sufficient 

 to afford head room. A height ranging from seven to nine feet, 

 according to the length and breadth of the house, will be the most 

 suitable. The largest sized houses are the best, because there will 

 be no material increase in the cost of heating them. For an ama- 

 teur not desirous of putting up a very large house, I would recom- 

 mend a pit thirty feet long, nine feet wide, and seven feet high from 

 the pathway to the apex. In a house of this size there will be 

 sufficient space for a three feet path down the middle, and a bed of 

 the same width on each side. Por the better accommodation of the 

 stock, about ten feet at the cool end should be divided oflf with a 

 glass partition, and in this the suckers and succession plants whilst 

 in a small state can be kept. 



The young stock can, with this provision, have the temperature 

 most suitable to them, and there will be no danger of their being 

 " drawn up," as is frequently the case, when both small and large 

 are intermixed together. Side sashes are not required, and to save 

 unnecessary expense the rafters and the lower end of the roof lights 

 may rest upon the wall plate ; and for a house of the dimensions 

 recommended as most suitable for amateurs, the side walls should 

 be two feet less in height than the apex of the roof. The beds 

 should be formed with brick walls, nine inches in thickness, to 

 within eighteen inches of the top, and the remainder four-inch work. 

 This will form a ledge upon which the cross pieces supporting the 

 platform can rest. Small piers should also be built in the outside 

 wall, at intervals of three feet, and of the same height as the ledge, 

 to receive the other end of the cross-pieces. Piers formed with loose 

 bricks would answer the same purpose, but it is preferable to build 

 them in the wall, on account of their more substantial character. 



Julj. 



