December 2S, 18G9. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDESER. 



487 



?. Q 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



2S 

 24 

 25 

 26 

 27 

 28 

 29 



Day 

 Wtek. 



Th 



F 



S 



Sun 



M 



Tu 



W 



DECEMBER 23-29, 18C9. 



CHniSTMAS Day. 



1 Sunday aftlr CnRisTsiAa. 



St. John's Day. 



ishocests. 



AverapQ Tempera- 

 lure>ne;ir Londun. 



Rain in 



last 

 42 years, 



Sun 

 Eiaes. 



n. h. 

 6af8 



7 8 



7 8 



7 8 



8 8 



8 8 



9 8 



San 

 Sets. 



IVToon 

 RiBce. 



m. h. m. h. 

 52 af 8 11 al 9 



8 21 10 

 3 I 46 11 

 3 1 morn. 

 3 4 1 

 8 I 24 2 

 3 I 44 3 



Moon 

 Sets. 



m. h 

 9aJll 



37 11 

 after. 



25 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Days. 

 20 

 21 

 22 

 ( 

 24 

 25 

 26 



Clock 



alter 

 Sun. 



ra. 8. 



S8 357 



Dbt 



of 



Year. 





 before 



56 



1 26 



1 65 



2 25 



S58 

 359 

 360 

 361 

 362 

 363 



From observations taken near London during the last forty-two years, the average day temper.ature of the week is 43.3'; and its night 

 temperature 30 8'. The greatest heat was 58 , on the 23th, 1827 ; aid the lowest cold 1' below zero, on the 28th, 1860. The greatest fall 

 of rain was 1.13 iucb. 



PINE APPLE CULTURE. 



HERE are few persons, I should thiu!:, con- 

 nected witli gardening wlio du not know that 

 the cultivation of the Pine Apple has not 

 of late years increased in projiortion to that of 

 other kinds of fruits, nor even in proportion 

 to the importance of the fruit and the de- 

 mand for it at the dessert. My experience in 

 Pine-gro^^^Ilg is limited compared with that 

 of many growers, but I believe the system in 

 which I was instructed was that in general 

 practice, and which, I was told, had been maintained with 

 much exactness, and practised with great success, since 

 the days of Speechley and others in the early part of 

 the present century ; nevertheless in this system I saw 

 several things which I considered imperfections, and m3' 

 opinion subsequent experience has confirmed. Likewise, 

 I believe, those errors in culture have prevented in no 

 small degree the more extensive cultivation of tlie Pine 

 Apple 



In offering a few remarks and suggestions as to the 

 improvement and development of the culture of this es- 

 teemed fruit, I do so with a wish to be informed if my 

 reasonings do not agree with the experience of our great 

 growers, and if so, I may aid in obtaining for the Pine 

 Apple the share of public notice its merits as a dessert 

 fruit desei've. 



Dispensing with muck of the details of the treatment 

 of this plant, I will at once proceed to discuss the merits 

 or otherwise of growing large plants, which appear to 

 have been the rage for many years. I must confess that 

 the small fmit which, with very few exceptions, they 

 generally produced greatly surprised and disappointed me, 

 especially as it was often to be seen in tlie succession pit 

 that a medium-sized sturdy plant yielded the largest and 

 handsomest fruit, also several months sooner, and of 

 course with less trouble and expense. The enormous 

 crowns which the fruit of these large plants carried gave 

 pretty conclusive evidence that the plants had been con- 

 siderably overgrown: here, then, appeared to be au error 

 in the treatment, and I have since seen the same results 

 arise at other places ; therefore, except in special cases 

 when a few large fruit are in demand, I have yet to be 

 convinced of the propriety of growing such large plants, 

 especially as in most instances the time taken to grow 

 and fruit a plant of large dimensions extends to years. 

 Again, considei'ing the atmospheric treatment necessary 

 to the growth of such large specimens, and the amount of 

 shading generally resorted to, I very much question if 

 the flavour of the fruit is at all times first-class, for I 

 believe too iiutch shade favours the production of an 

 abundance of juice at the expense of flavour. Another 

 very common error is committed in the nursing pit. Heie 

 the unrooted crown or sucker often receives the treatment 

 proper for a rooted plant — that is, too much encourage- 

 ment to make foliage before sufficient roots are formed. 

 Such treatment, if maintained throughout the growth of 

 the plant, produces a shapeless ricketty subject, and 



No. 456.-VOL.XVII., New Sekies. 



increases the chances of overpotting and other evils. In 

 my opioiou that which would be most favourable to a 

 more general cultivation of the Pine Apple, is the establish- 

 ment of a cultural system that would produce a sturdy 

 well-developed plant capable of bearing a fair-sized fruit- 

 fit for table withia a more reasonable time. Such a. 

 system would be less expensive and more remunerative. 

 Why should not this be done '.' Judging from my own 

 experience and that made known to us by several expert 

 cultivators, I can perceive no gi-eat difficulty to overcome. 

 I have found the Pine capable of enduring a greater 

 amount of rough treatment than most cultivators give 

 it credit ior, and at certain times with positive advantage 

 instead of injur}'. 



In the year before last I grew a dozen plants for the 

 purpose of experiment ; the sorts were one Providence, 

 one Black .Jamaica, and the rest (,)ueens : some fromi 

 crowns, and some from suckers. Not having the uOTal 

 conveniences for Pine Apples, tlie plants were shifted about 

 from place to place regardless of their supposed require- 

 ments, excepting that they were always placed in a mode- 

 rate bottom heat, and kept near the glass until they hatl 

 become dwarf sturdy plants. No notice was taken of 

 a little sun shining on them for days together. The 

 foliage was broad, and close down on the pot, and v.'hen. 

 the plants were about 2 feet high and as much through, 

 I determined to fruit thorn ; they were, therefore, taken 

 from their growing place, and set on the stage of an inter' 

 mediate house with all the sun shining upon them, but 

 plenty of air. They remained there a fortnight, and 

 dm-in'g that time I had a small pit filled with tan, and 

 when the tan became moderately warm the Pines were 

 plunged into it. They were kept warmer at the top than- 

 before, and very soon every one of them showed fruit. 

 I The atmosphere was always kept dry. especially in the 

 I flowering period, and they had sun enough to render their 

 foliage quite brown, and always plenty of air, but very 

 Utile water at any time. "With the exception of the Pro- 

 vidence and Black Jamaica, all ripened their fruit ia- 

 twelve months, and three of them weighed ilj lbs. 



I am aware that therfc is nothing extraordinary in the 



above experiment, or more than otliers have accomplished, 



, but I state it to sliow what results may be achieved with 



j a plant that has for many years been cidtivated with such 



tender care ; and if I were called upon to produce a 



I quantity of this fruit annually, I should certainly have 



recourse to something like the same sort of treatment. 



1 I have for a long time tliought that the Pine has been 



\ cultivated with too much care at certam stages of its 



I growth, and that tlie old system which has been adhered 



j to with such pertinacity for so many years has been far 



too expensive for many to embark in Pine cultivation ; 



I no doubt, also, the large annual importation of foreign 



fruit of such good flavour has done much to check the 



cultivation of home-grown fruit. Those, however, who 



have the idea of an improved system of cultivation will 



do well to remember that tliere is the foreign fruit to 



compete witli, and in point of flavour we can success- 



I fully do so ; therefore no treatment, however good, will be 



No. 1108. -Vol. XLII., Old SiXiKB. 



