3IO Notes and Gleanings. 



bles : these materials are well mixed together, and the arrangements completed 

 by filling the pit with good fruiting pines, planted as thickly together as jiossible. 

 I use no pots, but plant them out into the soil, and the pines thus planted are 

 now ready for work, and must not again be disturbed for at least two years, and 

 not even then if there be head room for them to grow and throw up their fruit. 

 I always let them alone as long as possible, and when I am compelled to lower 

 some of the pines down for head room, I only do two or three at one time, and 

 at the time I cut the fruit off. I then take the old stem up, which will have one 

 or two strong suckers upon it. I take the old soil out, and cut off the bottom 

 part of the old stem, and the suckers, with the top part of the old stool, I let 

 down as low as I can. I then fill up with fresh pine soil. The suckers, thus 

 let down, I grow on, and fruit ; crowns and other suckers I thin out. I keep 

 planting amongst the larger plants, and I give them head room as soon as pos- 

 sible. By these two methods I keep up a constant supply of fruiting plants. 

 To the let alone system do I attribute, in great measure, my success in pine 

 growing. I find the pines make finer fruit the second year than the first, and 

 some of my plants will fruit next spring, the third time since I planted them, 

 and will swell off Montserrat pines near four pounds each. I may state here 

 that all the pines I grow, except two or three plants, are Montserrats. It is an 

 easy matter with me to fruit pines the year round. 



Temperature is a matter of importance. The following are the temperatures 

 I find best : October, 75° to 80° ; November, 70° ; December, 70° ; January, 75° ; 

 February, 80° ; March, 80° ; April, 85° ; May, June, July, August, 90° to 100°, 

 and September, 80° to 85°. 



I give the pines at times a liitle warm water in the months of November, De- 

 cember, and January. In the month of February I begin to push them on, and 

 give them two good waterings of liquid manure. The first week in March I 

 begin to give the pines liquid manure every week until the end of September ; 

 in October I give them it twice. 



The liquid manure I prepare thus : I take the garden engine, which holds 

 five large watering canfuls ; I fill the engine half full from a cesspool which re- 

 ceives the water from the house, stables, etc. ; into this, from time to time, a quan- 

 tity of soot is thrown ; I then fill up the engine with warm water and strong 

 liquid manure made from fresh horse droppings. At times I add a little guano. 

 I always water with a syringe. 



Syringing is next to be spoken of. I never syringe on cloudy days, but steam 

 the stoves well ; but throughout spring and summer, whenever the day is bright 

 and the sun hot, on week days I go into the stove at noon, and thoroughly 

 syringe the pines, and every other plant in the stove ; and again in the spring at 

 three o'clock, and in summer at half past three, and then shut up close. Suc- 

 cess is certain to any pine grower who will treat pines as above described. The 

 cultivator may cut at least one third more pines at one third the trouble which 

 tan pits and succession pits entail. — James Walker, Gardener to James Rad- 

 cliffe, Esq., Sivinton Park, near Manchester, in Gardener'' s Magazine. 



