PINASTER 



670 



PINE-APPLES 



P. specta'bilis(s\\ovfy). Leaves mottled, silvery beneath. 



E. Ind. 1886. 

 icrnate'nsis (Ternate). Leaves 12 ft. long. Temate 



island. 



Vei'tchii (Veitdi's). Loaves blotched with blackish- 

 green. Borneo. 1880. 

 PINASTER. Pi' nus Pina'ster. 

 PINASTER BEETLE. Bostrichus. 

 PINCENECTTTIA GLAU'CA and P. TUBERCULA'TA. 

 See NOLINA RECURVATA. 



PINCHING is a term applied to crushing, between the 

 finger and thumb, the leading bud of a shoot, so as to 

 prevent its increasing in length, and to force more sap 

 to the other buds. 



PI'NCKNEYA. (Named after Mr. Pinckney, an Ameri- 

 can botanist. Nat. ord. Rubiads [Rubiaceae]. Linn. 

 5-Pentandria, i-Monogynia. Allied to Bouvardia.) 



Half-hardy evergreen tree. Seeds; and cuttings of 

 ripened shoots under a hand-light, in sandy peat. It 

 hardly deserves the greenhouse, and is rather tender for 

 exposure, but would probably flourish against a south 

 wall in a shallow border of loam and peat. 

 P. pu'bens (downy). 20. Red. June. Georgia. 1786. 



PINE. See PINUS. 



PINE-APPLES. Ana'nas sati'vus. 



Varieties. Queen: a free grower and an excellent 

 fruiter ; fit for the earliest summer fruit, and excellent 

 during September and October. Ripley Queen : a very 

 fine fruit, and by many preferred to the first. St. Vincent, 

 or Green Olive : an excellent winter fruit . Black Jamaica : 

 the best winter pine ; it is too often confounded with 

 the Montserrat. Black Antigua: a noble pyramidal 

 fruit, with large pips ; should be cut a little before it is 

 quite ripe. Brown Sugar-loaf : large and showy, with 

 a very juicy flesh ; it is said by some to swell tolerably 

 well in winter. White Providence: one of the largest 

 and noblest of pines ; flavour rather inferior. Trinidad : 

 large and of pyramidal shape ; flavour not first-rate. 

 Enville: noble-looking fruit; flavour second-rate. 

 Smooth-leaved Cayenne: barrel-shaped, dark orange- 

 yellow, rich and highly flavoured, 6 Ib. to 9 Ib. ; one of 

 the best for winter and spring ; leaves nearly spineless. 



Culture. This usually commences in February. Have 

 the upper 30 inches of the pit in which the pots are to 

 be plunged filled with fresh tan. Re-pot your plants, 

 using any turfy soil, even from a road-side, well chopped 

 to pieces when dry, but by no means riddled. Never- 

 theless, it is very good practice to have a richer and 

 mellower compost in a more decomposed state on the 

 potting bench, such as the surface of an old cucumber- 

 bed, chopped when dry, dung, rotten leaves, and loam 

 all together (but most of the loam), and then passed 

 through a very coarse riddle, afterwards adding one-sixth 

 of charred sticks, or rubbish, such as will pass readily 

 through a riddle of an inch mesh. 



Use pots which would require but one more shift : 

 the size of the pot for the final shift will determine this ; 

 and pots of about 13 inches diameter will be sufficiently 

 large for any beginner to fruit in. In potting, first 

 place three or four large crocks in such a way as that at 

 least three bold apertures be formed, both for the escape 

 of water and the admission of gaseous matter from 

 below. Over this strew broken crocks and charcoal 

 lumps, large as horse-beans, until the large crocks at 

 the bottom are just concealed. Then strew a layer of 

 the turfy lumps, out of which the loose soil has been 

 ejected by shaking in a riddle. This done, the ball may 

 at once be inserted, first suffering such crocks as are loose 

 to dislodge themselves from the old ball. Next, throw 

 in another layer of the turfy lumps all round the ball, 

 and on these strew a couple of inches of the mixed com- 

 post in a mellow state ; then, with a blunt stick, give 

 the whole a slight pressure all round the ball, add another 

 layer of the turfy lumps, strewing a little of the compost 

 over them ; again press with the stick ; and now place 

 a final coating of the compost, nearly 2 inches in depth, 

 all over, and level with the rim of the pot. Let there 

 be no tapping or thumping the bottom of the pot on the 

 bench. If the balls of the pines about to be shifted 

 are dry, water them, at least three days before they are 

 to be shifted, with tepid manure-water, in order to allow 

 the moisture to equalise itself, and the surplus to pass 



away. Thus there will be no occasion for any root- 

 watering for nearly a month after shifting. The plants 

 may be plunsed immediately they are shifted ; but let 

 them by no means be more than half their depth in the 

 tan. If any disrooting has hdoni'- rr.ilh 

 and the sun shines bright, a little canvas shadin : \\ill 

 be a benefit for a couple of hours each day ; not, how- 

 ever, to obstruct light, but rather to prevent the too 

 rapid dispersion of atmospheric moisture. 



Stove. For the construction of this, see HOTHOUSE 

 and PIT. 



Table of Temperature as to Artificial Heat only. 



Tables of this kind must not be allowed to guide the 

 thermometer entirely. A good cultivator will take notice 

 of the condition of his plants, and shape his course 

 accordingly. If they appear " drawn," he should at 

 once lower his night heat, as also that on dull days. 



For bottom-heat, by adding 5 to every one of the 

 above artificial day temperatures, we shall be as correct 

 as by any tedious detail. Thus July and August should 

 have a bottom-heat of 85, which ought never to be 

 exceeded in pine culture. If bottom-heat is supplied 

 by a tank or pipes heated by hot water, the directions 

 about renewing the tan are not needed. 



Monthly Culture. The plants being all plunged in the 

 new pit, trial sticks must be put in, and a bottom-heat 

 thermometer by all means employed. The bottom-heat 

 here given is meant to apply to the heat at the bottom 

 of the pot. Whilst practitioners are driven to capricious 

 fermenting materials as a source of bottom-heat, an 

 excess of heat will sometimes become necessary inside 

 the bed, in order to provide somewhat against sudden 

 declines. Let, then, the operator secure the bottom- 

 heat as per table at the bottom of the pot, and all will 

 be right. 



If the heat rises above the desired point, let water tx 

 instantly employed as a cooler between the pots ; and 

 if this does not immediately check it sufficiently, let the 

 pots forthwith be rocked to and fro in the bed, until a 

 fair cavity is obtained between the tan and the pot 

 side ; and when the heat has declined to the desired 

 pitch the cavity may be filled up again. 



Let atmospheric moisture be liberally employed, especi- 

 ally from three o'clock in the afternoon until eight or 

 nine the next morning. A slight syringing may be 

 applied on every afternoon about closing time, taking 

 care that at this time (February) it is dispersed on the 

 following morning by a liberal heat and a free ventila- 

 tion. Air must be given daily, if only for an hour ; 

 during all moderate weather a little may be given at 

 8 A.M. ; increased, if necessary, about n A.M. ; and taken 

 entirely away about 3 P.M. 



March. The sun will now be gaming much power, 

 and the amount of transpiration from the foliage will be 

 much increased ; let, therefore, a corresponding increase 

 take place in the amount of atmospheric moisture. 

 Shading may be employed for a couple of hours or so 

 in the middle of very sunny days with some benefit. 

 Syringing the surface of the tan is an excellent plan. If 

 the wind is very cutting, be very cautious in the admis- 

 sion of air ; the front sashes may be kept closed, and, if 

 sunny, the shade applied, merely letting a little of the 

 surplus heat escape at back. 



April. In proportion to rapidity of growth must be 

 the admission of air. With a little freedom in growth, 

 accompanied by a free transpiration, the plants will begin 

 to require occasional waterings ; indeed, the Queen 

 section will have required it before March was out. 

 With regard to such as the Black Jamaica, the case is 

 widely different ; it is astonishing how long these pines 



