420 CULTURE OF THE PINE-APPLE. 



decayed tan ; Oldacre grew pines in powdered bones ; Brown in pure 

 peat and a mixture of sand and lime. Others have used half charcoal 

 and loam, vegetable earth and powdered oyster-shells, moss mixed 

 with earth and by itself. "White soils and red, black soils and grey 

 mingle, mingle, mingle ; let all mingle as they may who grow 

 pines," seemed to be the motto of old cultivators. Hence after the 

 current had fairly set in in favour of turfy loam, almost a generation 

 had passed away before horticulturists learned the useful lesson of 

 employing it pure and simple in a rough turfy state, made porous by 

 the mixture of a liberal percentage of sharp sand and broken char- 

 coal, and enrichedwith one-inch or half-inch bones. Speechley advises 

 to take good turf of a strong, rich, loamy texture, turn it topsy turvy 

 in a sheepfold to be trodden on for two or three months, until the 

 quantity of sheep's dung equals about one-third that of the loam, and 

 stack for six or twelve months, turn, and make fine with the spade. 

 Then the receipt is : three barrow-loads of this rich material, one 

 of decayed leaf-mould, and half a barrow-load of coarse sand, for 

 crowns, suckers, and young plants. For fruiting-plants three barrow- 

 loads of the enriched turf, two ditto of vegetable mould, one ditto of 

 coarse sand, and one-fourth of a barrow-load of soot. 



Mr. Griffin, another writer, recommends four barrow-loads of light- 

 brown pasture loam, one barrow-load of sheep's dung, and two of 

 swine's dung. This is to be thrown into a heap, and frequently turned 

 for a year before being used. Mr. Baldwin recommended stripping a 

 good old pasture meadow six inches deep, mixing it with one-half good 

 rotten dung, leaving it to mellow a year before being used. Mr. 

 Dodemeade's receipt for fruiting-pines was, one-half fine fibrous loam, 

 and one half fowls' or sheep's dung, well incorporated. Mr. Hamilton 

 recommended old pasture loam, stripped three inches deep, one-third 

 well-decomposed stable or hotbed dung, and one-tenth of the whole 

 mass wood-ashes. Coming down to more modern growers , we find 

 Mr, Glendinning recommends two parts of turfy loam to one of fresh 

 sheep's or deer's dung, and four of vegetable mould, the mixture to be 

 three months old before use. Mr. Mills used three-fourths strong loam 

 and heath mould in equal proportions, and one-fourth fresh horse- 

 droppings the whole used in a fresh state. Mr. Forsyth, a great 

 authority in pine-growing, used six parts of turfy loam, chopped up 

 into pieces about the size of walnuts, night soil one part, leaf-mould 

 one part, silver- sand one part. Mr. James Barnes, late of Bicton, used 

 turfy loam, pure and simple, with all the roots and natural vegetation 

 upon it, mixed with a few lumps of charcoal, never breaking nor turning 

 it till it came to the potting bench, and thrusting into the pots heath and 

 grass altogether, with no kind of manure. The loam is taken off dry, 

 about three inches thick, turned upside down, and left a few days to 

 dry. It is then built up like a haycock on a rough foundation of 

 wood, and thatched over to exclude the rain. Mr. David Thomson, of 

 Drumlanrig, almost the latest authority upon the subject, likewise 

 recommends turfy loam from a rocky crag. 



It is somewhat singular that all our best modern pine-growers should 



