CULTURE OF THE PINE- APPLE. 



421 



have come back to what one of the first cultivators advocated as the 

 best soil. Mr. Giles, one of the earliest writers on the pine in England, 

 says, that " the soil should be a rich stiff loam, taken from a well- 

 pastured common, or what is called virgin earth." And adds, notwith- 

 standing the directions given by several authors to make compositions 

 of various soils, " this answers much better, not only for pine-apple 

 plants, but for most other vegetables." Thus after three or four gene- 

 rations, we arrive, by an exhaustive method of trying all else, at the 

 very point where Mr. Giles started in the olden times. Theory and 

 practice alike declare that a rich, light, fibry, sandy loam, used in a 

 fresh rough state, is the best possible soil for pine-growing. 



Pine-houses. The heated pit, or house for pine-growing, is a subject 

 that has received an exaggerated amount of attention for many years 

 past. Most cultivators have had their favourite shapes and sizes. 

 Some of the best, however, have cared but little about such matters. 

 There is a general concurrence of opinion that the houses for 



Fig. 339. 



Section of the pine pit at Oakkitt, 



a, a, Pipes. 5, Bark-bed. 



d, Steam pipe for occasional use. 



e, Arches, supporting the pathway, oc- 



casionally filled with fermenting 

 matter. 



/, /, Coping stones to the walls. 



g, Gutter to receive the water from ' the 



sashes. 

 h, h, Ground line. 



pines should be small and low, rather than large and lofty. But there 

 are also exceptions to this rule. Notably, Mr. Ward, of Bishop's Stort- 

 ford, who grows his succession pine-plants close to the glass in lean-to 

 houses, and then fruits them in a lofty span-roofed house, from four to 

 six feet clear of the glass. It is necessary to have separate compart- 



