CULTURE OF THE PINE- APPLE. 



423 



Figs. 340, 341 are good forms of houses for fruiting-pines. But any 

 other form, provided it is sufficiently lighted and heated, will probably 

 answer equally well. 



Success does not depend upon the house, provided it is air-tight and 

 water-proof, but upon the skill of the cultivator. The roofs of pineries 

 are generally rather flat. In a house twelve feet across, a fall of four 

 feet may be given. About 35 is a good pitch. Under a steep roof 

 the plants are in more danger of being scorched by the sun. 



Modes of Heating. Now that the flue is abolished, and steam given 

 up, there are but three means of heating generally used the tank, 

 hot water, and fermenting materials. Each has its advocates, and 

 success has been obtained by all. The commonest mode of applying 

 fermenting material is illustrated by the accompanying woodcut. Or 



Fig. 342. 



the walls of the pit may be pigeon-holed, in the same way as melon 

 and cucumber pits. Perhaps the most scientific mode of applying 

 fermenting materials is that employed at Meudon, near Paris, fig. 343, 

 in which it will be seen the bed of soil is heated by a mass of ferment- 

 ing dung underneath, and provision is made for the escape of any 

 excess of heat at the sides. Generally pine-growers prefer the heat from 

 fermenting materials. It is kindly nourishing and moist, and the gases 

 generated are cleansing and feeding. Perhaps no heat can be better 

 for application outside. For a plunging medium it is all that can be 

 desired, if it can but be moderated and kept from rising to excess. 

 This is managed by a cautious introduction of fresh plunging ma- 

 terials. Perhaps oak-leaves and tanner's bark are the best and safest 

 fermenting material for growing the roots of pines in. The bed should 

 be partially renewed at the spring potting in February or March. 

 The best mode of proceeding is to turn over the whole bed, still 

 keeping the leaves chiefly at the bottom and the tan at the top. 

 Remove the most rotten part of the leaves by passing them through a 

 rough sieve, then add a foot or two of fresh leaves, and incorporate them 

 with the old ; or place the new layer wholly in the bottom of the pit. 

 The tan should be thrown bodily out of the pit, run through a fine 

 sieve, and only the finest rejected ; the coarse, with about six inches 

 of fresh tan, to be returned and spread carefully over the leaves. In 



