424 



CULTURE OF THE PINE- APPLE. 



arranging the tan, keep the bulk of the fresh towards the sides, as it is 

 in the centre that the greatest danger of an excess of heat arises. 

 Half-spent tan, or that which has previously heated, should likewise be 

 employed if it can be had. Notwithstanding all these precautions, over- 

 heating will sometimes occur. This renewal of the materials is a 

 cause of great anxiety to the pine-grower, as an excess of bottom heat is 

 fatal. It must never exceed 90, 85 being better and safer. Great watch- 

 fulness is needed for a few weeks. Thermometers should be plunged 

 in the bed, and if the heat rises, the pot must be instantly shaken 

 from side to side, and the tan drawn away from it. It is well only to 

 half-plunge the pots at first where there is danger, or to insert another 

 pot under the pine pot. When all danger of excess has passed over, 

 re-arrange, and plunge the pots up to the rims. The pine bed may 

 again be renewed, with even more caution and care, in October. These 

 instructions, which are absolutely necessary, reveal the superiority 

 of the tank or hot-water methods of heating the plunging-beds. 

 With these, the bottom and top heat are equally under perfect 

 control. The Meudon mode of applying the fermenting materials 



Fig. 



Meudon pine stove. 



a, a, Ground line. 6, Hot water-pipes for top-heat, c, Bed of peat 

 soil in which the pine-apples are planted. </, One of the iron bars 

 for supporting the boarded flooring on which the bed of soil 

 rests, e, Vault filled with stable-dung and leaves. /, Foot- 

 path, g, g, Air-holes, h, Shelf for strawberries, i, Iron rail 

 over which the strawberries are hung when the house is 

 uncovered. 



underneath and outside the plunging-beds, is almost as safe as the 

 hot-water method ; but the latter, as shown in our sections of fruiting- 

 houses, is undoubtedly the best, and taking into account the labour 

 involved in the management of bark-beds, it is also perhaps the 

 cheapest. It is easy also to retain most of the supposed advantages of 



