426 CULTURE OF THE PINE- APPLE. 



should be carefully detached from the old stem ; the rugged point of 

 junction smoothed off with a sharp knife ; the small scaly bottom- 

 leaves removed by hand for about four or five inches, or as far as sound 

 brown roots appear ; then proceed to pot them firmly in 6-inch or 8- 

 inch pots according to their size. The pots should be scrupulously clean, 

 and carefully drained, thus : place one large piece of broken pot, or an 

 oyster-shell, over the hole of the pot, then from one and a half to two 

 inches of drainage of broken bricks, pots, charcoal, or freestone, 

 finished with some oyster-shells broken fine ; over this place two inches 

 of the roughest of the turfy loam ; then turn the plant carefully out 

 of the pot, and place it in its new quarters, and fill in firmly with the 

 rough loam, using a strong stick, two inches square, to press it firm all 

 round. The soil cannot be rendered too firm. Mr. Barnes recom- 

 mends the entire rejection of all the soil but the fibre. Every piece 

 of turf as it is placed on the potting-bench receives a violent blow 

 from a stout piece of wood ; it is then briskly shaken till all the fine 

 soil is removed, and the fibre is mixed with some rubbly char- 

 coal as the operation of potting proceeds ; then the whole soil is an 

 open porous mass of material, readily admitting a free circulation of 

 air and water. We would use exactly the same sort of soil for planting out. 

 As to the size of the pots, only two sizes are now generally used for suckers 

 and for fruiting-plants. The strongest plants are at once shifted from 

 8-inch pots into 12-inch ; the weaker ones from 6-inch into 11-inch 

 pots. It is found that these sizes are large enough to carry the finest 

 fruit. After potting, the plants are immediately plunged in their 

 newly-made bed. 



Watering at Root and Top. This should be at once attended to. As 

 soon as the plants are plunged, they should be watered with soft rain 

 or pond water at the temperature of 80. Enough should be given 

 to penetrate the ball and moisten the entire soil. It is needless to add 

 that no plant should ever be shifted in a dry state. After the first 

 watering, no more may be needed at the roots for two or three weeks. 

 There is great danger of over-watering newly potted pines. The ball 

 will be surrounded with a mass of new or moist soil, and will draw 

 water from thence. Until the fresh earth is occupied, partially at 

 least, caution must be the signal held over the watering-pot. In fact, 

 in all stages of growth, excess of water must be avoided. Like all 

 other plants, pines should only be watered when the soil is dry, and 

 then thoroughly. For some time after potting, clean water is best. Until 

 the roots " bite" and occupy the new soil, manure- water can do little good 

 and may prove injurious After they have advanced so far, manure- 

 water only should be given. It has been made of the dung of sheep, 

 cows, deer, and pigeons, and any or all of these, if applied clear and 

 weak, are useful. But the best manure-water for pines is that formed 

 by putting a handful of soot or guano into a four-gallon pot of water. 

 Superphosphate of lime is sometimes used in preference to soot, and 

 probably Meredith's Vine Manure would be equally good. It is also a 

 common practice to place some guano, soot, or liquid manure in the 

 evaporating pan on the hot-water pipes, thus distributing food along with 



