438 CULTURE OF THE PINE-APPLE. 



month or the beginning of the next ; top-dress the fruiting Queens 

 with rich soil ; water constantly with manure-water ; shift succession- 

 plants ; pot the general stock of Queens and other suckers ; gradually 

 lessen the amount of moisture in the air of pits to ripen growth already 

 made. 



SEPTEMBER. 



Shift some of the strongest succession-plants into their fruiting-pots ; 

 pot another batch of winter-fruiters to be shifted into their fruiting- 

 pots in March and started in September and October, to succeed those 

 started in June and July ; keep up a regular genial temperature ; 

 water still with manure-water ; cut and remove ripe fruit ; pot suckers, 

 and gradually mature the growth of succession-plants. 



OCTOBER. 



Pot all the suckers of the winter sorts that can be got ; push them 

 on rapidly till the end of April; rest them in May and June, and start 

 them into fruit in July ; prepare for renewing, or lessen the fruiting- 

 bed ; keep the plants near to the light ; keep the plants quite dry 

 when in flower, and reduce the summer moisture considerably ; water 

 them, however, freely at the root ; reduce the temperature of the general 

 stock of succession-plants, with the exception of the growing Black 

 varieties. 



NOVEMBER. 



Keep up the temperature of the fruiting-houses ; water more 

 sparingly ; allow the steam ing-pans to become dry ; sprinkle the paths 

 when requisite, and thereby nourish the swelling fruit ; cut and remove 

 those that are ripe; renew the bed, if not already done; allow the 

 general stock of succession-plants to rest quietly or advance slowly. 



DECEMBER. 



Start the first batch of Queens, if required early in May ; attend to the 

 watering of swelling fruit ; cut and remove ripe ones ; cover at night if 

 the weather should prove severe, and avoid excessive firing, which is 

 injurious to the plants and robs the air of its moisture ; keep succession- 

 plants quiet, with the exception of the winter-fruiters, which must be 

 kept growing without being driven fast throughout the winter ; renew 

 beds and make up linings. 



We have advisedly refrained from specifying temperatures or advert- 

 ing to ventilation. For the former we refer to the Tables, pp. 428, 

 429 ; for the latter to the section on Ventilation, page 427. 



Pine- growing in the Open Air in England. The honour of originating 

 this bold idea, and embodying it in successful practice, belongs to the 

 veteran pine-grower, Mr. James Barnes, late of Bicton, Devon. Over 

 twenty years ago, this distinguished cultivator startled the gardening 

 world by sending up to London pine-apples grown and ripened out of 



