THE PINE-APPLE. 587 



winters, it might be advisable to protect the wood during severe 

 weather. 



The Peruvian Cherry. 



The Peruvian cherry (Physalis peruviana), is a biennial, a native of 

 Buenos Ayres, Lima, and other parts of South America, where it 

 grows from six feet to ten feet high. It is occasionally cultivated in 

 British stoves and forcing-houses for its fruit, which is produced 

 through the winter as well as during summer, and tastes exactly like 

 that of the hardy species. It is commonly trained against a trellis, on 

 the back of an early -forced vinery or peach-house ; but, treated like 

 the capsicum, or the love-apple, it will ripen its fruit in abundance 

 during summer, against a south wall. 



Tropical or Sub-tropical Fruits. 



The fruits which we include in this section are such as require to be 

 grown entirely or chiefly under glass viz., the pine-apple, banana, 

 the orange and lemon tribe, the melon and cucumber, and some fruits 

 not in general cultivation, but which may be tried by the curious 

 amateur. 



The Pine-apple. 



The pine-apple (Ananassa sativa, Lindl.), is a low evergreen shrub, a 

 native of South America, the natural history of which having been given 

 on p. 417, we have only here to name the varieties best worth culti- 

 vating : Baroness Rothschild, Ripiey Queen, Smooth-leaved Cayenne, 

 Globe, New Black Jamaica, the Queen, the Moscow Queen, the Black 

 Jamaica, the Brown Sugar-loaf, the Black Antigua, the Enville, the 

 White Providence, the Trinidad. Among these, Queens, Smooth- 

 leaved Cayennes, and Black Jamaicas, are by far the most useful, and of 

 the highest quality ; the Queen being looked upon as the main 

 summer and early autumn fruit, the Jamaica and Smooth Cayenne for 

 winter and spring. 



Culture. This is given at length at p. 418, and we shall here give 

 a general summary. Plant in turfy, rich, but not adhesive loam ; 

 plunge the pots in tan or leaves, or some other medium that will pro- 

 duce and retain heat. At no period, either of winter or summer, allow 

 the temperature of the air of the house to fall lower than 65, but in 

 summer let it rise as high as 80 or 85; the bottom heat should 

 never be under 70, and it may rise as high as 85 when the atmo- 

 sphere is at or above that temperature ; in summer give air early in 

 the morning, and shut up at three in the afternoon with a high tem- 

 perature, syringing the plants overhead. Grow the Queen pines by 

 themselves, the Black pines by themselves, as they require a higher 

 temperature, and the large pines also by themselves, as they require 

 more room than the other kinds. Treated in this manner pines will 

 seldom be infested with insects; but if they should, the remedies 

 have been already given. To cause a pine to show fruit, give it a 

 rest and a check by withholding water for a considerable time, 



