AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



131 



. Pine-apple continued. 



backward, until they come off ; afterwards, cut the end 

 smooth with a sharp knife, and take off a very few of the 

 smallest lower leaves. Suckers may be potted, according 

 to their size, in clean pots, from Sin. to Sin. in diameter. 



CULTIVATION. Where a quantity of Pine-apples are 

 grown, it is usual to set apart structures for those in 

 various stages of growth one for suckers, one for 

 succession plants, and another for those which have 

 advanced to the fruiting stage. In all cases, pro- 

 vision must be made for plunging-beds, and there 

 should be plenty of hot-water pipes for keeping a 

 high temperature, without having to over-heat them 

 and produce a very dry atmosphere. Pine-apples may 

 be grown in pits, but they may be much better 

 attended to in a house, which, for the various stages 

 in the growth of the plants, may be a lean-to, hip- 

 roofed, or a span-roofed structure. Provision should 

 always be made for the full admission of light; this 

 is a most important element in cultivation, as it is 

 conducive towards keeping the plants dwarf and sturdy. 

 The surface of the plunging-beds should be near enough 

 to the glass to allow of the plants nearly touching 

 the latter when fixed in position. There should be 

 hot-water pipes passing through a hollowed chamber 

 beneath a staging of slate or wood, fixed to hold up 

 the plants, and form a division. The plunging mate- 

 rial above , the hollowed chamber, consisting of good 

 Oak-leaves or tan, should be from 2ft. to 3ft. deep for 

 maintaining heat over a long period. A small lean-to 

 house is best for propagating, with a plunging-bed along 

 the front, and a narrow passage at the back. When the 

 plants become too large for this structure, they will be 

 ready for the succession house, which may be hip- roofed 

 or lean-to, on a higher and larger scale, with front and 

 back passages. For fruiting Pine-apples, a span-roofed 

 house is generally preferred for summer, to meet the re- 

 quirements of strong-growing plants, and afford facilities 

 for giving them an abundance of light; such an arrange- 

 ment is not, however, always practicable, and the best 

 has, consequently, to be made of the means at command. 



Provision should be made, in Pine-houses or pits, for 

 applying a thin shading for a few hours on bright summer 

 days ; but this must be fixed on rollers, and on no account 

 be left down permanently. To these rollers a thicker 

 covering, for use on cold nights, and in severe weather, 

 may be fixed with great advantage, as the heat and 

 moisture, inside the house, will be much preserved 

 thereby, and this is of great importance when hard- 

 firing becomes a necessity. Ventilation should chiefly 

 be given from the top ; but provision should also be 

 made for admitting front air near where the pipes are 

 situated, in case of such being required in summer. On 

 hot days, if top ventilators are open, rapid evaporation 

 of moisture takes place; this may be counteracted con- 

 siderably by nearly closing the top when the shading is 

 down, and giving air from the front instead. On no 

 account must draughts be allowed. 



The soil best suited for Pine - apples is one that 

 affords the free passage of water, and the pots used 

 should be thoroughly clean and dry both inside and 

 out; they should also be well drained. Light, fibrous 

 loam, which has been cut very thin, and stacked for a 

 time sufficient to kill the grass, should form the main 

 part of the compost. It should be torn up by hand, 

 and only the rough, lumpy portions used. To it may 

 be added some fibry peat similarly shaken out, about 

 one-fifth part of rough, charred refuse, or some charcoal, 

 and crushed bones, to the extent of half a bushel to 

 about five barrow-loads of the compost. This should be 

 prepared beforehand, and always made warm before being 

 used. Animal manures, and anything tending to decay 

 rapidly, should be excluded from soils intended for Pine- 

 apple culture. If a stimulant becomes necessary, it is 



Pine-apple continued. 



best applied when the plants require it, by means of 

 diluted liquid manure. The chief provisions, tinder this 

 heading, are, therefore, those of insuring thorough porosity 

 in the soil, and good drainage: Pine-apples will never 

 succeed in a compost that becomes at any time close 

 and retentive, or in the least sour from being over-wet. 



Pine-apples need never be placed in larger than 12in. 

 pots ; in these they may be most successfully fruited. In 

 growing on suckers, and succession plants, an eye should 

 be given to potting in sizes proportionate to giving a 

 final shift into that above mentioned. Some cultivators 

 adopt a system of planting-out Pine-apples when they 

 arrive at the fruiting stage ; but it is not generally 

 practised. There are disadvantages, as, for instance, 

 if anything should prove unfavourable to their well- 

 being, it might not be so easily remedied as if the plants 

 could be readily removed. A pot-plant, so soon as its 

 fruit has been cut, may be easily taken elsewhere for 

 producing suckers, and another, with the fruit ripening, 

 put into its place. This would not be so readily accom- 

 plished were the system of planting-out adopted. 



Watering must be conducted with great care in winter ; 

 sometimes it will not be advisable to apply any for weeks 

 then, nor yet in early spring. When the application of 

 water becomes necessary a time readily known to 

 practised cultivators by the plant's appearance suffi- 

 cient should be given to thoroughly soak the ball, and 

 this should be of a temperature equally as high as that 

 of the bottom heat maintained. It is well to examine 

 the plants for watering at least once a week. Syringing, 

 during the season when the plants are growing, should 

 be practised at closing time in the afternoons ; warm 

 water must always be used. Evaporating troughs, on 

 the pipes, kept filled with water, and frequent dampings 

 of the walls and passages, will preserve a moist atmo- 

 sphere; this, with a high temperature, is what Pine- 

 apples require when growing as succession plants, and 

 when the fruits are swelling. At the time the latter 

 are ripening, water should be withheld, and a much drier 

 atmosphere maintained ; otherwise, the flavour will be 

 affected. 



In winter, the plants should be rested, but not sub- 

 jected to a lower minimum night temperature than 

 65deg., that by day, in mild weather, being 5deg. or 

 lOdeg. higher. As the days lengthen, these figures may 

 increase, until, in summer, 70deg. or Todeg. should be 

 taken as a minimum for night. The bottom heat to 

 be aimed at, through the spring and summer, is about 

 85deg. 



INSECTS. Mealy Bug and White Scale are the most 

 destructive insects to the attacks of which Pine-apples 

 are subject. Both are very injurious, and are difficult to 

 eradicate ; it is therefore extremely important that their 

 appearance should, if possible, be prevented. Whenever 

 any are detected, measures for cleansing the plants should 

 be at once taken in hand. Various remedies have been 

 proposed and tried, amongst them being that of placing 

 affected plants head downwards over a bed of ferment- 

 ing horse-dung, in a frame which is kept closed for 

 about an hour, when the plants are taken out and 

 washed. Clean water, at a temperature approaching, 

 but not exceeding, 130deg., has also been recommended. 

 Perhaps the most efficacious remedy, when properly 

 applied, is paraffin, using a wineglassful to a gallon 

 of warm, soft water. The plants should be laid on their 

 side, and the mixture syringed on by one person, while 

 another keeps it constantly agitated with a second 

 syringe. The whole of the paraffin must be afterwards 

 washed off with clean water, applied warm, and with 

 some force. 



SORTS. Pine-apples are somewhat numerous in varie- 

 ties, but for all practical purposes only a few of the 

 best arc necessary. Indeed, the good qualities of the 



