1 62 THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



SOIL AND CULTIVATION. 



A friable turfy loam, sandy rather than clayey, is the best medium for pine apples. 

 The top 2 or 3 inches of an old pasture the herbage eaten off close by penning 

 sheep upon it should be collected when in good workable condition in autumn, and 

 stacked in an open place. This will answer for the pottings, and it should be placed 

 under cover a month or six weeks to become tolerably dry and quite warm previous 

 to its being used. It may be chopped with a spade, or torn in lumps with the hand, 

 and of sizes convenient to the pots, rejecting the dust or fine soil, and adding a 9 -inch 

 potful of bone meal, another of dry soot, and a third of charcoal dust to each barrow- 

 load, thoroughly incorporating. It should be mentioned and remembered that the more 

 fibrous the loam the more active and healthy the roots. Anything likely to form a 

 soapy mass, such as manure, is inimical to free root action, healthy growth, and superior 

 fruit. 



To give a general idea of the principal points of pine apple culture it will be 

 necessary to commence at a well-defined time, say about the end of August or early 

 in September, when the main supply of suckers will be in a fit state to be taken from 

 stools which have produced the summer supply of fruit. Details for preparing and 

 potting suckers having been given, it may be useful to state that the preparation of the 

 fermenting bed must commence ten days or so before it is required. 



Assuming the pit is ready and the suckers potted, let them be plunged to the 

 rim, and if the heat does not exceed 90 at their base, press the tan compactly round 

 the pots, placing them so that they stand clear of each other, for crowding the suckers 

 causes them to become drawn and weakly, and they seldom make good plants. Shade 

 from the sun during the hottest part of the day till it is found that they are making 

 roots, as they will in ten days or a fortnight, and when the shading is removed 

 in the afternoon the plants should be lightly syringed. Discontinue the shading and 

 syringing by degrees, ceasing both when the roots reach the sides of the pots, and 

 then give enough water to moisten the soil throughout. Air should be given early 

 in the day when the plants commence growth, and a moderately moist atmosphere 

 secured by damping twice a day. Over-much moisture or heat at the roots or in the 

 atmosphere, or a deficiency of light and ventilation, are fatal to the plants wintering 

 well and throwing up fine fruits. 



During September and until the middle of October the night temperature should 

 range from 60 to 65, 70 by day, with 10 or 15 more from sun heat. The 



