PINE APPLES FRUIT RIPENING WINTER FRUITING. 167 



freely afforded and the plants sprinkled on fine afternoons. Close about 2 P.M., so that 

 the heat may rise to 90 100 ; then with plenty of atmospheric moisture the fruit will 

 swell rapidly. It must be sustained by careful watering, including guano water when 

 the plants need a supply, pouring it into the sockets of the lower leaves, as there are 

 roots there for appropriating the food supplied. Gills which appear on the stems under 

 the base of the fruit should be promptly removed, and the suckers springing from the 

 base of the plants be reduced to one or, at most, two on each plant. This is necessary 

 to secure strong suckers and perfectly developed fruits. 



When the fruits show the least signs of turning yellow at the base, an increased 

 amount of air and a decrease of atmospheric and soil moisture must gradually take place 

 in order to secure fine flavour, and by the time the fruit is perfectly ripe the soil should 

 be dry. If the fruit is not immediately required, the plant may be removed to a cool, 

 shady place, where it will keep for weeks in the summer season. When more fruits 

 commence ripening than are necessary to supply the demand, a portion of the plants 

 should be removed to a cooler house, such as a vinery where the grapes are ripe and air 

 is freely admitted. The fruits will there ripen gradually and possess excellent flavour. 

 Fruit cut with a portion of stem enough in all cases to handle it by before it is quite 

 ripe, and laid in a dry, airy fruit room, will keep a considerable time in good condition. 

 Such is the treatment of the Queen pine and its sub-varieties to supply ripe fruit early 

 in June. To supplement these and continue the succession of fruit until early autumn, 

 some plants should be started in late February or early in March and others in April. 



Winter and spring fruiting plants usually consist of Black Jamaica and Smooth- 

 leaved Cayenne. Their treatment as suckers, successions, and fruiting plants is not 

 materially different from that given for summer fruiting varieties, but they require more 

 moisture at the roots and in the atmosphere, with more shading in early summer than 

 Queens, and they are kept growing longer in the autumn. To insure a supply of fruit 

 from October to May, robust yet sturdy plants, having had over a year's growth, should 

 be started by the middle of July, and others by the middle of September. 



For the late winter and spring supply of fruit, the plants that have been wintered in 

 7- or 8 -inch pots and shifted into the fruiting pots in March are the best, encouraging 

 them to fill their pots with roots, and to make a good growth. They will then start 

 into fruit after being kept freely ventilated and cool for a few weeks. 



Charlotte Kothschild is considered a somewhat difficult variety to manage well. As it 

 is valuable for autumn and winter use, and requires the same treatment as Smooth-leaved 



