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B R O 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



B R O 



The Sugar-loaf Pine is easily distinguished from all the others, 

 by its leaves having purple stripes on their inside the whole 

 length : the fruit is of a paler colour when ripe, inclining to a 

 straw-colour. This was brought from Brazil to Jamaica, 

 where it is esteemed far beyond the others. The next in 

 goodness to this, is what the inhabitants of the islands in Ame- 

 rica call the Montserrat Pine : the seeds have been imported 

 from the island of St. Thomas, where this fruit is in greater 

 perfection than in any of the British islands. The King Pine 

 was raised from seed taken out of a rotten fruit which came 

 from the West Indies, and produced large fruit. The Smooth 

 Pine is preserved by some curious persons for the sake of 

 variety, but the fruit is not worth any thing. The Green Pine 

 is at present the most rare in Europe ; this has been esteemed 

 the best sort known, by some of the most curious persons in 

 America, many of whom have thrown out all the others from 

 their gardens to cultivate this only. The fruit, if suffered to 

 ripen well, is of an olive colour ; to have it green, it must be 

 cut before it is ripe, when it is unfit to be eaten : plants of 

 this sort may be procured from Barbadoes and Montserrat. 

 The other varieties, most known among the growers of Pines, 

 are the following; the Black dntigua or Ripley : Granada, 

 Pine, with marbled leaves, and very large fruit ; Bog warp 

 Pine, with broad green leaves ; Smooth, Long, Narrow- leaved 

 Pine ; Mcntserrat and Surinam Pine .- with silver-striped, 

 and also with gold-striped, leaves : but it is unnecessary to go 

 beyond naming such varieties.because they are not permanent ; 

 new ones may be produced every day ; and, after all, the oval 

 Whitish-fleshed or Queen Pine, and particularly the Pyramidal 

 Yellow-fleshed or Sugar-loaf Pine, are confessedly superior in 

 flavour to all the rest. They are propagated by planting the 

 crowns which grow on the fruit, or the suckers which are pro- 

 duced from the sides of the plants, or under the fruit, both of 

 which have been found to be equally good ; although some 

 persons think the crown preferable to the suckers, supposing 

 it will produce fruit sooner than them, which is certainly a 

 mistake ; for by constant experience, we find the suckers, if 

 equally strong, will fruit as soon, and produce as large fruit, 

 as the crowns. The suckers and crowns must be laid to dry, 

 in a warm place, for four or five days or more, according to 

 the moisture of the part which adhered to the old fruit ; for 

 if immediately planted they will rot, especially the crowns. 

 The certain rule of judging when they are fit to plant, is by 

 observing if the bottom be healed over and become hard, for 

 if the suckers be drawn off carefully from the old plants, they 

 will have a hard skin over the lower part, and need not lie so 

 long as the crowns, or those whose bottoms are moist : but 

 whenever a crown is taken from the fruit, or the suckers from 

 old plants, they should be immediately deprived of their bot- 

 tom leaves, so as to allow depth for their planting ; so that 

 they may be thoroughly dry and healed in every part. If 

 they are taken off late in the autumn, or during the winter, 

 or early in the spring, they should be laid in a dry place in 

 the stove, for a fortnight or three weeks ; but in the summer 

 .season they will be fit for planting in a few days. As to the 

 earth in which these should be planted, if you have a rich 

 pood kitchen-garden mould, not too heavy, so as to detain 

 the moisture too long, nor over light and sandy, it will be 

 very proper for them without any mixture ; but where this 

 is wanting, you should procure some fresh earth from a good 

 pasture, which should be mixed with about a third part of 

 rotten cow-dung, or the dung of an old Melon or Cucumber 

 bed which i well consumed. These should be mixed six 

 or eight months at least before they are used, but if it be a 

 year, it will be the better ; and should be often turned, that 

 their parts may be the better united, and the clods well 



broken : this earth should not be sieved very fine, but only 

 cleared of the great stones. Always avoid mixing any sand 

 with the earth, unless it be extremely stiff, and then it will 

 be necessary to have it mixed six months or a year before it 

 be used, during which time it must be frequently turned, 

 that the sand may be incorporated in the earth, so as to 

 divide its parts ; but you should not put more than a sixth 

 part of sand, for too much is very injurious to these plants.. 

 In the summer season, when the weather is warm, the plants 

 must be frequently watered, but not with large quantities at 

 a time : care must be taken to see that the moisture be not 

 detained in the pots, by the holes being stopped, for that 

 will soon destroy the plants. In very warm weather they 

 should be watered twice or three times a week ; but in a cool 

 season once a week will be often enough : during the summer 

 season their leaves also should be washed gently once a week 

 all over, which will remove the filth from them, and greatly 

 promote the growth of the plants. Some persons shift these 

 plants from pot to pot, but this is by no means to be prac- 

 tised by those who propose to have large well-flavoured fruit ; 

 for unless the pots be filled with the roots by the time the 

 plants begin to show their fruit, they commonly produci- 

 small fruit, which generally have large crowns on them , 

 therefore the plants will not require to be potted oftener 

 than twice in a season : the first time should be about the 

 end of April, when the suckers and crowns of the former 

 year's fruit (which remained all the winter in those pots 

 in which they were first planted) should be shifted into 

 larger pots, according to the size of the plants, nothing being 

 more injurious than over-potting them. The second time 

 for shifting them is in the beginning of August, when those 

 plants which are of a proper size for fruiting in the following 

 spring, should be removed into two-penny pots, which are full 

 large enough for any of these plants. At each of these shift- 

 ing times, the bark-bed should be stirred up, and some new 

 bark added, to raise the bed to the height it was at first 

 made ; and when the pots are again plunged into the bark- 

 bed, the plants should be watered gently all over their leaves, 

 to wash off the filth, and to settle the earth to the roots of 

 the plants. If the bark-bed be well stirred, and a quantity 

 of good fresh bark added to it at this latter shifting, it will 

 be of great service to the plants, and they may remain in 

 the same tan until the beginning of November, or sometimes 

 later, according to the mildness of the season, and will 

 require but little fire before that time. They will not require 

 watering more than once a week during winter, and then it 

 must be sparingly given, as it is much better to give them a 

 little water often, than to run the risk of over- watering them 

 at that season. You must observe never to shift those 

 plants which show their fruit, into other pots ; for if they be 

 removed after the fruit appears, it will stop their growth, and 

 retard its ripening, so that many times it will be October or 

 November before the fruit is ripe ; therefore you should be 

 very careful to keep the plants in a vigorous growing state, 

 from the first appearance of the fruit, because upon this its 

 goodness and size depends ; for the fruit is generally small 

 and ill-tasted, if it receive a check after this. When the 

 fruit is cut off from the plants which you desire to propagate, 

 trim the leaves, and plunge the pots into a moderate hot-bed, 

 observing to refresh them frequently with water, which will 

 cause them to put out suckers in plenty ; so that a person 

 may soon be supplied with plants enough of any of the kinds, 

 who will but observe to keep the plants in health. The 

 plants are sometimes attacked by small white insects, which 

 ap|>ear at first like a white mildew, but soon after have the 

 appearance of lice, which attack both root and leaves at the 



