480 THE HOT- HOUSE. [JULY 



smooth edges. The fruit of these is of exquisite flavor, filled with a 

 lively delicious juice, and the flesh of a yellow color. 



The king pine has grass-green smooth leaves, and produces a 

 pretty large fruit ; but as its flesh is hard, stringy, and sometimes 

 not well flavored, it is not much cultivated. 



The smooth pine is preserved by some persons for sake of variety, 

 but the fruit is of little value. 



The late pine is not of much importance for cultivating on account 

 of its ripening at an untimely season, and therefore its description is 

 considered unnecessary. 



The green pine is considered tolerably good. The fruit, if suffered 

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

 before it is ripe, and suffered to lie by till fit for use. Plants of this 

 kind may be procured from Barbadoes and Montserrat ; but the fruit 

 of the sugar-loaf is much to be preferred to it, and indeed to any 

 other kind yet introduced. 



There is, likewise, the Surinam, or silver-striped pine, which ex- 

 ceeds in beauty the whole tribe of variegated plants. The leaves are 

 variously striped with a dark green and delicate white; and the whole 

 is tinged with a lively red, which produces a contrast that gives the 

 plant a gay and most beautiful appearance. Nor is there less beauty 

 in its fruit, the protuberances of which swell large, and when ripe, 

 are variously marbled with red, green, yellow, and white ; which, 

 together with the variegated crown on the top of the fruit, add a 

 singularity and elegance to the whole beyond the power of descrip- 

 tion. The fruit is tolerably good, and therefore the plant is doubly 

 worthy of cultivation. 



Many other varieties of this fruit have arisen from seed, such as 

 the black or brown Antigua; the Ripley queen pine, which is a very 

 good fruit ; the Grenada pine, with marbled leaves and very large 

 fruit; the bog-warp pine, with broad green leaves; the smooth, 

 long, narrow-leaved pine; the Surinam pine with gold- striped leaves, 

 and the Enville pine; and there are also varieties with red-fleshed 

 fruit. 



COMPOST PROPER FOR PINE PLANTS. 



You should, in the first place, twelve months previous to the time 

 of its being wanted for use, pare off the sward or turf of a pasture 

 not more than two inches deep, where the soil is a strong, rich loam, 

 and carry it to some convenient place to be piled together for rotting ; 

 observing to turn it over once a month at least, spreading it so as to 

 expose a considerable surface to the summer sun, as well as to the 

 frosts in winter; but in wet weather it will be proper to gather it up 

 into a high ridge to prevent its rich juices being dissolved and carried 

 away by water. If a quantity of sheep dung could be collected 

 fresh and mixed therewith, in the first instance, it would greatly im- 

 prove it. 



1. Having the above prepared and made fine with the spade, but 

 not screened ; to three barrowfuls of it, add one of vegetable mould 

 of decayed oak leaves, and half a barrowful of coarse sand, observ- 



