40 GARDENING 



PINEAPPLES 



It is, of course, necessary that pineapples be 

 grown in a hothouse. They are very easily grown 

 either in pots or planted out in beds where the 

 bottom heat can be kept steady. The bed should 

 be made of some fermenting substance, such as oak 

 leaves, or, better still, tanners' bark. They thrive 

 best in a house where there are two rows of hot- 

 water pipes under the beds. The bottom heat 

 should be always 85°, and the top heat up to 70° 

 at night. 



The stock is kept up by suckers when a pine 

 plant has produced one fruit. Suckers are thrown 

 up, and when they are about twelve inches long 

 and have formed some roots, they should be pulled 

 up clean and potted firmly in six-inch pots, or in 

 beds in a compost of decayed manure, with some 

 broken charcoal in it. 



If planted in pots they will require shifting to ten- 

 inch ones, when the suckers have well filled the first 

 pots. Immediately after potting do' not give much 

 w^ater. When the fruits show, liquid manure should 

 be given at every watering ; a thin shading of canvas 

 will be beneficial for a couple of hours each day, if 

 the sun is very bright. The syringe must be freely 

 used among successions, and they must be carefully 

 ventilated, but cold draughts avoided ; a little air 

 may be given when the thermometer rises up to 

 80°. They should be closed and damped down 

 early in the afternoon. The best soil for pines is 

 rough turfy loam, enriched with good manure and 

 a sprinkling of soot. The best kinds to grow are : 



