BRO 



)!RO 



long exposure to the weather is another useful 

 material; pigeon-dung that Ins been at least 

 two years in a heap, and frequently tamed 

 and exposed to the influence of the weather, may 

 also be employed. Also shell marie; and sea or 

 rirer gravel, \\ hich has been sifted and kept in a 

 dry place, having the size or large peas. 



The proportions in which they are advised to 

 be made use of tor different purposes in the cul- 

 ture of these plants, by Mr. Nicol, are these: 

 for crowns and suckers', entire vegetable, mould, 

 with a little gravel at bottom, to strike in ; after- 

 wards three fourths vegetable mould, one fourth 

 loam, mixed with about a twentieth part gravel, 

 and a little entire gravel at bottom, till a year 

 old. For year olds, and till shifted into fruit- 

 ing pots, — one half vegetable mould, one halt 

 loam ; to whic'n should be added about a twentieth 

 part gravel, and as much shell marie, with a little 

 gravel at bottom, as above. For fruiting in, one 

 half loam, a fourth vegetable mould, a fourth 

 pigeon-dung, to which should be added gravel 

 and marie as above, laying two inches of entire 

 gravel at bottom. 



Raising the Plants. — This is the next point of 

 consequence in the cultivation of this fruit; 

 and which is effected by the crowns produced 

 on the tops of the fruit,' the oft'-sets or suckers 

 from between the leaves, and the roots of the 

 old plants. The last should never be employed 

 where it can be avoided. Of the other two, 

 suckers are preferred by some, while crowns 

 have the advantage according to others; but 

 Mr. Nicol justly remarks, that if the former have 

 the superiority in being the stronger plants, they 

 have likewise the disadvantage of running to fruit 

 more unseasonably than the latter. 



The crowns are procured by twisting them 

 from off the fruit when it is made use of; and 

 the suckers by breaking down the leaf imme- 

 diately beneath them, and moving them gently 

 both ways till they come off; which shouTd not 

 be attempted till the under parts appear of a 

 brown colour, and ripe, as under other circum- 

 stances they are liable to break in the middle 

 and be spoiled. When taken off, they should 

 each of them be cleared of a few of the lower 

 outward leaves about the bottoms, where they are 

 to form roots, by rubbing them oft", and some 

 pare the under part of the stumps smooth with 

 a knife. They are then laid or hung up in a 

 dry place four or five days, or more, that the 

 over moisture and wounds in the stumps or 

 thick parts of the plants may be dried up suf- 

 ficiently and healed over before they are planted, 

 and the danger of their rotting be prevented. 



The author of the Scotch Forcing Gardener, 

 however, observes, that if they are perfectly ripe, 



and the old plants have not had any water for a 

 week or tw i > before they wen taken oil' (which they 

 ought not,, nothing of this kind is necessary. 

 Each plant frequently affords many suckers, but 

 rarely more than one crown. The crowns are 

 usually gathered one by one, as the fruit is used, 

 and stuck into the bark-beds till the whole crop 

 of them, as well as suckers, can be potted to- 

 gether. 



The plants, after being thus prepared and col- 

 lected, must be placed, according to their <izcs, 

 singly in pots of three or four inches diameter, 

 and five or six deep, provided for the purpose, 

 and filled with entire vegetable mould, as above, 

 having the bottoms previously laid with clean 

 gravel, of the size of hor^e-beans, to the thick- 

 ness of an inch or something more. Some, 

 however, only advise a piece of shell or tile to 

 be put over the hole. The first is probably the 

 best method, as preventing the water the most 

 effectually from stagnating about the roots of the 

 plants. In planting they should neither be put in 

 too shallow or to too great a depth, but have the 

 mould pretty closely pressed round them. 



The nursing-pit should be prepared for their 

 reception, by having new tan, to the extent of 

 a fifth or sixth part added, but none suffered to 

 lie within ten or twelve inches of the surface. 

 In these beds, when of a due heat, the pots 

 should be plunged quite to the brims, in regular 

 order, at the distance of two or three inches pot 

 from pot each wav, keeping them perfectly 

 level, and the largest towards the back parts. 

 Some advise a slight watering to be immediately 

 given ; but others think that neither the crowns 

 nor suckers should have any for the first fortnight 

 after planting, nor any overhead the first winter, 

 lest they should be injured in their hearts by the 

 damp which it occasions. 



As the plants thus raised only produce fruit 

 once, as in the second, or more generally in the 

 third year's growth, commonly with suckers ami 

 crowns for future increase, and become after- 

 wards of no use but as stools for supplying a 

 few more suckers, there is obviously a neces- 

 sity for raising fresh supplies of plants annu- 

 ally. 



Culture in the Nursing-stoves. — The manage- 

 ment of the plants, the first year, or while they 

 remain in the nursery-stoves or pits, requires 

 much attention to keep them in a regular and 

 healthy growth, by preserving a continued pro- 

 per degree of heat in the beds, and a judicious 

 application of water, with a suitable admission 

 of free air. Mr. Nicol observes, that when 

 the plants have been struck in the beginning of 

 September, the beds will mostly continue of a 

 kindly heat till about the middle of November; 



