THE PINE-APPLE. 43 



tity of suckers at frequent intervals. Supposing that 

 a number of suckers are potted August 1880, these 

 will give the earliest fruit for 1881. And those that 

 ripen in September and October, give the suckers that 

 will succeed the earliest lot, so that these two sets 

 supply fruit for six months of the twelve. The other 

 six months of winter and spring particularly spring 

 are those in which pines are most valued, as other 

 fruits are then scarce. March and April are the 

 most difficult months of the whole year in which to 

 have ripe pines. 



In June and July I always endeavour to start a 

 quantity of the Smooth-leaved Cayenne and Charlotte 

 Eothschild. These are noble pines when well grown, 

 being unsurpassed for appearance and long keeping 

 after they are ripe, and swell better after October than 

 any other pines I know. Smooth Cayenne I consider 

 the better of the two. The Black Jamaica is also a most 

 useful pine for winter swelling, and probably is unsur- 

 passed for flavour at the dullest season of the year. The 

 Queen is comparatively worthless as a winter pine com- 

 pared to these two ; it does not swell kindly, and is 

 always dry and juiceless compared to them. 



There should be two sets of these winter sorts, as 

 recommended in the case of Queens and other early 

 sorts for summer and autumn fruit. The Smooth- 

 leaved Cayenne is s? very shy in making suckers that 

 I always endeavour to save as many crowns as I can, 

 and take all the suckers that can be got in October 

 from the fruiting plants, whether the fruit be ripe or 

 not. These suckers and crowns are potted generally 

 into 6 -inch pots, and shifted in spring as soon as suf- 

 ficiently rooted, as described in the former part of this 

 treatise. They are shifted into 11 -inch pots, and grown 



