THE PINE-APPLE. 343 



dowers, and oblong fruit of a large size, averaging, when 

 well grown, seven pounds weight, and sometimes exceeding 

 twelve pounds. The color of the fruit is at first brownish- 

 gray, but at ripening it becomes of a pale yellow. The 

 pulp is yellow, melting, and abounds with quick lively 

 juice, but not equal in flavor to some of the other kinds. 



The Trinidad is remarkable for the great size of its 

 fruit, which is said to attain sometimes to the weight of 

 twenty-six pounds. Its average is stated in the Hort. Cat. 

 to be twelve pounds ; but we have never seen it above half 

 that weight. The spines are middle-sized, the flowers lilac, 

 and the fruit pyramidal. Apart from its magnitude, it is, 

 like the preceding, only a secondary fruit. 



The following may also be named as good sorts : Bagot's 

 Seedling, Russian Grlobe, Green King with smooth leaves, 

 Striped Queen, Sierra Leone, Brown Sugar-loaf, and 

 Orange Sugar-loaf. And three or four more, though of 

 inferior quality, may be noticed for their beauty or curi- 

 osity, viz., the Blood-red, Otaheite, Scarlet, Welbeck 

 Seedling, and the Havana, the fruit of which last keeps 

 long, and has sometimes been successfully imported into 

 this country from Cuba. 



Structure for growing Pine-apples. The pine-apple has 

 generally been found to require cultivation for two or three 

 years before it perfects its fruit ; its culture has, in conse- 

 quence, been divided into three periods propagation, suc- 

 cessional preparation, and fruiting ; and each of these peri- 

 ods has its corresponding structure, viz., the nursing-pit, 

 the succession-house or pit, and the fruiting-house. 



The nursing-pit has occasionally assumed a great variety 

 of forms, respecting which, however, it is not necessary to 

 go into minute detail. For summer use, a large glazed 

 frame, placed upon a hotbed of stable litter and tanners' 



