PINE APPLE FRUITING HOUSE. 357 



nial course, while the vacancies in either may be made up 

 from the other. That this is practicable, at least in gar- 

 dens where there are two fruiting-houses, may be seen 

 from the tabular compendium of culture given at p. 361. 



Fruiting- House. About the beginning of August, the 

 plants, now two years old, are shifted for the last time. 

 The pots are from twelve to fourteen inches in diameter, 

 and the balls are preserved entire. About eight or ten 

 days previously, the bark-pit of the fruiting-house should 

 be cleared out, the old tan screened, if necessary, and fresh 

 material supplied. The pots are then plunged into the bark 

 as deeply as can be done with safety, and the plants are so 

 treated as to keep them in a growing state during the whole 

 of autumn. In winter, the nocturnal temperature is kept 

 at 60 ; but towards the end of January it is gradually 

 raised to 70. This rise, however, should follow, and not 

 precede or be a cause of the vernal growth of the plants. 

 About the middle of February, the second fruiting-house 

 may be prepared for the reception of the plants in the 

 biennial succession-pit. These are existing in a mild tem- 

 perature, and start during the general progress of the 

 season. 



That period at which pine-apple plants first show their 

 fruit-stalks, or, as it is technically termed, start, is the 

 most critical in their whole culture. It is generally desi- 

 rable that this should happen at a certain age, and at a 

 particular season ; but these are circumstances over which 

 the cultivator can scarcely be said to have a direct control, 

 and accordingly, while the most successful, can, hardly 

 deem themselves beyond the reach of failure, the less skill- 

 ful are very liable to err. We are not aware that the 

 rationale of starting has been investigated on the princi- 

 ples of vegetable physiology ; and it is certain that the 



