Culture of the Pine-apple at Versailles. 17 



I have named, I shall feel much pleasure in either exchanging 

 or purchasing. I have also under cultivation from thirty to 

 forty varieties of Gladiolus, some of which are truly beautiful, 

 and on which I will give you an article at some future period. I 

 will also send you a few hints on the cultivation of ixias, &c., in 

 the open borders in England, which I have seen successfully 

 practised. 



Jersey, Dec. 12. 1840. 



Art. VIII. On the Cultivation of the Pine-apple^ as practised in the 

 Kitchen-Garden of the Palace of Versailles. By M. Massey, 

 Director-General of the Gardens of the Crown. 



A METHOD of cultivation has been in use for the last twenty years in the 

 kitchen-garden at Versailles, and is now practised throughout the neighbour- 

 hood of Paris, which appears to produce quickly and economically the fruit 

 of the pine-apple. This treatment consists, 1st, in the disuse (suppression) 

 of the pot while the plant is growing ; 2d, the complete renewal of the roots 

 after the growth of the plant, before fruiting; and, 3d, the exclusive use of 

 peat soil. 



1st. Disuse {suppression) of the Pot. — The consequence of not using a pot 

 is, that an offset of pine-apple placed, like the melon, on a bed under glass, 

 with the roots at liberty instead of being imprisoned in a pot, vegetates with 

 the same rapidity as in the tropics ; that is, it acquires in six months 

 during the fine season, from April to October, all the strength necessary 

 to produce a fine fruit. It is well known that the beauty of the fruit is 

 always in proportion to the rapidity of the growth of the plant, and that con- 

 sequently a young plant produces a finer fruit than an old plant. 



2d. Eenewat of tlie Roots. — The roots of the pine-apple are the more 

 active the less bulky they are. It is an advantage, therefore, to replace the 

 roots which have served during the period of growth, by others to serve 

 during the period of fructification. The natural developement of the plant 

 shows its tendency to renew its roots. In proportion as the upper part grows, 

 the lower parts tend to decay, the roots as well as the leaves, and the portion 

 of the stock which bears them. The stock above the roots already developed 

 is everywhere furnished with rudiments of new roots, which lengthen as the 

 old ones begin to decay ; but, forced to twist over each other, and to wind 

 among the bases of the leaves which press them strongly against the stock, 

 they can only extend in proportion as the leaves disappear. It is these leaves 

 which are removed in the operation of renewing the roots; a sufficient number 

 are removed to display the portion of the stock where the rudiments of the 

 new roots are already visible, and at the same time all the old roots are re- 

 moved. Thus left to themselves, the new roots are developed in greater 

 numbers than if a part of the old ones had been preserved. 



After the removal of the old roots, the plant is in the same state as the 

 sucker which has just been separated from the parent. It is a true cutting or 

 slip (bouture), and it is treated accordingly. Placed in a pot and put on a 

 good bed under glass, sheltered from the air and the light, in a few days the 

 new roots lengthen, and in two months' time the plant has produced a suffi 

 ciency of them to be set for fruiting. 



3d. Exclusive Use of Peat Eartli. — The good effects of the suppression of 

 the pots during the growth of the plants, and of the renewal of the roots 

 after their growth before fructification, are singularly increased by the use of 

 peat earth. This earth, it is true, is not so long fit for vegetation as a soil 

 of more consistence, of which a friable mould forms a part ; but, with the 



1841. — I. 3d Ser. c 



