231 



HORTICULTURE. 



Fruit- 

 Garden. 



1 r* 



Vinery. 



are cut off, and the new shoots art let clown from tlie 

 upper trellis to their proper place*. Watering both of 

 border and foliage is now resumed, and the house is 

 usually left fully exposed to the atmosphere. The ge- 

 neral pruning is performed from the middle to the end 

 of October, and time is thus given for the healing of 

 the wounds before forcing be again commenced. At 

 this pruning the loose part of the outer bark on the 

 old wood is carefully peeled off, and the whole plant 

 and the trellises are washed with some penetrating li- 

 quid, calculated to destroy the minute eggs of insects. 

 For about a fortnight after this severe pruning the 

 house is kept shut, but it is afterwards i'reely exposed 

 as before. 



The management of the late grape-house entirely re- 

 sembles that of the early, making due allowance for the 

 difference of season. It is not intended for forcing the 

 fruit, but merely for supplying the deficiencies of our 

 natural climate in spring and autumn. 



As the vinery may remain without its glass-covers 

 for many months in the year, in some places, especially 

 in the south and west of England, the peach-house is 

 formed exactly of the same dimensions ; and, when the 

 peach season is over, the glass frames are transferred to 

 the vinery, and, if the blossoms have escaped, a crop of 

 ripe grapes, of the best sorts, is thus procured in Sep- 

 tember or October, and the new wood is thoroughly 

 ripened. 



Fig-House. 



Fig-house. 213. The fig-house is generally constructed on the 

 same plan as the cherry house, with fig-trees on the back 

 wall trellis, and either dwarf figs, cherries, or apricots in 

 front, the flues being likewise covered with a small trel- 

 lis for holding pots of strawberries or kidney-beans. A 

 separate hot-house, however, is but seldom erected for 

 the cultivation or the forcing of figs ; a few dwarf trees, 

 such as the brown Italian, and purple Italian, intro- 

 duced into the peach or cherry house, being by most 

 people thought sufficient. It has been found by expe- 

 rience, that dwarf standard fig-trees, planted in the 

 middle of a vinery, between the flues, and so under the 

 hade of the vines, bear fruit plentifully, ripening both 

 the spring and autumn crops. This may be seen in the 

 vinery which forms a part of the splendid range of 

 hot-houses at Preston Hall near Edinburgh, designed 

 by Mr John Hay. 



The Pinery. 



Pinery. 214. Three sorts of frames, pits, or houses, are re- 



quired for the successful or extensive culture of the 

 pine-apple : a bark pit, for nursing the crowns and 

 suckers ; a low stove, generally called the succession 

 pit, where the plants are kept till they be ready for 

 fruiting ; and a pine-stove or fruiting-house. 



215. The Pine-apple is the Bromelia ananas of Lin- 

 naeus, (belonging to the class and order Hexandria Mo- 

 nogynia, and to the natural family Bromelia; of Jussieu.) 

 Some have supposed it to be a native of Africa ; but 

 Linnaeus considered it as a Brazilian plant. It was in- 

 troduced into this country as a curiosity about 1690 ; 

 and Bradley has preserved to us correct information 

 concerning ita first cultivation for the sake of the fruit. 

 In 1724, Henry Telende, gardener to Sir Matthew.Deck- 

 er, at Richmond, had forty ananas, which ripened their 

 fruit by means of the artificial heat arising from the 

 fermentation of tanner's bark; and by the year 1730, 



pine-stoves, of various kinds, were established in all the Fruit. 

 principal English gardens. Garden. 



The name pine-apple seems to be derived from the '*~~Y~~~~' 

 general resemblance of the fruit to some large cone of a Pine-apple, 

 pine-tree. The fruit may be described botanically as a 

 kind of pulpy scaly strobilus, composed of a number of 

 coadunate berries. In richness of flavour it cannot be 

 surpassed; and it is one of the greatest triumphs of the 

 gardener's art to be able to boast, that this fruit can be 

 produced in Britain in as high perfection as in a tropi- 

 cal climate. Its culture is however very expensive, the 

 plants requiring constant attention for at least two years, 

 very commonly for three. 



216. The following are the most approved varieties: 



The Queen pine. 

 Brown sugar-loaf. 

 Striped sugar-loaf. 

 Montserrat. 



The King pine. 

 Green pine. 

 Black Antigua. 

 Black Jamaica. 



The Queen pine is perhaps the most common in tlii? 

 country, and in Europe, as it is the hardiest. The fruit 

 is of an oval or rather tankard shape, of a yellowish 

 colour, but the pulp pale. It grows to a large size, 

 sometimes weighing 3 Ib. 



The Brown sugar loaf is of a pyramidal or conical 

 shape, with a yellow or straw-coloured pulp, and brown- 

 ish leaves. The plants may be distinguished by the 

 leaves having purple stripes on the inside throughout 

 their whole length. The fruit also grows to a large 

 size. Its juice is accounted less astringent than that of 

 some other varieties, and consequently it may be eaten 

 more freely. 



The Striped sugar-loaf is so named, from its green 

 leaves being striped with purple ; in one sub- variety 

 they are prickly, in another smooth. In colour and fla- 

 vour, the fruit resembles the Queen pine, and it is near- 

 ly as hardy. 



The Montserrat pine is distinguished by the leaves 

 being of a dark brown, inclining to purple on the inside; 

 and by the pips or protuberances of the fruit being lar- 

 ger and flatter than in the other kinds. 



The King pine is a large fruit, first raised in this 

 country by Miller ; its leaves are of a grass green co- 

 lour ; the pulp is hard, and rather stringy, but of good 

 flavour when ripe. 



The Green pine is not common ; when ripe, the fruit 

 is of an olive hue. 



The Black Antigua pine is shaped like the frustum of 

 a pyramid. The^leaves of the plant have a brownish 

 tinge, and fall down ; they have strong prickles, thinly 

 scattered. The pips of the fruit are large, often an inch 

 over ; it attains a large size, weighing sometimes 31b. or 

 4lb. ; it is of a dark colour till it ripen; very juicy, 

 and high flavoured. 



The Black Jamaica is likewise a very large kind, and 

 similar in habits and character to the black Antigua. 



217. In gardens of the first order, the pinery is now 



fenerally placed in a detached situation, and the three 

 inds of pits or houses above mentioned conveniently 

 form a continuous range or suite by themselves ; the 

 fruiting-house, being higher in the roof, occupies the 

 centre, and the nursing pit and succession house are 

 placed to the right and left. 



218. The nursing pit is commonly about three or four Nursingpit, 

 feet high in front, and between seven and eight at the 



back wall, or the difference between the height in front 

 and in rear does not exceed one-third of the breadth, 

 whatever that may be. The front and roof are of gla- 

 zed frames. These pits are generally furnished with 

 4, 



