On cultivating the Pine-ap^ile. 307 



that I shall exactly do the same next year, but I shall not vary 

 much. It may happen that the seasons, or other ch'cum- 

 stances, may cause a few days' difference, but the general 

 principles will be acted upon. It is necessary to mention that 

 the succession house is called the large stove; the two fruiting 

 houses are distinguished as the Calcutta and melon house, the 

 latter having been put up for growing melons in, but now 

 used as a pine stove : it has two pits in it. 



January, 1832. 

 5. Pines watered with clear water, heated to 80^ or 90°, very sparingly : 



such as were ripening not watered at all. 

 13. Pines watered with clear water. 



20. The bark bed in the melon house having sunk below the kerb-stones, 

 some fresh bark was put in to fill it up. The bark bed in the large 

 stove, renewed last November, having become temperate, the pit was 

 filled up with fresh bark. 



24. Pines watered with clear water. 



Februart/. 



4. Pines watered with lime water, to kUl any worms there might be in or 



under the pots. To make it, use half a peck of lime to 16 gallons of 

 water; suffer it to settle, and skim off the oil-like substance that 

 floats on the surface. 

 11. Pines watered with clear water. 



21. Pines watered with clear water. 



27. The different soils for pine compost got into the sheds to dry, as they 

 are intended to be potted next month. The compost is made as 

 follows : — One part loam, one part vegetable mould, and one part 

 well rotted cow-dung, and about one tenth ground bones. 



March. 

 1. Pines watered with clear water. 



5. Commenced the general spring shifting of the pines, by taking the old 



stumps of fruiting plants out, and pulling off the suckers. The old 

 bark removed out of the front pit in the melon house, and fresh bark 

 got in. Some pines having shown fruit in the succession house, they 

 were taken out and plunged into the pit renewed in the melon house. 



6. Calcutta pit renewed, by riddling the dust out of the old bark, and 

 mixing the remainder with new bark. 



7. The succession plants tied carefully up with broad bast mat, and re- 

 moved into the potting shed : a few of the best plunged into the pit 

 in the Calcutta house to fruit. All those intended to fruit top-dressed, 

 by removing part of the exhausted soil, and substituting a very rich 

 compost (made so by mixing it with bone dust) to earth up the plants 

 with. 



8. Succession plants potted, the largest into pots 12 in. to 15 in. diameter; 

 the rest into pots in proportion to their size : potted them deep in the 

 pots. Previously to potting, I shook off all the earth of such as were 

 not well rooted, trimmed off all dead roots, and removed a few of the 

 bottom leaves, to allow the more free emission of new roots. No 

 good lively roots taken off at all ; did not what is called disroot any : 

 1 think it a bad practice, for which no sensible reason can be given. 

 A few clean very small pebbles put at the bottom of each pot, in the 

 larger pots three inches, the smallest half an inch each, to drain the 

 water off: a little moss put over the pebbles, to prevent the drain from 

 filling up. The bark bed in the large stove renewed, by mixing five 



X 2 



