142 THE FRUIT GARDEN 



flavour and quality between say, a home-grown Queen Pine of 4 or 5 lbs. in 

 weight and an imported fruit. The former one would be proud to place in 

 the best and most select dessert, not so the latter. 



Propagation. — The propagation of the pineapple may be effected in four 

 different ways, namely, by means of the crown of the fruit, by suckers, by the 

 stem of the plant, and by seed. 



The quickest and best method is by means of suckers ; this is most gener- 

 ally practisejj. The suckers, i.e. the young plants which grow from the base of 

 the stem of the parent plant, should be left upon the latter until they are of 

 good size, say 18 inches long. The Queen Pine is prolific in bearing suckers, 

 and the majority of these usually appear in spring ; frequently one plant will 

 produce five or six. As soon as they are large enough to handle, they should 

 be reduced to one or two, according to the number required. It is better, for the 

 plant's sake and for the suckers as well, that only one be left, as a stronger 

 sucker will then result. The successful growth of the pine depends so much 

 upon the careful treatment of the sucker that I may be excused for dwelling 

 particularly on this point. Towards the beginning of May the surplus suckers 

 must be removed. Some care is needed to do this without injuring the 

 plant. The best way is to press down the sucker away from the stem and give 

 it a twist, when it is easily detached. The one or two that are left, as the case 

 may be, will then grow rapidly, and towards the end of August will have made 

 strong and sturdy plants, from 1 8 inches to 2 feet long, and that is the best time 

 to remove them for potting. 



The next mode of propagation is by the crown (i.e. the leafy growth at the 

 apex of the fruit). This takes much longer to make a plant and produce a 

 fruit than the method we have just been considering, and is resorted to only in 

 the case of varieties which produce few suckers. The only preparation necessary 

 before the crown is ready for insertion in the pot is to take off a few of the bottom 

 leaves, leaving about half an inch of the base bare ; in time roots will be emitted 

 from this if the crown is potted firmly into a 4-inch pot and plunged in a bottom 

 heat of 70 degs. 



The third method spoken of is to lay the hard part of the stem, after the 

 leaves have been stripped off, in shallow pans or boxes partially filled with light 

 loamy soil, covering them over to the depth of half an inch, and plunging them 

 in a bottom heat of the temperature recommended above. This is a useful 

 method to adopt when it is desired to increase the stock of choice and scarce 

 varieties. It will be about three years before the young plants propagated in this 

 way will give any return in fruit, and probably longer, but as one stem will 

 often produce from five to six plants it is a useful method for increasing stock. 



By seed. — When pine culture was so highly thought of and so generally 

 practised in this country between thirty and forty years ago, many attempts were 

 made to raise new varieties by cross-fertilising the older ones, and some few new 

 sorts were obtained in this way. However, they were no improvement on older 

 varieties, and for this reason soon disappeared. Seed-propagation in the case of 

 the pine is only resorted to when it is hoped that an improved new variety may 

 be produced. 



