148 THE FRUIT GARDEN 



period must be left to the good judgment of the cultivator, who should always 

 bear in mind that the pine does not like much water either at the root or 

 upon the foliage. The water used for watering or syringing must be as 

 warm as the temperature of the house. During bright and sunny weather 

 plenty of moisture in the atmosphere should be afforded by syringing the walls 

 and surfaces of the beds morning and afternoon, and also by having troughs 

 to hold water on the pipes. As the summer advances the plants will make 

 rapid growth, and shading should be entirely discontinued. If by accident, or 

 any other cause, the plants happen to be checked in growth, and are thereby 

 weakened, shading becomes necessary for a time. 



Winter Treatment. — If all has gone well during the summer, by the 

 month of October the plants will be fully grown, and should reward the grower 

 with a crop of fine fruits early the following summer. Water at the roots 

 must be sparingly given all through the winter. The soil, of course, must 

 never be allowed to become quite dry. The plants are now fully developed, and 

 all that is necessary to keep them in good health is to allow them to rest until 

 the middle or end of the following February. Then will be the critical time 

 in the life of the pine, as well as an anxious one for the cultivator. If the plant 

 has been well grown, is fully developed, and has a pot full of healthy active 

 roots, a close observer will soon find a thickening at the base of the plant, an 

 expansion of the central leaves, and before many days are over, the crown of 

 the embryo fruit will be visible. 



Fruiting. — The temperature may then be slightly raised, as growth has 

 again commenced, and the object must be to raise the temperature as much 

 as possible by means of sun heat rather than by artificial heat. This will 

 be made easier every week as the days lengthen and the sun gains more 

 power. If the bottom heat has fallen much below 70 degs., it will be necessary 

 to add fresh leaves as well as some fresh litter from the stable, well mixing them 

 with the old leaves in the bed. This will give the extra bottom heat required, 

 and will afford a gentle stimulus to the plants ; the fruits will be ripe from the 

 end of May to the end of July. Careful watch must be kept while the 

 fruits are in flower against the depredations of cockroaches and crickets. These 

 pests are very partial to the flowers of the pine, and if there should be any in 

 the pit means must be taken to destroy them. This is best effected by pouring 

 boiling water between the walls and the bed of leaves, for there they find lodgment 

 in the day-time ; if this remedy is persevered with daily for a week or so, 

 complete immunity from these pests should be enjoyed. Some good poison 

 paste should also be laid on the surface of the bed. It is very important to 

 secure perfect fertilisation of the flowers, otherwise the fruits will be disfigured 

 by some of the pips refusing to swell. Fertilisation generally takes place 

 without artificial assistance. All the cultivator can do to help is to keep the 

 atmosphere of the house rather dry, and not to syringe the plants. If danger is 

 apprehended from insects, a little black pepper sprinkled on the flowers will 

 protect them and will do the flowers no harm. I stated at the commencement 

 of this chapter that little or no manure was necessary for the successful culture 

 of the pine to a certain time. That time has now arrived. The first watering 



