264 



CASSELL'S POPULAK GAKDENING. 



ordinary liquid-manure tank, into which the drainage 

 from stahles, cow-sheds, or the frame-ground is con- 

 veyed. These should be used alternately, as plants, 

 like animals, benefit by change of diet. 



If the weather is genial and bright, the Pines will 

 now make very rapid progress, as the houses can 

 be ventilated early, and have a moderate supply 

 of air through the early part of the day, while the 

 declining sun will not be so hot as to delay closing 

 in the afternoon. As sun-heat with an abundance of 

 atmospheric moisture can then be bottled up and kept 

 for some hours before fires are needed, the tempe- 

 rature may range about 90° with perfect safety ; 

 indeed, where time is an object, it is no uncommon 

 thing to run Pine-stoves up to 100° on bright sunny 

 afternoons in May. 



June. — If any of the fruit commenced colouring at 

 the end of last month, the proper course would have 

 been to remove them to a drier house to ripen up ; but 

 as the majority would not be so far advanced, June 

 ma,y be taken as the great ripening month. Therefore, 

 when the lower tips of the fruit assume a lighter 

 colour, the flavour must have full consideration, as 

 fine Pines deficient in flavour are of little value. 

 This important feature can be obtained in two waj's, 

 either of which must be decided upon by the purpose 

 for which the fruit has been grown. If for an early 

 market, then simultaneous maturity, or what is 

 termed a glut, being no impediment, the whole house 

 may be treated to more air with plenty of heat, and 

 less moisture both in the atmosphere and the soil. 

 If, on the other hand, the Pines are wanted for pri- 

 vate use, then the treatment, though practically the 

 same in its application, must be different in its result, 

 as a constant supply of ripe fruit extending over the 

 longest possible period wiU be the object held in 

 view. To secure this, and to give late starters, and 

 the few later kinds, which were recommended for 

 forming the connecting link, the best possible treat- 

 ment, all the early Queens should be lifted out 

 ■bodily as they begin to change, and placed in a dry, 

 light, airy house, where they can have the benefit of 

 a partially-spent bed for plunging them in ; thus 

 doing away with the necessity of watering, and 

 securing sufficient heat to avoid a check from cold. 

 Another advantage which attends the early removal 

 of ripening fruit from a, hot, moist stove, is the 

 increased length of time which can be devoted to 

 the ripening process, and the superior condition of 

 fruit so ripened for keeping after it is fit for use. 



Retarding and Keeping the Fruit.— In the 



absence of a suitable compartment for this purpose, 

 a Vinery from which ripe Grapes are being cut 

 answers very well, as partial shade from the Vines 

 protects the bright golden fruit from the direct rays 



of the sun, and the free circulation of dry warm air, 

 so essential to the Grapes, is just what is needed for 

 ripening and retarding as weU as giving high flavour 

 to the Pines. 



"When the season is further advanced, and settled 

 summer weather has set in, it will be no longer 

 necessary to use a house for retarding purposes, as 

 Pines can be ripened up and kept in an airy Grape- 

 room, where they will remain in good condition for 

 several weeks. In this way Pines can frequently be 

 kept a month or six weeks longer than under the 

 best management in the fruiting-house. 



Second Section of Plants. — ^AJter the first 

 set of plants were drawn for starting in January, 

 those left behind, as being the least likely to start 

 without first making a growth, should be re-arranged 

 in the old bed, where they can be kept quiet during 

 the succeeding two months. In the meantime, a span- 

 roofed house being at command, preparations should 

 at once be taken in hand for getting the fermenting 

 material well worked and settled down into a steady 

 bottom heat of 85° to 90° ready for their reception 

 by the end of February. As was anticipated, a 

 portion of these plants will make a growth before 

 they start, and so prolong the supply, by producing 

 the finest Queens of the season, while the Cayennes 

 and Rothschilds wiE carry it on from the end of May 

 until the beginning of December. The preparation 

 of the plants and their treatment will, in almost every 

 particular, be precisely the same as that recommended 

 for the first section. They will, however, as may be 

 readily understood, require less fire-heat, more air 

 and atmospheric moisture through the early stages, 

 and a fair proportion of them being Cayennes and 

 Rothschilds, two varieties which always take more 

 water than Queens, a more liberal supply of this 

 element in a stimulating form will also be necessary. 



Should any of these plants miss fruiting and con- 

 tinue growing, in defiance of all the checks that may 

 be brought to bear upon them, the best plan is not to 

 throw them away, in conformity with an old custom, 

 but to keep them on the high-and-dry principle until 

 a newly -prepared plunging-pit, with a bottom heat of 

 90°, has been made ready for the reception of a set 

 of suckers or successions, and to cut them off at the 

 base close to the soil. "With one stroke of the knife 

 they will again be reduced to the condition of very 

 large suckers, ready for potting and treating in the 

 usual way, except that the pots should be from nine 

 to ten inches in diameter, as they will not receive 

 or require another shift into a larger size. Having 

 stripped off a few of the lower leaves, they should be 

 firmly potted in rough fibrous loam, and plunged up 

 to the rims in the hottest part of the bed, where they 

 can be pretty closely shaded from bright sunshine, 



