THE PINE-APPLE. 3 1 



sudden bursts of bright sun than Queens or other vari- 

 eties ; and to grow it to perfection it should never be 

 allowed to become much browned. In the case of this 

 fine variety I have on some bright warm seasons, such 

 as 1865, '68, and '69, fixed a single ply of hexagon net- 

 ting over the pits, and allowed it to remain for a couple 

 of the hottest months. This simply breaks the power of 

 the sun a little. In order to prevent this wiry, browned 

 condition during summer, care should be taken that the 

 plants are never once allowed to go too long without 

 being watered, and a uniformly moderate moist state of 

 the soil must be maintained. 



Should any of the plants throw up young suckers from 

 the axUs of the lower leaves, they should be removed at 

 once. The best way of doing this is to have a long- 

 handled pair of broad-mouthed pincers, with which the 

 suckers can be easily twisted out as soon as they are 

 observed. Where much syringing overhead is practised, 

 suckers frequently show themselves in abundance, in the 

 case of Queens particularly. This is one of the many 

 evils which result from the too liberal use of the syringe. 

 It often occurs during the season of rapid growth that 

 some of the centre leaves adhere closely to each other 

 for a longer time than is good for them, and they should 

 be separated either with the hand, or with a slight touch 

 of a stick where the hand cannot reach them. 



As the stock of which I am now treating consists 

 principally of plants that are selected to start into fruit 

 for the early supply of next season, the plants should 

 always have their pots well filled with roots, and be of 

 a stocky well-matured growth, by the end of August, 

 otherwise there is little certainty of their being got to 

 start in time to be ripe in May and June. If grown 



