THE PINE-APPLE. 47 



in the rows. In other respects the treatment is the 

 same as for plants in pots. 



Others again, where the bottom-heat is derived from 

 hot water, do not have recourse to regular transplant- 

 ing, but either move the stools as the fruit are cut, and 

 put in a little fresh soil and another plant ; or they 

 adopt the " Hamiltonian system " of leaving a sucker, 

 and sometimes two, merely cutting down the old plant 

 to the sucker and putting some fresh soil round it. The 

 system can of course be modified as circumstances wOl 

 allow; but from all that I have seen of it, it is my 

 opinion that as fine fruit are produced in pots ; and for 

 rapid and certain fruiting, and where the most is to be 

 made of space in keeping up a supply, the pot system 

 is the best. At aU events, any one who makes himself 

 master of pine-apple culture in pots can have no 

 difficulty in growing them in open beds of soil. The 

 same points must be aimed at in both systems. And 

 for beginners, any errors or mistakes in management can 

 be more easily retrieved, I should say, in the pot than 

 in the planting-out system. 



INSECTS TO WHICH THE PINE IS SUBJECT. 



WJdte Scale. — This is the most destructive and 

 formidable insect which the pine-grower has to dread ; 

 and in forming a collection of pines, every possible 

 precaution should be taken to avoid getting plants in- 

 fested with white scale. A very few of it will soon 

 overrun a whole collection, and cause a great deal of 

 trouble and expense in getting rid of it. It is an oval- 

 shaped insect, grey, speckled with brown, and adheres 

 closely to the surface of the leaves, and preys upon the 



