THE PINE-APPLE. 



657 



protracted. Preserve them undisturbed, and iu 

 due time they will complete the full develop- 

 ment of both plant and fruit." This careful 

 turning out is widely different from M. Pel- 

 vilaan'a method of transplanting, and more in 

 accordance with good culture. Upon the whole, 

 planting out should only be attempted in beds 

 heated by hot water underneath, either by tanks 

 or pipes laid in a vault below, the plants care- 

 fully turned out of pots when they have attained, 

 or nearly so, their fruiting size. 



The cultivation of the pine in prepared beds, 

 instead of growing them iu pots, has its advan- 

 tages, and although long ago suggested, and 

 even practised by Justice and others, has only 

 become prevalent since means have been so 

 efficiently discovered of maintaining the neces- 

 sary bottom heat without being dependent on 

 heat produced by fermentation. The majority 

 of cultivators grow their young plants in pots, 

 and when about to start into fruit turn them 

 out in the prepared beds. Mr Fleming of Trent- 

 ham, one of the best pine-growers in Britain, 

 adopts a different practice, and grows them in 

 all stages upon the planted-out principle; he 

 finds they neither sustain injury nor check by 

 being transplanted, which he does when he finds 

 it necessary to economise space. As the fruit is 

 cut he removes the old roots and fills up their 

 places with young plants, adding at the same 

 time a supply of fresh soil. As pines are pro- 

 duced at Trentham at all seasons of the year, it 

 follows that transplanting is not confined to 

 stated periods. 



One of the excellent parts of Mr Fleming's 

 practice is, that he does not roast his pine 

 plants, nor does he water them during their 

 growing season out of a gill measure; he abides 

 by the laws of nature in both cases, and 

 keeps his fruiting pines iu a night tempera- 

 ture in fine weather at 65°, but in frosty weather 

 allowed to fall to 57°- His younger plants 

 enjoy an atmosphere during winter of SS°, 

 and air is admitted to them all night and day, 

 increased or decreased according to the state 

 of the weather, but never entirely withheld. 

 This day and night ventilation has very much 

 to do with the success which follows so com- 

 mon-sense a practice. Indeed, the low top 

 and bottom temperature employed there is such 

 as would have frightened the pine-growers of 

 the early part of the present century into fits. 

 Water is sparingly applied during winter, but 

 during the growing season it is administered 

 freely. 



Pines, to be fruited during winter and in early 

 spring, will require a night temperature of some- 

 thing like from 65° to 70°. The succession and 

 younger stock will be better in a temperature of 

 which 40° may be taken for the minimum. All 

 pine-growers admit that some care is required to 

 swell off pines to anything like a respectable 

 size during the dark months of winter, and this 

 holds good to a very considerable extent more 

 in Scotland than in the clearer sky of the south 

 of England. Many believe that the Queen pine 

 is perfectly unadapted for winter fruiting, while 

 some few think otherwise. Amongst these is 

 Mr Barnes of Bicton, near Sidmoutb, Devon, a 



most successful cultivator, who a few years ago 

 frightened half the pine-growers in Britain by 

 his declaration that a row of well-swelled pine- 

 apples might be grown amongst the kitchen- 

 garden crops easily in any locality which will 

 grow Gurken cucumbers, dahlias, heliotropes, 

 &c. In his communication to " The Gardeners' 

 Chronicle " on fruiting pines in the open air, he 

 gives the following very sensible view of his 

 opinion on fruiting pines during winter in the 

 pine-stove : " It was at one time considered im- 

 possible to swell off a pine in winter; conse- 

 quently, if a plant showed fruit late in the sea- 

 son, or in winter, it was cast to the rubbish- 

 heap as useless. The same ideas are still enter- 

 tained by soine growers with respect to the 

 Queen pine, which they say cannot be swelled 

 off in winter. I, however, find no difficulty in 

 the matter; but there will always exist some 

 difficulty at all seasons in swelling pines freely 

 in a strong fire-heat, or in any kind of artificial 

 heat, when there is but little light. If a high 

 night temperature is maintained, more espe- 

 cially, fruit of good quality will never be ob- 

 tained in winter and eai'ly spring. Such condi- 

 tions of growth — viz., high night -temperature 

 and much bottom heat — will only have the 

 effect of producing small fruit with withered 

 stalks and gawky crowns. It is best not to be 

 tied to any fixed degree of heat, either by day 

 or night; a healthy, sweet, and humid tempera- 

 ture is my aim at all times, regulating the tem- 

 perature at all seasons by light. In the short 

 dark winter days, our main top-heat is produced 

 by linings of fermenting materials placed at the 

 summit of our succession-pits, allowing the old 

 dry linings at the base to remain all winter un- 

 disturbed. By adopting this method we have 

 at command surface heat to dry the interior air, 

 and abundance of air, day and night, is admitted, 

 which maintains a healthy sweet atmosphere. 

 For the last two months," October and Novem- 

 ber, " my pines have been from 3° to 10° above 

 the exterior atmosphere. In very dark sunless 

 weather no excitable temperature is maintained, 

 but more heat is given as the light becomes 

 stronger." Although Mr Barnes does not here 

 connect his practice with physiological reasons, 

 it is quite clear that his practice of regulating 

 temperature by the amount of light is founded 

 upon the most correct principles. We have 

 elsewhere shown the intimate connection be- 

 tween light and heat, and upon their proper 

 application much, if not nearly all, of successful 

 exotic culture depends. 



On the propriety of this planting-out mode of 

 culture many of our best pine-growers differ 

 greatly in opinion. For ourselves, we think that 

 if the plants are placed in the prepared bed at 

 the time they would otherwise receive their last 

 shift, so that they may make roots in the soil, 

 as they would do in the fresh soil in the fruit- 

 ing-pots, advantages do arise from the practice, 

 because their roots, having much more scope to 

 range in search of food, will produce larger fruit. 

 Nevertheless, this planting out will retard their 

 starting into fruit for a greater or less period 

 of time, and hence is not to be recommended 

 for expeditious culture. It may generally be 



