THE PINE-APPLE. 



659 



time would ripen simultaneously or faster than 

 might be desired ; this is, however, not the 

 case, some sorts requii'ing a longer time to start 

 into fruit than others, and even some plants of 

 the very same variety. This fear of a glut of fruit 

 at one time need not be apprehended, for as soon 

 as one fruit is cut the plant is immediately taken 

 out, and its place supplied by another taken 

 fi'om the growing-pits. We greatly prefer turn- 

 ing out our plants from pots to transplanting 

 them, as practised by our excellent friend Mr 

 Fleming; for there are only two things which 

 make us nervous in pine culture — namely, the 

 least injury done to the roots, and breaking or 

 bruising the leaves even at their very points. 



Gi-ovAng the pine from suckers attacked to the 

 old stem. — This was attempted by Speechley, 

 and others, as already noticed, since his time ; 

 and more recently by Mr Hamilton of Thorn- 

 field, who has described his practice in his 

 " Treatise on the CvJture of the Pine-Apple," 

 p. 40, which amounts to this : He sets his 

 plants, when fit for their last shift, into pots, of 

 which the dimensions are not precisely given, 

 but we presume them to be from 10 to 12 

 inches in top diameter ; in these the first fruit is 

 to be perfected. After this these pots have to be 

 placed in others much larger and deeper, hav- 

 ing three or four pieces of broken potsherds 

 placed between their bottoms, and the space 

 between the inner side of the one and outer 

 side of the other filled with broken brickbats. 

 The bottom leaves of the sucker which pro- 

 duced the last fruit are removed, to admit of 

 the embryo roots placed between the old stem 

 and leaves finding a ready escape into the soil, 

 at which time the old compost in the pots, 

 as far down as the roots, is also i-emoved, and 

 replaced as high as the embryo roots appear, 

 with "sods of the lumpy part of the compost; 

 and the fresher the better, providing the vege- 

 table fibre is dead." His reason " for using 

 rough soil is in order to keep the surface open, 

 BO that the atmosphere may have full access to 

 the bottom of the roots." " By this process," 

 Mr Hamilton says, "the third fruit is invariably 

 larger than the second, and considerably larger 

 than the first, and will, generally speaking, be 

 produced in an equally short period." One 

 sucker only is in general allowed to remain on 

 a plant. But Mr H. adds, " I have frequently 

 allowed two suckers to remain on the plant till 

 the first showed fruit; I have then carefully 

 taken the other off, and planted it in a small 

 pot, leaving the former to perfect its fruit on 

 the old stool; but supposing both suckers to 

 show fruit at the same time on one plant, as 

 they frequently do, then they ought to remain, 

 and to perfect their fruit thereon; and the 

 weight of each, I have found by experience, will 

 be nearly as heavy as though the plant had only 

 produced one, particularly if both should fruit 

 at the same time. The only possible cause that 

 I can assign for this result is, that the plant with 

 two fruit has twice the number of leaves, and 

 has therefore the advantage of absorbing a 

 greater quantity of nutriment from the atmos- 

 phere, especially if moisture and ventilation be 

 attended to." When the second fruit has been 



out, the soil is again removed from the surface 

 of the pots as low down as the roots ; a few of 

 the bottom leaves are removed, as noticed 

 above, in preparing for the second fruit ; and 

 earthing up is performed in the same manner, 

 the same routine being continued till the fouuth 

 fruit has been cut ; he then outs " off the sucker 

 which produced the last fruit, with from 6 to 8 

 inches of the old trunk attached to its bottom. 

 The leaves are all dressed off that portion of the 

 old trunk, and from the bottom of the sucker, 

 which will have a quantity of roots in the axil 

 of the leaves. It is then planted in a pot 9 or 

 10 inches diameter at the top, placing the 

 attached trunk at the bottom of the pot, before 

 the drainage is put in, in order that the sucker 

 may be sufficiently deep to be covered with the 

 soil, and thus it is intended to perpetuate a 

 successive progeny of suckers and fruit. Thus 

 may the routine of potting and re-potting be so 

 far dispensed with, that once in two or three 

 years is all that is required ; and if fresh turf be 

 used, its strength will not be exhausted in that 

 time." 



We have tried this mode of culture, but con- 

 sider it very inferior to starting the sucker at 

 once upon its own roots, growing the plant 

 rapidly, taking one fruit from it, and throwing 

 the old plant away. No doubt much hand- 

 somer plants are produced in this way, and the 

 trouble of shifting can in no way exceed that of 

 stripping off the leaves and soiling the plants 

 up, as practised by Mr Hamilton. 



Expeditious culture. — That mode of culture by 

 which Queen pines of 6 pounds' weight and 

 upwards can be produced on plants fifteen 

 months old must be considered super-excellent. 

 This has been effected by Mr Hewitt, gardener 

 to J. Purdy, Esq., at Bayswater, and simply 

 consists in the following details. The struc- 

 tures are as unpretending as the routine of 

 practice is simple yet complete. They consist 

 of a frui ting-pit 18 feet long and 10 feet wide, 6 

 feet in height at the back and 4 feet in front, 

 and two succession-pits of rather smaller dimen- 

 sions. They are heated by 4-inch hot-water 

 pipes ; a fiow and return pipe passes round the 

 pit for surface heat; while six rows of pipes, of 

 the same dimensions, are buried amongst tan 

 for supplying bottom heat; for no dependence 

 is placed on it for affording heat, but it is used 

 only as a plunging material for the pots to be 

 placed in. This bottom heat is regulated by 

 valves, so that it can be decreased or withdrawn 

 entirely. The plants all grow on their own 

 roots, the suckers being taken off when in a. 

 proper state of firmness at their base, and are 

 potted the same day, so that the embryo roots 

 receive no check, but push immediately into the 

 soil, and become at once available for the sup- 

 port of the plant. The plants are from this 

 moment kept constantly growing without any 

 interruption until the fruit is perfected. Air is 

 admitted through tubes placed under ground, 

 and communicating with openings by the side 

 of a gravel walk at some distance in front of the 

 pit, which openings are fitted with stoppers for 

 the regulation of the stream of pure air which 

 enters the front of the pits immediately over 



