THE PINE- APPLE. 47 



into beds of soil- over a bed of leaves about two or three 

 feet deep. From the sucker pits they are transplanted 

 into the succession pits, and from the latter into the 

 fruiting pits, where they are planted two feet apart 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 " HamiltoniSn 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 will 

 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 i^ 

 to be made of space in keeping up a supply, the pot 

 system is the best. At all 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 manage- 

 ment can be more easily retrieved, I should say, in 

 the pot than in the planting-out system. 



INSECTS TO WHICH THE PINE IS SUBJECT. 



White 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 



