THE PINE- APPLE. 15 



PEOPAGATION. 



Generally there is little trouble in propagating and 

 keeping up a stock of young plants, as the majority 

 of varieties propagate themselves freely by suckers 

 and crowns. The latter I never use, except in the 

 case of some varieties which are very shy in produc- 

 ing suckers — such, for instance, as the Smooth-leaved 

 Cayenne, and C. Eothschild. Suckers are much more 

 desirable, and grow into strong plants more rapidly 

 than crowns. Those varieties that do not produce 

 suckers in sufficient abundance I always find easily 

 enough increased by preserving the old plants from 

 which the fruit is cut, stripping all the leaves off 

 them, and placing them entire in shallow boxes, 

 covering them to the depth of an inch with light 

 rich soil, in a bottom-heat of 90°. In this way 

 every latent bud on the stems bursts into growth ; 

 and as soon as they begin to emit roots, they are 

 twisted carefully from the old stem, and potted in 

 6 -inch pots. The stems may also be split up through 

 the middle, cut into pieces according to the number 

 of buds, potted singly in small pots, and plunged 

 in bottom-heat. This plan gives more labour and 

 requires more room, and sometimes the pieces rot 

 before the buds start. However, either way can be 

 practised with success. 



By this mode of propagation a clean stock can be 

 produced from plants infested with scale. In this 

 case the stems should be weU scrubbed with soap 

 and water before being placed in boxes or pots. In 

 this way a perfectly clean set of plants have fre- 

 quently been produced from stock which had been 

 overrun with insects. 



