PINE-APPLE. 



303 



There should always be a good command of 

 bottom-heat. When this is obtained by means 

 of hot-water pipes, there need be no difficulty 

 in regulating it; but when it is derived from 

 tan or other fermenting materials, its regulation 

 is somewhat precarious. Tan is cheap, and a 

 quantity of it should always be in readiness to 

 supply any deficiency that may occur. Should 

 the tan get too hot, the plants should be re- 

 moved, either wholly or in part, according as 

 the heat is more or less in excess of what it 

 ought to be. It is a good plan to plunge a 

 small pot, with its mouth upwards, and on 

 this place the bottom of the pot containing the 

 plant. 



If the plants are found to be poorly fur- 

 nished with roots, the bottom-heat should be at 

 least as high as the maximum for the respective 

 months. This is quite high enough to keep 

 the roots at all times in good condition and 

 constantly in action, an absolute necessity, for 

 if they are so cold that the sap cannot flow 

 freely the roots become so inert as to be useless; 

 and consequently the plant is reduced to the 

 condition of a cutting. 



Pine growers used to starve their plants 

 for months previous to March, after which a 

 general shifting of the plants and renewal of 

 fermenting materials usually took place, and 

 with an increased bottom and top heat the 

 plants were started to grow; but a considerable 

 portion of the summer was spent in efforts to 

 remedy the evils which the winter had entailed. 

 Hence the long period formerly considered 

 necessary to fruit the Pine -apple, compared 

 with that now required by those who maintain 

 throughout the winter a brisk bottom-heat. 



Soil. — The soil for Pine -apples should be 

 friable and open. It may be either fibrous, 

 peaty, or sandy, and if assisted by some appro- 

 priate manure, good fruit may be produced. 

 Loam may, however, be advantageously mixed 

 in the proportion of two parts to one of peat. 

 At Meudon, in France, where Pine-apples of 

 an astonishing size have been produced, the 

 soil employed was a sandy peat or leaf -mould, 

 obtained from a high-lying spot where hard- 

 wooded trees, chiefly Beech, had long been 

 growing. In this soil plants of Queen Pines 

 were planted out, and produced fruit weighing 

 10 lbs.; but it must be observed that the bed 

 of soil was supported on planks, between which 

 ammonia from a large mass of fermenting horse- 

 dung and leaves could readily ascend. 



In English gardens the soil used for Pine- 

 apples consists of 2 parts rich friable loam, peat 



1 part, mixed with deer, sheep, or pig dung. 

 Some growers prefer turfy loam, deer or sheep 

 dung, and leaf-mould, in the proportion of six 

 parts of loam to three of dung and one of leaf- 

 mould, whilst others recommend a compost con- 

 sisting of three parts of loam, three of peat, and 

 one of horse-droppings, the latter having been 

 kept dry, and mixed with the soil when about to 

 be used; the horse-manure, it may be remarked, 

 affords ammonia, a substance which appears to 

 be favourable to the growth of this fruit. 



When the plants do not appear to be thriving, 

 although under favourable circumstances in 

 other respects, they should be shifted into fresh 

 soil, and that at any period of their growth if 

 done carefully; even when the fruit has been 

 swelling we have known instances of plants 

 having been shifted with advantage. 



Mr. D. Thomson, who, while at Archerfield, 

 grew some of the finest Pine -apples ever ex- 

 hibited, used a sandy soil, very full of fibre, 

 taken from the surface of a rocky crag, and 

 stacked for a twelvemonth previous to use. 

 This, a few months before being required for 

 potting, was put into a dry, airy shed, and 

 chopped up without separating any of the fibre 

 from it; and it was used without any addition, 

 except an 8-inch potful of J-inch bones, and the 

 same quantity of soot, to a barrow-load of soil. 

 Where a friable loam, such as the top 4 inches 

 of an old pasture, cannot be had, and heavier 

 soil must be used, he advises the addition of 

 sand, powdered oyster-shells, charcoal, mortar- 

 rubbish, &c, to keep it open. 



Manures. — It will be seen that manure of 

 a rather strong nature may be applied to the 

 Pine -apple with advantage. Plants in such 

 composts require no other stimulus, so long as 

 they continue to grow vigorously ; but frequent 

 watering, evaporation, and the absorbing action 

 of the roots, all tend to exhaust the nutritive 

 principles which the compost originally con- 

 tained. A fresh supply therefore becomes 

 necessary, and this can be conveyed in liquid 

 manure. Ammoniacal manures appear very 

 suitable for the plants at a season when luxuri- 

 ant growth is desirable, and they produce a 

 healthy green appearance in the foliage. Stable 

 drainings will afford ammonia in considerable 

 quantity; it is not, however, advisable to apply 

 this manure in an undiluted state; the admix- 

 ture of two parts of water to one of urine con- 

 stitutes a safe application. Liquid manure can 

 also be formed by mixing the dung of horses, 

 cows, sheep, or poultry with water in a tank or 

 large cask; or guano-water may be used. An 



