304 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



ounce of carbonate of ammonia dissolved in 

 4 gallons of water, and applied once a month, 

 will likewise prove very beneficial. 



Guano or other ammoniacal manures placed 

 in the evaporation troughs have been found to 

 increase the vigour of the plants and deepen 

 the green of the foliage. 



Moisture. — Formerly, moisture was very spar- 

 ingly given to Pine-apples for fear of causing 

 them to damp off, but it is now the practice to 

 water them freely, if they are in a healthy 

 growing state; even in winter, if a proper 

 temperature is maintained, the soil when dry 

 may be moistened thoroughly with safety. 

 During the summer, if the soil is of the proper 

 texture and the drainage good, there is little 

 danger of overwatering. Just before the fruit 

 begins to ripen, water should be withheld. 

 Much more water is necessary when the plants 

 are growing rapidly than when thej^ grow 

 slowly; more also when the pots are filled with 

 roots, except during the ripening process, when 

 a dry atmosphere should prevail. 



In summer, unless the weather is dull and 

 damp, the house may be filled with steam every 

 afternoon, and the house shut up immediately 

 after steaming without danger of raising the 

 temperature too high. 



Light. — The foliage cannot be too much ex- 

 posed to light. The sun's rays should be freely 

 admitted, but in proportion to their intensity 

 care must be taken to give sufficient air to 

 prevent too high a temperature. Young plants { 

 should be placed within 6 or 8 inches of the 

 glass, and all others must be as near it as their 

 height will permit. The surface of the bed of 

 soil in which the Pines were planted out at 

 Trentham was not more than 18 inches below 

 the wall-plates. The plants should have sufficient 

 room to permit the leaves to spread themselves 

 so as to ensure their obtaining the maximum 

 amount of light. The whole plant naturally in- 

 clines towards the side where the strongest light 

 falls; therefore it may here be remarked that 

 in resetting after shifting, the same side of the 

 plants should be placed next the south as before. 

 The glass should be kept clean. 



The Meudon System. — The suckers are potted 

 in 4-inch pots immediately after the fruit is cut, 

 usually in August or September, the earlier 

 period being preferred; in these pots they re- 

 main till March or April, when a bed is pre- 

 pared, half dung and half leaves, and covered 

 with 10 inches of peat soil. In this the rooted 

 suckers, turned out of the 4 -inch pots, are 

 planted for the summer. In October they are 



carefully taken up with a little soil attached 

 to their roots, and potted into 7-inch pots, and 

 in these they remain for the winter. In the 

 following spring, when the plants show fruit, 

 generally in March, a number of the strongest 

 are finally planted out of the 7-inch pots into 

 beds of peat soil, in houses, where they ripen 

 their fruit in the course of the season. 



The plants not selected for planting-out are 

 fruited in pots. Beds made of half dung and 

 half leaves are prepared in March, and when 

 they are in a proper condition as regards heat 

 the pots are plunged, and in them the plants 

 are fruited. 



The plants are always in pots during the 

 winter. Commencing with the suckers, they 

 are planted in the early part of autumn in 

 small pots, in which they remain for the first 

 winter, and become rooted j)lants. In spring 

 they are turned out of their pots into peat soil, 

 in which they grow freely during the first 

 summer of their separate existence. In October 

 they are all taken up, re-potted, and again kept 

 in pots during the second winter. In the 

 second summer the strongest are planted out 

 for fruiting in the beds, and those not planted 

 out are fruited in 7-inch pots. 



In forming the bed the litter is well beaten. 

 Cayennes and other large sorts are planted out, 

 some of them in January, after their fruits have 

 formed. 



Hamilton's System. — The system adopted by 

 Mr. Hamilton essentially consists in fruiting 

 the suckers without detaching them from the 

 old stool. At the last shifting the plants are 

 potted rather deeply, so as to allow room for 

 soiling up after the first fruit has been cut. 

 After catting, some of the bottom leaves are 

 taken off as high as where the roots appear, 

 which is generally 2 or 3 inches above the top 

 of the pot. The stem is then earthed up, and 

 new roots are soon thrown out from the bared 

 trunk into the fresh soil. Mr. Hamilton en- 

 deavours to keep the soil moist by frequently 

 syringing over the leaves with lukewarm water. 

 By attending to watering, keejting a moist 

 atmosphere, &c, the suckers grow rapidly, and 

 perfect their fruit generally in from eight to 

 twelve months from the time the first fruit was 

 cut. Thus two fruits have been obtained, one 

 in the first season from the original plant, 

 and one in the second season from a sucker 

 produced by it. After the second cutting the 

 soil is removed to the roots of the original 

 stool, the latter is placed in a larger and deeper 

 pot, some of the bottom leaves are removed 



