322 DICTIOKABY OF POPULAR KAMES PINE 



was once gardener. There is, however, no proof of the said 

 fruit having been grown in England, as it is recorded that the 

 Pine-apple plant was first introduced into Holland from America 

 about the middle of the seventeenth century; from thence it 

 was brought to England by the Earl of Portland in 1690, being 

 five years after the death of Charles II. 



In 1712 it appears to have been successfully cultivated and 

 fruited by Sir Mathew Decker in his garden at Eichmond. Of 

 this plant there is a painting in the Pitzwilliam Museum, 

 Cambridge, of which the handbook says : — " Landscape, with a 

 pine-apple, being the first that was grown in England, which 

 was in Sir Mathew Decker's garden at Eichmond, in Surrey, 

 grandfather to the late Lord Fitzwilliam." From the above time 

 its cultivation became very general, and hothouses — called pine- 

 stoves — were erected for it. Pine-apples are produced in this 

 country larger and superior in flavour to those of native growth. 

 They were then only for the rich, but of late years large quan- 

 tities have been imported from the West Indies, chiefly from the 

 Bahamas, Azores, Trinidad, and other West Indian islands, and 

 it is not uncommon to hear the cry of " Pine-apple, a penny 

 a slice," in towns. 



The name Pine-apple is given on account of the fruit resem- 

 bling the cones of the pine or fir tree. In India, Burmah, and 

 other parts, the tough fibre of the leaves is largely used in the 

 manufacture of textile fabrics. It partakes of the character of 

 flax, is of a silky nature, and may be spun into a very fine 

 fabric. 



Pine, Chili. (See Araucaria.) 



Pine, Moreton Bay. (See Araucaria.) 



Pine, Norfolk Island. (See Araucaria.) 



Pine Trees. — Under fir trees it is stated that the genus 

 Pimcs, as originally characterised, comprehends species forming 

 two natural groups differing in the attachment of the leaves, 

 which, with other characters, has led modern botanists to 



senting the first pine-apple grown in England ; drawn from the original 

 picture m the collection of the Eail of Waldgrave at Strawberry IIill." 



