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prevented by good gardening, but it is an accident 

 that no care can guard against, and one that does not 

 at all interfere with that quality — flavour — for which 

 pine apples are cultivated. (Gard. Chron. 1843^ 505.) 

 Its excessive development may be checked in the 

 modes hereafter noticed for stopping the other super- 

 productions of the crown, and which are thus noticed 

 by Mr. Barnes. He says that although cockscomb- 

 ing is considered by some gardeners as a disease, yet 

 that he is very far from entertaining such an opinion. 

 There is no doubt that it is a defect or imperfection, 

 but the cause is not yet satisfactorily accounted for. 

 Though an imperfection or mal-formation, yet every 

 one must have observed weighty, handsome, well- 

 swelled fruit bearing cockscoijibed crowns. Very rarely 

 among the stock at Bicton is seen a cockscombed 

 crown. We make it an invariable rule not to save 

 any succession suckers or crowns from such plants as 

 have produced cockscombed fruit. When such does 

 make its appearance, we reduce the size and shape of 

 the crown in its early stage of growth, if possible, by 

 cutting from each side a part of the crown or bunch 

 of crowns, or by taking the centre or heart out of 

 each, according to circumstances. This is done by 

 turning a small sharp knife round inside the centre 

 or heart of each crown. This operation is practised 

 by us also upon single-crowned fruit, when crowns 

 are likely to take the lead of the fruit, and become 



