49 



pense of growing Queens to the weight of 3 or 41bs., 

 and 6 or 71bs., and then to inquire which he prefers. 

 In the majority of cases he would find his master 

 preferring the smaller size, if well grown ; because it 

 is only on special occasions that very heavy pines are 

 really wanted ; and always to place on the table a 

 Queen of 61bs. weight, where one of only 31bs. is re- 

 quired, would be unnecessary waste. There is, how- 

 ever, no family where pines are cultivated, in which 

 to have the largest possible fruit, occasionally, is not 

 a desideratum. If it were not so, the Providence 

 and Enville pine apples, which have little but size to 

 recommend them, would go out of cultivation. 

 Again, the surplus pines, in many gardens, are regu- 

 larly sent to market, and in that case it would have 

 to be ascertained which is the most profitable, a crop 

 of very large, or of middle sized, well-grown pines. 

 And it is in this way that market gardeners probably 

 view the question. They grow what best suits the 

 market, and what will produce them the most profit. 

 (Ibid. 1844, 131.) 



We will remark, in conclusion, that if a pine apple 

 is required to keep as long as possible, its crown 

 should be removed, for the vegetation of the crown 

 injures the flavour, upon the same principle that an 

 onion or carrot is similarly deteriorated when it be- 

 gins to sprout in the spring. 



E 



