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grown in almost any pervious inoxious medium, so is 

 it equally certain that there are soils which they pre- 

 fer, and in which they succeed best and most readily. 

 It is so where they grow wild; for in Brazil the 

 pine-apple is found near the sea-shore ; the sand 

 accumulated there in downs serving for its growth, as 

 well as for that of most of the species of the same 

 family. The place where the best pine-apples are 

 cultivated is of a similar nature. In the sandy plains 

 of Praga velha and Praga grande, formed by the re- 

 ceding of the sea, and in which no other plant will 

 thrive, are the spots where the pine-apple thrives best. 

 The cause of this lies evidently in the composition of 

 the sand, which chiefly consists of salt, lime from 

 decomposed shells, and a very little vegetable mould. 

 Warmth, lime, salt, and moisture, seem therefore to 

 be the principal ingredients in which the pine-apple 

 thrives. Sand will take a very high and continued 

 degree of warmth, being often heated by the sun so 

 much as to scorch vegetation, and yet it seldom dries 

 to a greater depth than from 8 to 12 inches. Sea salt 

 is well known for its property of attracting the noc- 

 turnal damps, and retaining them a long time. The 

 lime of the shells seems to be the principal manure, 

 which has also been proved by the English in the 

 Brazils, who, by manuring their pine-apples with a 

 mixture of powdered oyster-shells with vegetable 

 earth, produce very large fruit. The natural mould, 

 f 2 



