OFTHB PINE-APPLE* 



265 



November, in case the weather proves fine ; but 

 should it be dark and cold, once a fortnight will be 

 quite sufficient, especially towards the latter part 

 of that time. After this the hot-house should be 

 kept in a cold state, b and little or no water given 

 the plants till the middle or latter end of January, 

 as the weather may prove more or less favourable ; 

 for as there is always a moisture in the tan, in 

 which the Pine pots are plunged, and, as the pots 

 are porous, the roots of the Pine generally imbibe 

 a sufficient quantity to support the plants during 

 the above season, when they are nearly in a state 

 of inaction : however, in some seasons, a gentle 

 watering or two may be given, especially when 

 there is a kind bottom heat, which, during the 

 above time, will be absolutely necessary. 



But it sometimes happens in a long-continued 

 frost, that it is found difficult to keep the tan in 

 that desirable state ; for it is rather inconvenient 

 to renew the tan-bed in such a season, when fresh 



b In a morning the spirits of the thermometer should not be 

 higher than one or two degrees below the point marked tem- 

 perate. The author makes thermometers for sale on an ele- 

 gant construction, graduated to a scale entirely adapted for the 

 culture of the Pine-apple plant. — But, in order to give his 

 readers a just idea of the measure of a degree, referred to in 

 this work, he thinks it will be proper to inform them, that the 

 space between temperate and freezing point is divided into ten 

 equal divisions, which serve for a scale of degrees. However, 

 for the further satisfaction of the curious, a second scale of 

 degrees is also given on the plate, corresponding with that of 

 Fahrenheit's, as being more generally known. 



