394 On the Cultivation of the Pine Apple. 



just established in their pots, when they were placed on the 

 sand, they succeeded so well through the winter and spring, 

 that many of them fruited in the following autumn (1821), 

 and weighed from two to three pounds each. They were 

 all Queen Pines. Since that time we have continued to grow 

 them in the same pit, and last year we fitted up another of 

 forty feet, in the same manner, being fully convinced that 

 tan is quite unnecessary even for rooting the crowns and 

 suckers, which I have found to succeed quite well in the 

 sand, or in a little old tan, or decayed leaves laid about them. 

 T have generally shifted the plants into larger pots as they re- 

 quired. The temperature kept during the spring and summer 

 is from eighty to one hundred degrees through the day, and as 

 low as from sixty-five to sixty degrees during the night ; in 

 the autumn and through the winter, it is as low as forty-five 

 or fifty degrees. I annex a section of the pit, and where coals 

 are moderate in price, I have no hesitation in stating, that it is 

 the cheapest plan that I have seen adopted. 



I am, Sir, with the greatest respect, 

 your most obedient Servant. 



Valley field, near Culross, ALEXANDER STEWART, 



2bth November, 1823. 



