THE PINE -APPLE. 



655 



monstrous Queens grown by M. Pelvilain, at 

 Meudon, near Paris, aide figs. 625, 626, 627, 

 vol. L, and held up by " Mirabile Dictu," in the 

 columns of " The Gardeners' Chronicle," as some- 

 thing that English growers might hear of, but 

 never equal. These large pines were, however, 

 admitted, after the changes had been rung on 

 them for several weeks, by the editor of the 

 same journal, as being in point of flavour worse 

 than the worst Providence — watery and taste- 

 less ; " we could not have believed a Queen to be 

 so deteriorated. If then," he adds, " the French 

 have triumphed in weight, the English may con- 

 sole themselves that they are still unrivalled for 

 quality." These Meudon Queens, grown in close, 

 damp, ill-ventilated dung-pits, weighed 8 lb. 

 14 oz. only, some say from 7 to 10 lb., and were 

 unfit to eat, while several English growers have 

 produced the same variety 6 lb. 11 oz., 6 lb. 4 oz., 

 6 lb. 1 5 oz. ; and Mr Barnes of Bicton is believed 

 to have produced the same sort upwards of 8 lb. 

 in weight, all of which were of the highest flavour, 

 and grown under the influence of light and air, 

 and in structures the atmosphere of which was 

 as pure as that of the open garden. Although 

 young plants increase rapidly in bulk when 

 grown in low, close pits, heated alone by fermen- 

 tation, they do not possess the same strength 

 that plants do when grown in low-roofed houses, 

 exposed to light and air on all sides. The former 

 show long, narrow, thin, flabby leaves, while the 

 latter are short, thick, and broad in the leaf, 

 each of these being as stiff and unbendable as 

 the leaf of an aloe. The former also send up 

 long slender fruit-stalks, seldom fit to support 

 the fruit that surmounts them without the aid 

 of stakes and guy cords ; while the other have a 

 short stout fruit-stalk, with a small crown, the 

 top of which is seldom equal to even half the 

 height of the fruit. The former is a watery, 

 tasteless fruit ; the latter is full of luscious 

 sweetness. Every pine-grower of ordinary ex- 

 perience knows full well that he can swell his 

 pines in close humid pits to a large size, even 

 from plants eighteen months old. He also 

 knows that the same variety grown in a light 

 airy house gives much the better fruit. Such 

 a pine-pit as we have described, p. 343, fig. 462, 

 vol. i., is much better adapted for growing the 

 young plants in than any of the numerous pits 

 we have described, being 17 feet wide within ; 

 and our fig. 464 is what we call the beau ideal of 

 a perfect fruiting-house. It will be understood 

 that both these, being span-roofed structures, 

 present their ends to the south and north ; and 

 it will be seen that light and air have as much 

 effect upon the plants as if they were growing in 

 the open air, there being only 4 feet from the top 

 of the bed to the ridge of the roof (the rims of the 

 pots, in fig. 464, being level with the side walls, 

 instead of several feet under them, as is usually 

 the case). The next pit in merit to those of our 

 own design is, in our opinion, that of Mr Flem- 

 ing of Trentham, fig. 463, which is also on the 

 span-roofed principle, only having its direction 

 from east to west, the southern side of the roof 

 being longer than the northern by one third, so 

 as to admit of the sun's rays falling on every 

 plant within. It will also be observed that, like 



our own, the rims of the pots are nearly level 

 with the side walls. Several pine- stoves and 

 pits, at present in course of erection from our 

 designs, are upon nearly the same principle. 



It may be worthy of remark, that the pit em- 

 ployed by Mr Adam Taylor in 1769, who first 

 grew and fruited the pine in Britain by means 

 of fermentation alone, is superior to nine-tenths 

 of those that have been constructed since. A 

 figure and description of it will be found in his 

 " Treatise on the Culture of the Pine- Apple," in 

 which we find a frame of glass resting on a brick 

 wall 12 inches high above ground, the front of 

 the pit above that being 2^ feet high, made of 

 movable glazed sashes to admit light and air. 

 The ends also are of glass, the back or northern 

 side only being opaque, and constructed of 

 2-inch planking. In describing his frame for 

 young plants, Mr Taylor advises it to be " 3^ 

 feet deep at back, and 2\ feet deep in front." 

 And he afterwards observes : u It is also neces- 

 sary that they should have a sufficient share of 

 the sun. If therefore a border of glass, to the 

 height of 1 5 inches, was fixed in the fore part of 

 this frame, it would be of singular service to the 

 plants; whereas if the perpendicular front should 

 be composed entirely of wood, they would be too 

 much shadowed." Here we have, eighty-four 

 years ago, an excellent model of a pine-pit, which, 

 if heated by hot water, would be superior to 

 most of those in use at the present time. As a 

 general rule, we would say that no pine plant 

 should be grown in a pit where the surface of 

 soil in the pot is 1 inch under the level of the 

 line of glass ; and supposing the surface of the 

 tan-bed to be exactly on a level with the ex- 

 terior ground-line, the sides and ends should 

 be composed of glass to within 9 inches of that 

 level, the superstructure resting on a stone or 

 brick plinth of the above depth, merely to pre- 

 serve the woodwork from decay. Pits so con- 

 structed should have their back and front sides 

 capable of being opened for ventilation. The 

 culture of the pine in pits is already well under- 

 stood, but our pits themselves are for the most 

 part exceeding badly contrived. 



Growing the pine planted out in beds. — This, 

 although by no means a new feature in pine cul- 

 ture, having been occasionally resorted to, has 

 nevertheless, within these few years past, been 

 carried out upon a much larger scale than here- 

 tofore, and with more or less success. It would 

 appear to be the most natural mode of treating 

 the plant; and there can be no objection started 

 against it, were it not that young plants, during 

 the first six or nine months of their growth, are 

 small, and require less room to grow them in 

 than is required when they attain a fruiting 

 state ; and hence smaller structures are pro- 

 vided for them during this period, in which 

 they are brought forward to take their place in 

 the fruiting-house bed, when those which have 

 already occupied it are thrown out after having 

 produced their fruit. Having them in a portable 

 state during their preparation, enables the culti- 

 vator to add to the soil at their roots progres- 

 sively, to remove them from one structure to 

 another as they increase in height, to remove 

 such as are defective or that start prematurely 



