CULTURE OF THE PINE-APPLE. 



445 



now of Alton Towers, but at the time this account was dmvm up, journey- 

 man gardener under IVIr. Dowding at Oakhill. 



935. Construction of the pit. — Our nursing and growing departments are 

 pits, 7 feet deep at back, 6 feet wide, and sloping at an inclination of 1 foot 

 in three, heated by fermentation, having no fire-heat apparatus. Our prin- 

 cipal fruiting pits (fig 336) are each 40 feet long, heated by one fire, and 



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•J.TLL-UJ ! 1 : ! : ' : ■ '■ jt. 



Fig. 336. Section of the pipe pit at Oakhill. 



a, a, Flues | occasionally filled with fer- 



5, Bark-bed. ' menting matter. 



c. Rubble brickwork raised of asuf- ' /,/, Coping stones to the walls, 

 ficient height to support the flue, g, Gutter to receive the water from 



d. Steam pipe for occasional use. i the sashes. 



e. Arches, supporting the pathway, \ Ground line. 



supplied with steam, conducted along the front wall, a little above the flue, 

 through an iron pipe of one inch bore from a portable boiler. The sashes, 

 composed of a wooden frame with copper sash bars, and glazed with crown 

 glass, are supported on cast-iron rafters. Shutters, composed of reeds fixed 

 in a wooden frame to fit on each light, which are used in cold nights, give our 

 pits the appearance of thatched cottages. As fermenting ingredients we use 

 for linings, tan, dung, and leaves ; and for beds in the pits, tan only. As 

 fuel, we use coke from the gas works with a little coal and brushwood in 

 kindlmg, and wet coal ashes in moderating the fires. This is far preferable 

 to coals, being a cheaper and cleanlier fuel, and making more efi&cient and 

 easier-managed fires. 



936. Kinds grown. — Our stock consists of nearly equal numbers of green 

 and black pines ; we generally have about 1200 plants, and we fr^it about 

 500 annually. The sorts we cultivate are, Queens, Providences, Jamaicas 

 for the principal stock, and Antiguas, Envilles, Brown and Striped Sugar- 

 loaves, Globes, and Antigua Queens ; but of these latter sorts, w^e have only 

 a few specimens. 



937. In watering and sprinkling we use pure water, pumped into a leaden 

 cistern, and exposed at least one day to the sun in summer ; and from tanks, 

 &c., m a tepid state, from the forcing-houses, in winter. 



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