PINE-APPLES. 



127 



fruitiDg. Give them a large sucker and a small slip, and keep them 

 growing eqaallv fast, then, of course, the sucker will fruit first, 

 the slips last ; but reverse these conditions — take a large slip and 

 a small sucker, and the slip will be the first to yield up its lus- 

 cious treasure. 



It is of no advantage to send to a nursery or elsewhere for 

 ready-rooted plants. Get as large-sized plants as you can to 

 start with, but any roots that they may have before coming into 

 your possession you may count as nil. 



Pine-apple rootlets are of so tender and perishable a nature 

 that even if they survive transplanting, they will be longer in reviv- 

 ing and going to work again, than new roots will be in forming 

 and takiug hold ; conserjuently, rooted plants are no desideratum. 



It is a very easy ni.itter to root suckers, crowns, crownlets, 

 or slips after you have them on the ground ready for planting, 

 and it is better to start them on their rootward journey before 

 setting tlieni out in their permanent places. 



As a preliminary, carefully pull ofi" the overlapping leaves 

 at the base for an inch or half inch, according to the size of the 

 offsets : this will facilitate the rooting process ; then make a bed 

 of damp moss, keep it damp, and place them, base dovrnward, in 

 it, just as you would place them in the ground when planting ; 

 cover them with more moss, not damp, and place them in a 

 shady spot. 



After they have lain thus a week or two, examine them, 

 and plant out those that have sent forth slender white rootlets a 

 half inch or more in length ; some will take several weeks longer 

 than others to do this, but it is best to wait their time before set- 

 ting them out, and they will grow off more surely and thrifty by 

 this method than by any other. 



Some planters recommend leaving the offsets exposed to the 

 sun for weeks, or even months, to facilitate rooting ; but while 

 the plants will really root under this heroic treatment, it is at 

 the expense of their ultimate thrift, and the rooting in the damp 

 moss and in the shad^e is by far a better plan, and one that makes 

 a certainty of the after well-being of every offset ; not one wiU 

 be lost by this method. 



