CULTURE OF THE PINE -APPLE. 



21 



put into 8-inch pots in the spring may, as a rule, be shifted 

 into their fruiting pots the following August, the plants in 

 6-inch pots being given a shift one or two sizes larger, according 

 to circumstances, loosening the soil round the balls a little 

 with a pointed stick to liberate any roots that may have 

 become matted, but in every case ramming the fresh soil 

 firmly with flat and round rammers. After being potted, 

 and plunged at from 1 foot to 2 feet apart, according to size, 

 the plants should be shaded during the heat of the day 

 for a fortnight or three weeks, and syringed slightly overhead 

 and between the pots with tepid water before putting on the 

 shading in the morning and after removing it in the afternoon, 

 until signs of fresh growth are observed, when the shading may 

 (except for two or three hours — say from eleven to two o'clock — 

 in the hottest part of the day during very strong sunshine) 

 be dispensed with, and instead a gradually increasing free cir- 

 culation of fresh air should be admitted during the heat of 

 the day, that is, from the time the thermometer registers 

 80° in the morning until it indicates 85° or 90° in the afternoon, 

 say from half-past two in March up to four o'clock in June, 

 July, and August, when the houses and pits should be closed, 

 the plants dewed overhead, and the plunging material and 

 house generally well damped over. 



A bottom-heat of 85° should be aimed at during the first nine 

 months of the year, but it may be allowed to drop 5° or 10° (ex- 

 cept in the case of winter-fruiters) during October, November, and 

 December. The plants should be kept uniformly moist at the 

 roots during the same nine months ; but water should be applied 

 very sparingly in any form during October and the two following 

 months — a time when the plants should be resting. The night 

 temperature should range from GO 0 in October to 55° and 50° in 

 November and December, with a rise of 5° by day with fire-heat, 

 and 10° by sun-heat. The minimum temperature during the first 

 nine" months of the year should range from 65° to 70°. Winter- 

 fruiters should, as a matter of course, be afforded a night tempera- 

 ture of 70° to 75° by day with fire-heat, and 80° to 85° with sun- 

 heat, running it up to 90° at closing time when the sun is 

 sufficiently powerful, and distributing moisture in the house at the 

 same time. The plants, too, should be kept well supplied at the 

 roots with stimulating fare in a liquid state at a temperature of 85°, 



