22 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Each fruit should be secured to two sticks — one on each side 

 — by two or three ties, the top ties being at an angle of about 

 35° from the top of the fruit, to prevent its upright growth being 

 hampered. 



In distributing moisture in the house, avoid letting water get 

 into the crowns of the fruits, as this encourages the production 

 of unduly large crowns, which detract from the size and general 

 appearance of the fruit. On the other hand, should any of the 

 crowns give promise of being under-sized — that is, not in pro- 

 portion to the size of fruit, tepid water may be purposely applied 

 to such crowns with a view to increasing their size. 



The Queen Pine naturally produces suckers with great free- 

 dom ; therefore in applying water at the roots of successional 

 plants care should be taken to only pour the water over the soil* 

 and not into the axils of the leaves, as this would unduly tend to 

 the production of suckers. In the case of the Smooth-leaved 

 Cayenne, Providence, and Charlotte Eothschild varieties, which 

 are shy in producing suckers, there is no necessity for this pre- 

 caution being observed. On the contrary, water may be poured 

 into the axils of the leaves in watering as an inducement to the 

 production of suckers. The latter should, however, be removed 

 as soon as they appear from all successional plants, so as to con- 

 centrate all the energies of the individual plants into the build- 

 ing up of good fruiting specimens, potting up the suckers if 

 necessary. Tepid liquid manure or weak guano water may with 

 advantage be poured into the axils of the plants in watering 

 fruiters, as the young roots coiled round the stems of the in- 

 dividual plants beneath the leaves will benefit thereby. When 

 gills appear on the stems at the base of the fruit, they should be 

 removed forthwith. Plants of the three last-named varieties 

 should have their leaves trimmed-* back to the stems after the 

 fruit is cut, and be kept in heat to produce suckers, affording 

 water sparingly at the roots in the meantime. 



The ripening of Pine-apples can be retarded, and the fruits 

 kept nice and fresh for three weeks or a month, by removing the 

 pLants to a vinery, in which the grapes are ripe or ripening, as 

 soon as the fruits begin to change colour, standing the pots on 

 inverted ones, as a precaution against mice. In such a position 

 I have frequently kept back Pine-apples for fully a month longer 

 than could otherwise have been done. The fruits thus retarded 



