CULTURE OF THE PINE-APPLE. 



23 



generally assume a brighter colour than those ripened in the 

 pine-stove in the ordinary way, the drier and airier atmosphere 

 maintained in the vinery at this particular time contributing to 

 this result. 



Varieties. — The best sterling varieties are The Queen, 

 Smooth-leaved Cayenne, Charlotte Kothschild, Black Jamaica, 

 Lady Beatrix Lamb ton, White Providence (a variety remarkable 

 for the size of its fruit), Enville, and Prince Albert, and of 

 these the first five are the best. Three years ago I received by 

 post from a friend engaged in fruit-growing in the neighbourhood 

 of Waldo, Florida, three small gill-like suckers of a variety called 

 Porto Eico, which is said to yield fruit, averaging 8 lb., of good 

 quality. I have succeeded in saving two of these plants, one of 

 which I hope to fruit this year. It is strong, tall, and erect in 

 growth. At Longford Castle I used to fruit twenty-three plants 

 of Providence every year until I was unfortunate enough to get 

 white scale through infested " crowns " from fruit received from 

 another place having been unwittingly sent up to the gardens 

 from the Castle, as was customary with "crowns " of our own 

 Pine-apples. These, in blissful ignorance of the fact, were placed 

 among our, until then, perfectly clean stock of plants, with the 

 result stated, and having tried several supposed remedies quite 

 unsuccessfully, I destroyed all the plants and made a fresh start 

 with clean ones ; but I have not been able to obtain any plants 

 of Providence since then. I may remark that a fruit of the Pro- 

 vidence Pine-apple, said to have weighed 14 lb., was sent to Her 

 Majesty the Queen by the late Earl of Badnor many years ago. 



Insects. — The Pine-apple is subject to the attacks of white 

 and brown scale and mealy-bug. Therefore great care should 

 be exercised not to introduce stove or greenhouse plants into 

 the pine-stove. Pot-strawberries, French Beans, Melons, and 

 Cucumbers may, however, be safely grown on any available space 

 in hip-roofed pine-stoves. 



Brown-scale may be got rid of without very much trouble, 

 but mealy-bug (of which I have not had experience in any way 

 during the last twenty-five years) and white-scale are most 

 destructive and difficult pests to eradicate without at the same 

 time destroying the plants in the process. My experience of 

 white- scale on Pines is such as to lead me to strongly recommend 

 any gardener who may be unfortunate enough to get it to obtain 



