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doubt not but if the feeds were Town frequently, in 
the countries where they are in plenty, there may be 
as great variety of thefe fruit, as there are of Apples or 
Pears in Europe. And this I have found- true by 
\fome trials which I have made by lowing the feeds, 
which have always .produced a variety of forts from 
thole of the fame fruit. 
This fruit (which is juftly efteemed for the richnefs of 
its flavour, as it furpaffes all the known fruits in the 
world), is produced from an herbaceous plant, which 
hath leaves fomewhat refembling thofe of Aloe, and 
are, for the moft part, fawed on their edges, but are 
much thinner, and not fo juicy as the Aloe : the fruit 
refembles the cones of the Pine-tree, from whence it 
is luppofed to have its name. 
Where this plant is a native, I believe is hard to de- 
termine ; but it is probably an indigenous plant in 
Africa, where, I have been informed, they grow in 
uncultivated places in great plenty. They have been 
long cultivated in the hotteft iflands of the Weft-In- 
dies, where they are in great plenty, and extraordinary 
goodnefs ; but they have not been many years in the 
European gardens, fo as to produce fruit : the firft 
perfon who fucceeded in this affair, was Monfieur Le 
Cour of Leyden in Holland, who, after a great many 
trials, with little or no fuccefs, did at length hit upon 
a proper degree of heat and management, fo as to pro- 
duce fruit equally good (though not fo large) as thofe 
which are produced in the Weft-Indies, as hath been 
often affirmed by perfons who have lived many years 
there : and it is to this worthy cultivator of gardening, 
who did not fpare any pains or expence to accomplifh 
it, that all the lovers thereof are obliged, for intro- 
ducing this king of fruits amongft them ; and it was 
from him that our gardens in England were firft fup- 
plied, though we have flnce had large quantities 
brought from America. I cannot here avoid taking 
notice of a common error which prevails amongft 
many people, which is, that the plants brought from 
America are not fo good as thole which came from 
M. Le Lour; which is a great miftake, for were 
the people who fend over thefe plants from America 
careful to fend the belt kinds, there would be found 
many better than thofe cultivated by M. Le Cour, 
who had his from thence at firft, as his gardener af- 
fured me •, and I have feen as good fruit produced 
from American plants, as any I have yet feen, and 
fome three times larger than any I faw in M. Le 
Co Ur’s garden. 
The firft fort is the moft common in Europe ; but 
the fecond fort is much preferable to it, the fruit of 
this being larger, and much better flavoured : the 
juice of this fort is not fo aftringent as that of the firft, 
fo that this fruit may be eaten in greater quantity 
with lefs danger. This frequently produces fuckers 
immediately under the fruit, whereby it may be in- 
creafed much falter than the common fort ; fo that in 
a few years, it may be the moft common fort in 
England. 
The third fort is preferved by fome curious perfons 
for the fake of variety, but the fruit is not worth any 
thing. The fixth fort is at p refen t the moft rare in 
Europe, there being very few of the plants at prefent. 
This has been efteemed the belt fort known, by fome 
of the moft curious perfons in America, many of 
whom have thrown out all the other forts from their 
gardens, and cultivate only this kind. The plants of 
this fort may be procured from Barbadoes and Mont- 
ferrat, in both which places it is cultivated. 
The fort with very frnooth grafs-green leaves, was 
railed from feeds taken out of a rotten fruit, which 
came from the Weft-Indies to the late Henry Heath- 
cote, Efq; from whom I received one plant, which 
hath produced large fruit : this, I am told, is what 
the people of America call the King Pine. I have 
fince railed fome plants of this kind from feeds, which 
were brought me from Jamaica. 
Thefe plants are propagated by planting the crowns 
which grow on the fruit, or the fuckers which are 
produced either from the fides of the plants, or under 
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the fruit, both which I have found to be equally 
good; although by fome perfons the crown is thought 
preferable to the fuckers, as ftippofing it v/ill produce 
fruit fooner than the flackers, which is certainly a mif- 
take; for by conftant experience I find the fuckers 
(if equally ftrong) will fruit as foon, and produce as 
large fruit as the crowns. 
.The fuckers and crov/ns muft be laid to dry in a warm 
place for four or five days, or more (according to the 
moifture of the part which adhered to the old fruit ;) 
for if they are immediately planted, they will rot, ef- 
pecially the crowns. The certain rule of judging 
when they are fit to plant, is by obferving if the 
bottom is healed over and become hard ; for if the 
fuckers are drawn off carefully from the old plants, 
they will have a hard fkin over the lower part, fo need 
not lie fo long as the crowns, or thofe whofe bottoms 
are moift. But whenever a crown is taken from the 
fruit, or the fuckers from old plants, they fhould be 
immediately divefted of their bottom leaves, fo high 
as to allow depth for their planting ; fo that they may 
be thoroughly dry and healed in every part, left when 
they receiye heat and moifture, they fhould perifh, 
which often happens when this method is not ob- 
ferved. If thefe fuckers or crowns are taken off late 
in the autumn, or during the winter, or early in the 
fpring, they fhould be laid in a dry place in the ftove, 
for a fortnight or three weeks before they are planted, 
but in the fummer feafon they will be fit for planting 
in' a few days. 
As to the earth in which thefe fhould be planted, if 
you have a rich good kitchen-garden mould, not too 
heavy, fo as to detain the moifture too long, nor over 
light and Tandy, it will be very proper for them with- 
out any mixture : but where this is wanting, you 
fhould procure fome frefh earth from a good pafture ; 
which fhould be mixed with about a third part of 
rotten neats dung, or the dung of an old Melon or 
Cucumber-bed, which is well confumed. Thefe fhould 
be mixed fix or eight months at leaft before they are 
ufed, but if it be a year, it will be the better ; and 
fhould be often turned, that their parts may be the 
better united, as alio the clods well broken. This 
earth fhould not be fcreened very fine, for if you only 
clear it of the great ftones, it will be better for the 
plants than when it is made too fine. You fhould 
always avoid mixing any fand with the earth, unlefs 
it be extremely ftiff, and then it v/ill be neceffary to 
have it mixed at leaft fix months or a year before it is 
ufed ; and it muft be frequently turned, that the fand 
may be incorporated in the earth, fo as to divide its 
parts : but you fhould not put more than a fixth part 
of fand, for too much fand is very injurious to thefe 
plants. 
In the fummer feafon, when the weather is warm, 
thefe plants muft be frequently watered, but you 
fhould not give them large quantities at a time : you 
muft alfo be very careful, that the moifture is not 
detained in the pots, by the holes being flopped, for 
that will foon dellroy the plants. In very warm weather 
they fhould be watered twice or three times a week ; 
but in a cool feafon, once a week will he often enough: 
and during the fummer feafon, you fhould once a 
week water them gently all over their leaves, which 
will wafh the filth from off them, and thereby greatly 
promote the growth of the plants. 
There are fome perfons who frequently fhift thefe 
plants from pot to pot, but this is by no means to be 
prabtifed by thofe who propofe to have large well fla- 
voured fruit ; for unlefs the pots be filled with the 
roots, by the time the plants begin to fhew their fruit, 
they commonly produce fin aft fruit, which have ge- 
nerally large crowns on them, therefore the plants 
will not require to be potted oftener than twice in a 
feafon: the firft time fhould be about the end of 
April, when the fuckers and crowns of the former 
year’s fruit (which remained all the winter in thofe 
pots in which they were firft planted) fhould 'be drifted 
into larger pots, i. e. thofe which were in halfpenny, 
or three-farthing pots, fhould be put into penny, or 
. at 
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