ON THE CULTURE OF THE PINE-APPLE, 
285 
To recommend this mode of cultivation, and to show how expedi¬ 
tiously it might be done, has been the grand aim of all I have written 
on the subject. This being the case, it is surprising that any lover of 
gardening should so far forget himself as to condemn a system which 
he has never seen practised properly, nor does not, it is evident, under¬ 
stand. I am. Sir, your obedient servant, 
John Mearns. 
[We willingly give place to the above letter from Mr, Mearns, 
because, as his ideas respecting his success in coiling vines, published 
in f *' The Gardener’s Magazine” and ^Horticultural Register,” have 
been attacked through us, and which (though a pretty rebuke to our¬ 
selves) we gave insertion to from a principle of editorial duty compel¬ 
ling us to hear both sides; yet we must disclaim taking any decided 
part in the controversy, any farther than allowing Mr. Mearns to 
remonstrate and explain. When assertions are made on one hand, 
and denials on the other, it is impossible for us to decide which is 
right, unless we visited Welbeck, (which Mr. Mearns most urgently 
begs us to do,) which we have only to regret is not now in our power, 
although we consider the invitation a very strong proof of what is 
advanced in the above communication, and for which he has our best 
thanks. We have only to add, that our friend Mr. Mearns is mistaken 
in his suspicion as to the correspondent with a Greek cognomen.— 
Editor .] 
ON THE CULTURE OF THE PINE-APPLE. 
Sir, —Your kind acceptance of my late paper on the Pine-apple 
induces me to fulfil my intention of sending a second in continuation, 
wherein I propose to describe a method of growing this exotic which I 
have seen practised; and though it be not new—as it was pursued by 
Baldwin, Peter Marsland, Esq., and by several others—it is still very 
little adopted. Those who grow the pine-apple on a small scale, or 
who wish to do so, must, I think, find the method very convenient, as 
only one pit, heated either by dung or fire, will be required. 
I must premise by remarking, that the plants so treated were prin¬ 
cipally of the old Jamaica variety, which, in my opinion, surpasses all 
others cultivated. The St. Vincent, or Green Olive, is also a most 
valuable fruit; yet, although so excellent, we seldom meet with either ; 
thirty plants of the Queen, or its near varieties, being grown in most 
gardens, to one of the two sorts mentioned. The great objection to 
