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THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 1. 
Now, if one of those thumping exhibition fruits, of 
some eight or ten pounds weight, presents itself on 
company clays, what is to be clone ? A pine worth a 
couple of sovereigns has to be sacrificed, when a ten 
shilling one would amply suffice. This, then, we would 
urge is a great sacrifice, for an object of a very uncer¬ 
tain character. We submit that a plant on the Hamil¬ 
tonian system, with two or three fruits upon it, each 
weighing as much as three pounds, is by far better 
adapted tor general purposes than a single plant with 
one fruit only equal in weight to the whole three Hamil¬ 
tonians. We very much fear that our great exh ibitions 
have driven many of these things beyond the bounds of 
convenience and economy. We are not quite assured, 
nevertheless, that the single plant system produces 
much larger fruit than the Hamiltonians: we have 
heard Mr. Hamilton repeatedly affirm that he found 
those plants with three suckers, all in fruit at once, 
but in different stages (it may be), produce each fruit 
just as large and as perfect as though only one had 
been produced. This may seem, at first sight, a 
paradox; but when it is considered that each sucker 
has its own individual trunk, and system of leaves 
complete, the marvel will cease; and it will appear 
tolerably plain, as Mr. Hamilton always asserted, that 
the pine derives a great portion of its food from the 
atmosphere; and that the great secret of culture is 
rapid growth without a check, by which means the 
greatest amount of the most efficient foliage is pro¬ 
duced in the least possible time; and we entertain 
little doubt, from the known habits of the pine 
in its native habitats, that leaves developed with 
rapidity and freedom possess much higher elabo¬ 
rating powers than those stunted plants. We do 
think, therefore, that the amateur who desires to have 
a well-swelled but moderate-sized pine, and that fre¬ 
quently, will do well to adopt the Hamiltonian system 
without hesitation. In doing so, he can, as Mr. 
Hamilton does, grow his cucumbers in the same 
house all the year round : indeed, with a house pro¬ 
perly planned, a tank chamber beneath the bed, and 
abundant provision for heat, and, above all, atmo¬ 
spheric moisture, he need never plant a cucumber 
elsewhere: such a house would supply the family 
winter and summer, and herein is no small economy 
and simplification of business. It should be borne 
in mind also by the amateur, that his surplus pines, 
provided he can manage to have them whilst Parlia¬ 
ment is sitting, especially during April and May, will 
realise very high prices, which will go far towards 
paying the expenses of their culture—such pines 
generally fetching six or seven shillings per pound. 
The London commercial gardener grows the Queen 
pine principally for such purposes, and they are, as it 
were, forced, or the early pines of the season. We 
have long thought, however, that the culture of the 
“ Mack Jamaica,” or, as some will persist in calling it, 
the “Montserrat’ (although the real Montserrat is 
quite another tiling and much inferior), would he far 
more eligible done on the retarding instead of the 
hurrying principle. This pine has the excellent pro¬ 
perty of carrying high flavour at all seasons; besides 
which it will bear retarding, perhaps, longer than any 
other of the family. Thus the Jamaica “ rising ” or 
“ showing ” fruit in a good light house, during the 
month of August, would be full-swelled by the end of 
< )ctober; and, with a moderate winter temperature, 
would remain sound and uncoloured until the fol¬ 
lowing March, when it would begin to turn colour. 
Those ripe at that period might be retarded for two 
or three weeks in order to realise the high prices be¬ 
fore alluded to. 
Winter Management. —We may, in concluding 
these observations, be permitted to offer a little prac¬ 
tical advice to those who already grow pines—advice 
bearing on a winter’s course of management. It will 
now be absolutely necessary to renew those bottom 
heats of fermenting materials winch have passed on 
for many weeks without such renewal. No bottom 
heat, winter or summer, should ever be permitted to 
descend below 70°. If we must endeavour to give 
an idea of the bottom-heats adapted to the seasons, 
we would say, let the summer pitch range from 75° 
to 85°, and the winter’s from 70° to 75°. Of course, 
the temperatures of the intermediate quarters shoidd 
bo intermediate also. There are those who talk of 
“ brisk ” bottom-heat, but we strongly advise our ama¬ 
teur friends to have nothing to do with such danger¬ 
ous procedures; we would say, remember that capital 
pines have been grown in bottom-heats not exceed¬ 
ing 75°, so that this “ briskness” is, after all, not the 
chief agent in good pine-culture. 
Those who can avail themselves of tree leaves, 
fresh from the trees, cannot do better than renew 
their beds with them ; and if there is no time for 
them to ferment as they ought to do, they will do 
well to mix nearly one half of the freshest leaves of 
the former autumn with the new ones; this will 
promote a wholesome moisture in the atmosphere, 
and enable the operator to tread them firm in the 
act of filling the pits, which treading is a very neces¬ 
sary proceeding. 
In newly-dressed beds or pits for the winter, do 
not plunge the pots their full depth by any means, 
only one half at first; in a fortnight’s time, the true 
character of the fermenting mass may be ascertained, 
and, if “ below par,” why it is easy to thrust a little 
fresh tan between the pots. Pines swelling, or in 
course of ripening, should be allowed 5° more of 
both bottom and atmospheric heat than mere suc¬ 
cession pines; the amount of heat necessary to do 
justice to the ripening process would “draw” and 
weaken the succession plants. 
We come now to atmospheric warmth, and this 
will, of necessity, be far more fluctuating than the 
ground heat; indeed, nature teaches us it should be 
so. Such vicissitudes, stopping short of actual abuse, 
are of more importance in our comparatively dark 
northern climes, in the culture of tropical fruits, than 
many persons imagine. They serve to keep the 
tissue, or fabric, of the plant solidified; this would 
otherwise become somewhat flaccid, or, what garden¬ 
ers term, “ drawn.” 
We must, however, endeavour to convey an idea 
to the uninitiated. From 70° to 90° in summer, and 
from 55° to 05° in winter, may be stated as about 
the mark. This is latitude enough for anything, 
and the amateur may follow this, observing that the 
depression of the thermometer ought to bear a strict 
relation to the amount of light, whether night or 
day, for this is the way nature, our great instructress, 
proceeds in the affair. Of course, as with the bot¬ 
tom-heat, so also here; the intermediate seasons will 
be of intermediate temperature. A reasonable amount 
of atmospheric moisture must be provided by moist¬ 
ening the walls, floors, &c., if no special provision 
exists; the syringe must be used with much caution 
from now until next February, taking care that it 
never be applied whilst any water remains in the 
sockets or hearts of the pines. Another sound piece 
of advice is—use fire-heat cautiously, and as a neces¬ 
sary evil, if we may so term it. R. Errington. 
