58 THE COTTAGE GARDENER. October 38. 
price, compared with fruiting-plauts. Another excellent 
plan would he to purchase stools as soou alter the fruit 
is cut as possible, and to plant these out at once. 
And here it is necessary to interpose a few special 
remarks, for the guidance of those purchasers who are 
not experienced in Pine-culture. The first is, to heware 
of insects; not to receive plants at a gift, if at all in¬ 
fested. We are led to these remarks iu a more pointed 
way from the tenor of an enquiry or two recently 
addressed to The Cott.^ge Gardener ; the querist 
asking if the crowns of imported fruit w'ould not he a 
good beginning for one just embarking iu Pine-culture? 
Certainly, such must appear very feasible and eco¬ 
nomical in the eyes of the unknowing, but it is both a 
dangerous and uncalled-for procedure. These crowns 
are for the most part three-parts killed by the ordeal 
they have passed; but even this is not the worst; they 
may be infested with scale, bug, or other insects; at 
least, they are to be regarded with a suspicious eye; 
and, moreover, they may not be of the kinds best 
adapted for a British palate, a British sky, or a British 
market. Let anyone suggest to a good gardener the 
introducing a lot of these blistered-looking apologies 
for a plant amongst his healthy, glaucous - looking 
Queens or Jamaicas, which, like Cresar’s wife, are above 
suspicion, and they will speedily see his hah's stand-on- 
end “ like quills,” &c. No ; if any one feels desirous of 
trying an experiment in this way, lef him make the 
attempt in some pit or house which may never com¬ 
promise the general system of Pine-culture. And not 
only may the crowns or suckers from importations prove 
foul, but those frome home-grown fruit also, although 
the latter is of somewhat rare occurrence now-a-days. 
An exceedingly jealous eye, must, however, be kept on 
them, and the best way for those who do not understand 
Pine-culture, is to employ some experienced gardener to 
select them. 
In looking over Mr. Hamilton’s notes, in answmr to 
certain enquiries, we find that he strongly recommends 
old stools wherewith to commence his system. He 
says:—“ Let the beginner commence with old stools, 
with one or moi-e suckers on, and plant them out at 
once. If old stools cannot be had, let the suckers be 
stuck in at one end of the pit, in a comjiost two-thirds 
leaf mould, and one-third soil. After they have made 
one foot of growth let them be planted in fresh turf. 
A fourtli-part of the bed would hold tlie suckers; when 
well rooted, let them be taken up and laid aside, and 
their compost can be spread along the bottom of the 
bed, and the fresh turf can be laid on the top for per 
manent planting, and then there is no loss of time.” It 
will be seen here what stress Mr. H. lays on old stools, 
which, however, are not always attainable. It so 
happens, that they are the very thing that most 
gardeners on the old or pot-system throw away; the 
only misfortune being, that they are apt to strip away 
every sucker of any size previously, and in this case, 
several mouths may be lost—a most important affair. 
Those about to build should immediately commence 
a sharp look-out, and, perhaps, the best way would be to 
offer nurserymen, in Pine-growing districts, a certain 
value per head, specifying kind, and making thorough 
cleanliness a sine qua non condition. As to time of 
lilanting, that is almost a matter of indifference. To 
^ those determined to build, w'e say, do so directly, and 
get the stools all at once, or by instalments, as you can 
catch them, good and clean, and at as early a period as 
possible, only take care that everything is ready to 
receive them. 
It will be well here, for the sake of the tyro, to ex¬ 
plain a few technical terms pertaining to the Pine iu its 
various stages. Gardeners, in general, use the following 
to express the character of their plants;— 
Small suckers. 
Strong suckers. 
Successions. 
Strong successions. 
Fruiting plants. 
Fruiters. 
There may be some little modification of these terms, 
here and there, but such, in the main, express these 
gardening conventionalities. Theii- meaning is as fol¬ 
lows :— Small suckers are inferior suckers, or suckers 
from inferior plants, and are generally under a foot in 
length (this, however, is dependent on kind), and in di¬ 
ameter, at base, a little over an inch. Strong suckers may 
be characterised as of at least double that strength; the 
former, by our potting-men, would be put in a five-inch 
pot, the latter in a seven-inch. When established in 
their pots, and full of I'oots, they become successions; 
those in the five-inch pots, the ordinary successions; and 
those in the seven-inch, strong successions; proA'iding 
they have been flourishing. We come now to fruiting 
plants, and these, of course, mean plants prepared to 
show fruit, although such is not always the case imme¬ 
diately. There are certain marks whereby practical 
men can tell almost to a certainty whether the fruit has 
commenced rising, and when in sight it is called “ a show.” 
The general character of the plant, just previously, 
becomes considerably altered; it looks more compact, 
the outer leaves cease to elongate, or nearly so, whilst 
those of the interior advance, and also multiply as they 
advance. The whole plant, by this time, if robust, will, 
if pulled by the hand, appear firm in the soil as a stout 
shrub. Fruiters are those iu which the show is com- 
f)lete, and this title continues up to the time when they 
begin to change colour, when they become riqjeners — 
a term which needs no description. 
Having now brought uj) the subject to what may bo 
termed a fair beginning, as to cultural matters, we may 
just suppose a house of the kind built and ready for the 
soil; and here we may offer an extract from Mr. Flamil- 
ton’s notes on the subject of soil, and what may be 
termed subsoil. It was before stated that, according to 
Mr. Hamilton, “there must be no chamber;” this, it 
will be seen, saves considerable expense. Ho uses, 
however, a good depth of rubble, and thus remarks— 
“ Let the rubble cover the pipes three or four inches, 
and put three inches below, broken bricks, or boulder 
stones, &c.” And here we may name a matter connected 
with the height of the building, although somewhat out 
of place. Mr. H. is for a very flat pitch in the roof, as 
most good Pine-growers are; the fact being, that in very 
steep roofs the sunlight is apt to be too intense in ex¬ 
tremes of weather, and also that air moisture is much 
more speedily dissipated beneath such roofs—the steep 
roof being a more rapid transmitter of vapour in its 
ascent to the highest level than a flat roof; added to 
this, it is much more diflBcult to carry out the interior 
arrangements necessaiy for the Pines beneath a steep 
than a flat roof. Mr. H. wishes to have his Pines almost 
close to the roof — nearly in contact with it. He says, 
“ The roof ought to bo about three feet from the surface of 
the soil at front, and about four feet six inches at back.” 
Now, any one about to plan, may just draw two perpen¬ 
diculars at the desired distance, representing front and 
back walls, and, having adopted the proper slope for a 
roof, may just count Iris way downwards, allowing no 
moi’e depth of walling than is absolutely necessary, and 
finally throw down a ground line at what height he 
pleases, which will amount to this, tliat he can, after 
planning the necessary depth of walling, build as much, 
or as little, above the ground level as he chooses. These 
things, however, are familiar to most persons; and in 
speaking of soil, Mr. II. says “ twenty inches is deep 
enough.” As to the character of the soil, Mr. H. prefers, 
wliero attainable, turf from an old pasture ; and it will 
have been observed that he, in another place, speaks of 
