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BugsInsects. Those which more immediately infest the Pine, were first described in Speechly’s book. They are all species or varieties of the Linnean order Hemiptera, and genus Coccus. The first is the brown turtle bug, Coccus hesperidum (Fig. 9.) The female has at first the appearance of a flat scale (a); afterwards, when depositing its eggs, it becomes fixed and turgid (b); these eggs (c) are hatched under the mother, who soon afterwards dies; the young insects, seen under a magnifier, appear like turtles in miniature (d). Only the males, (e), which are few in proportion to the females, have wings; these devour nothing, and having performed the office of impregnation, die.
The white scaly bug, C. hesp. var. α (f to l) bears a considerable resemblance to the above; but the scale (f) is somewhat smaller; the colour is white, and the males or flies (l) not so large as those of the brown.
The white mealy crimson-tinged bug, C. hesp. var. ϐ (n and m) differs from the former in being larger and crimson-coloured. Speechly considers it as viviparous. This and the former species are much the most pernicious.
Mr. Speechly’s mode of destroying these and other insects, being much too elaborate for modern practice, it would be a waste of time to repeat his processes. Simple modes are always the most effectual, and nothing can be more so than M’Phail’s mode of applying the steam of water; or Baldwin’s, that of horse-dung.
Fruit produced. Mr. Speechly does not seem to have had a fixed object as to the production of fruit, unless it was to have it good. Some cultivators, as Justice, aim at having all the fruit ripe at that season when they will attain the greatest size and most flavour, viz. in August and September; others aim at having some weekly throughout the year. It would appear that the former was Speechly’s object, and that he did not contemplate the other as now generally practised. “Large fruiting plants,” he says, “will sometimes show their fruit in the months of August and September, but these are generally thought of no value, and, consequently, thrown away. To prevent this, I frequently take such plants out of the hot-house as soon as their fruit begin to appear. I then set them in a shed or out-house for five or six weeks; at the expiration of which time I pot them as in the month of March, after shaking off their balls. After this I plunge them into the tan.”
What was the common weight of the Queen Pines produced at Welbeck, he does not inform us; but a fruit of the New Providence, produced in the gardens at Welbeck in 1794, weighed 51⁄4 lb., or 84 oz. He generally fruited the Queen Pine in the third season, being under two years of time; and the Providence and Antigua in the fourth season.
Mr. M’Phail, when in practice, was reckoned one of the first growers of the Pine Apple in England; he grew the plants, and also fruited them chiefly in pits; the pots plunged in bark, and the bark inclosed by a perforated wall of his invention, and heated by linings of dung. He also grew them in larger buildings.
Form of House. No great consequence is attached to the construction of the house by this gardener. Where Pines are to be grown in a hot-house along with vines in Speechly’s manner, he says, “I think a good method is to make it into one or more divisions of about forty feet long, sixteen feet wide;” the back wall thirteen feet, and the front wall nine feet, the upper four feet being composed of sliding sashes. The slope in the roof will, by these dimensions, be four feet, or about three inches to a foot. The pit is to be surrounded by a path, which behind will be four feet higher than in front, and, consequently, the end paths must have steps. The fire-place being placed in the back wall, and supplied from the shed behind, the flue should be carried round about the inside, stretching from the fire-place across the end and along between the path and the front wall, leaving a cavity of four or five inches wide between the flue and the wall, to admit the heat to rise freely, and to prevent the roots and stems of the vines planted in the border against the front wall from being too much heated. At that end of the division farthest from the fire, after going across the house under the back path, the flue must rise above the path, and go along close against the back wall communicating with the chimney, which stands at the end corner of the wall just above the fire-place. The flue from the fire-place along the front wall to the opposite end of the house, is to be made nearly three feet deep, seven inches wide, and when it riseth above the back side path against the back wall to the chimney, it should be about three feet six inches deep of brick, on edge two inches thick, besides the plastering, and covered with inch thick tiles closely joined with fine mortar to prevent the smoke from getting into the house among the plants. The mouths of the fire-places should be about sixteen inches wide, twelve inches deep, and the doors and their posts may be made of cast iron. The grates should be thirty inches long, and their bars of uncast iron made to take out at will. Some have the fire-places wholly of cast iron, one or more inches thick, in form of a square funnel about three feet in length. This appears to be a good method, because they keep in repair several years, whereas the sides of the fire-places built of brick generally require repairing yearly.
The tan-pit need not be deeper than three feet, or three feet six inches; and the path which surrounds it should not be narrower than twenty inches; but two feet, or for the back pit two feet and a half, will be better. The vines are introduced under the sill of the front glasses, and trained up the rafters; and Mr. M’Phail’s practice is not to withdraw them in the winter season as is done by other gardeners. The surface of the tan-bed should not be nearer the glass than five or six feet. Two houses, each forty feet in length, joined together, can be kept warm with two fires, better than one house of forty feet; but in cold, exposed situations, he would recommend diminishing the length.
With respect to pits, M’Phail observes, “Succession Pine plants grow exceedingly well in pits covered with glazed frames, linings of warm dung being applied to them in cold frosty weather. The north wall of a pit for this purpose had best be only about four feet above the ground; and if about two feet high of it the whole length of the wall beginning just at the surface of the ground four feet below the height of the wall, be built in the form of the outside walls of my cucumber bed, the lining will warm the air in the pit more easily than if the wall were built solid. The linings of dung should not be lower in their foundation than the surface of the tan in the pits in which the plants grow (for it is not the tan that requires to be warmed, but the air among the plants); and as during the winter the heat of the air in the pit among the plants, exclusive of sun heat, is not required to be greater than from sixty to sixty-five degrees, strong linings are not wanted: one against the north side, kept up in cold weather nearly as high as the wall, will be sufficient, unless the weather get very cold indeed, in which case a lining on the south side may be applied. In cold frosty weather a covering of hay or of straw, or of fern, can be laid on the glass above mats in the night-time.
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M'Phail's brick bed“The brick bed of my inventing, (fig. 10.) for forcing early cucumbers, answers well for growing small succession plants. A pit built on the same construction, but of larger dimensions, without cross flues, is a suitable one for growing Pine Apple plants of any size; for by linings of dung the air in it can be kept to a degree of heat sufficient to grow and ripen the Pine Apple in summer, as well as it can be done with fire heat, only it will require a little more labour and plenty of dung.
Soil. “The Pine Apple plant will grow very well in any sort of rich earth taken from a quarter of the kitchen garden, or in fresh sandy loam taken from a common, long pastured with sheep, &c. If the earth be not of a rich sandy quality of darkish colour, it should be mixed well with some perfectly rotten dung and sand, and if a little vegetable mould is put among it, it will do it good, and also a little soot. Though Pine plants will grow in earth of the strongest texture, yet I have found by experience that they grow most freely in good sandy loam not of a binding quality.
General management. “The method which I used to cultivate the Pine Apple is the following: The fruit being partly over, and a cucumber brick bed prepared for unstruck crowns and suckers, towards the end of August or September, I planted them in rich earth in pots suitable to the size of the plants; I then had the pots plunged to their rims in the tan bed in which there was a good growing heat; the lights were then shut down close, and as great a heat kept among the plants as the heat of the tan and sunshine could raise, and when the sun shone long and very bright, the plants were shaded a few hours in the middle of the day. The plants were thus managed till they had struck root and begun to grow, when a gentle watering was given to them, and a little air admitted daily. About the end of October or beginning of November, if the state of the bed required it, a little fresh tan was added, and if the plants by growth had become crowded, some of them were removed into another place, and the remainder plunged into the tan bed, in which they continued till February or March, when of course the bed required an addition of fresh tan, which was given it, and the plants plunged again into it at such distances one from the other as to give them room to grow; here they remained till May or June, at which time they were shifted into larger pots with the balls of earth about their roots entire, and at this shifting, if the tan bed wanted it, fresh tan was added to and mixed with the old, which in general enabled it to retain a sufficient heat till the month of August or September, when the plants, with their roots unhurt, were shifted into pots large enough to admit earth easily round their balls between their roots and the sides of the pots. In these pots I let the plants remain in general till the fruit was over. At this time of shifting, the rotten part of the tan was taken away, and a sufficient quantity of new tan added, which generally, with an addition to the upper part of it, retained its heat till the latter end of February or beginning of March; at this time the plants were divested of a few of their lower leaves, to let young roots spring freely out of their stems, the surface of the earth in the pots cleared down to the roots, and fresh earth laid on, pressing it close to the stems of the plants. After this dressing, the plants needed not to be moved again till they ripened their fruit, unless they required more bottom heat. This is the general process which I used, though I found it necessary to vary according to occurring circumstances, regarding the heat of the tan bed, the condition of the plants, and the state of the weather.
“Some large kinds of Pine Apple plants require three seasons to grow before they can bring large sized fruit, such as the black Antigua, the Jamaica, the Ripley, &c.; therefore in the month of April or May, after they have been planted upwards of a year, it is best to take them out of the pots, and to cut off all their roots close to the stem, or leave only a few which are fresh and strong, and then plant them again in good earth in clean pots, and plunge the pots in a tan bed with a lively heat in it. After this process, a stronger heat than usual must be kept in the house, till the plants have made fresh roots and their leaves be perceived to grow, when a little water may be given to them, which, together with a good bottom and top heat, will make them grow finely.
“Crowns and suckers taken from the parent plants later than October, should not be planted before the month of February or March; for in the winter time, probably, they would not strike root, but rot: they may be hung or laid in a dry part of the hot-house. By some writers on the culture of the Pine it has been observed, ‘that any off-sets from the Pine will succeed as well when planted in the hour they are taken off, as if laid by to dry till the wound be healed, provided the parent stock received no water for the ten days preceding.’ If off-sets or suckers be grown to such a size, so that they be easily separated from the parent plant, they may be planted immediately; for, in that case, it may be seen that they had begun to push forth roots, and required to be taken off and planted; but withholding water from the mother plant ten, or even twenty days, will not bring its offspring to a state of maturity fit for planting the day when taken off. So that it is best to let unmatured young suckers and crowns lie implanted, till their natural juices be so exhausted that there may be no danger of their rotting after being planted.
“The brick beds of my inventing, in which I struck and reared Pine Apple plants many years, were close and warm, the crannies between the lappings of the glass being filled up with putty; consequently, in these close frames, especially in the short days and long nights in winter, when the sun has little influence, the moisture arising out of the tan lodges on the glass, and drops from it, upon the plants; but, contrary to the opinion of some authors, who have advised to draw the water out of the hearts of plants when it falls into them in winter, I find, by experience, that it does them no harm, if the heat in the place where the plants be, is not too little. Indeed, if plants be kept in a climate which suits their nature, it is only reasonable to suppose that they are possessed of properties capable of disposing of water which happens to fall on them by accident or otherwise.
“No vegetable substance that I know of retains heat so long, and of a less violent nature, than oak bark after being used by tanners; and, as the vapours arising out of it are of a wholesome nature to plants, it is well calculated for helping to make the Pine Apple plant grow vigorously. Where the Pine Apple is wished to be cultivated, and tanner’s bark cannot be procured, horse-dung well prepared, by shaking and breaking it small, will do. If plenty of the leaves of trees can be had, they are preferable to dung. When leaves cannot be collected plentifully, dung and leaves may be mixed together, and used successfully; and if it be ascertained that a good lively heat cannot be kept in the bed for want of good materials, let the heat of the flues warmed by fire, or linings of dung, be close or near to the pit, which will cause the heat in the bed to be more brisk and durable.
“If it be intended to make a bed of leaves, they should be collected as soon as they have all fallen from the trees, and in a wet state, and thrown together in a large heap; and after fermenting a few weeks, they may be put into the pit for the pines. They should be well shaken, and trodden down gently when they get into a fermentation, which will keep them from sinking quickly afterwards, and prevent them from heating violently. When the heat in the bed declines much, it may be increased by turning and shaking the leaves over with a dung-fork.
“It sometimes happens that tanner’s bark heats too violently; but when that takes place, it is either because there is too great a body of it put together, or because the heat of the flues is too close to the bed. If a tan bed get into a violent heat, it will not keep its heat so long as if it heated moderately; for it must lose its heat as hastily in proportion as it is deprived of its moisture by violent fermentation.
“It frequently happens that Pine Apple plants designed to bear fruit do not show their fruit early enough in the spring or fore-part of summer, to ripen their fruit before winter, when there is not sunshine enough to give the fruit any flavour. This may happen because the plants have not come to a proper growth, or their roots may have been injured by too violent a bottom heat, or by being over-watered, or they may have been shifted too late, or been put into pots too large for their roots to have filled them before the end of the growing season. To make Pine plants shew their fruit at an early time in the spring, some authors have recommended the cutting off some of the roots at the autumn shifting; but long experience has convinced me, that cutting off the roots, or destroying them by any means, instead of making them show fruit, is an effectual mean to prevent them from showing fruit, till they have again made long roots. The fruit of the Pine Apple is formed, probably, not less than seven or eight weeks before it appears among the leaves; and if a plant be divested partially or totally of its roots, its growth is stopped till it has made roots of considerable length, when it will grow quickly. And, if before the roots were destroyed, the fruit had been formed in the hidden secret centre of the plant, the fruit will grow and show itself when the leaves of the plant, excepting those on the stem of the fruit, will make no appearance of growing. This, perhaps, may be the reason which induces some persons to think that cutting off the roots of the plant causeth it to fruit sooner than it would do were the roots suffered to remain.
“If Pine Apple plants, intended for fruiting the following year, be shifted late in the autumn into pots, which their roots do not fill well before the month of January, they probably will not show fruit till late in the spring or summer months. For this reason it is advisable, when they cannot be shifted early enough in the month of August or beginning of September, so as to fill the pots with roots before the winter come on, to let them remain unshifted till the fruit appear, and the stem of it be grown to its full height, and then shift the plants into larger pots, in the manner before directed, disturbing the roots of the plants as little as can be helped. After the plants are shifted, they must not get much water till the fresh growth of the roots has somewhat exhausted the moisture of the fresh earth put round them. Of two evils, it is better to give the plants too little water than too much. But let it be remembered, that while the fruit is in blossom, and for some days afterwards, the plants should not be watered all over their leaves, neither should the plants be watered all over their leaves nor fruit, after the fruit is fully swelled, nor should the earth in which their roots are, be, after that time, kept very moist, for they do not require it, because the plant has nearly performed its office, which it never has to do a second time—it dies and leaves its offspring to succeed it.
“Although the Pine Apple plant is of such a nature that it will live upwards of six months without earth or water, yet to bring its fruit to perfection, a plentiful supply of both these is required. From the time that the plants are set in earth till they perfect their fruit, it should be endeavoured to keep them constantly in a clean healthy growing state; and when they be thus managed, they will not fail to show fruit when they be grown to a natural size. For these reasons, I would advise that no methods contrary to nature, but methods to assist, be used to make them fruit at certain periods. If Pine Apple plants be planted in rich earth, and get a sufficiency of heat and water, they grow luxuriantly to a great size, and do not show fruit so soon as they do when they are planted in a poor, hungry, or stiff soil.
“If the roots of Pine Apple plants be not put in too great a heat, it is a difficult matter to raise the heat in a hot-house to such a degree as is able to destroy the plants. In the brick bed of my inventing, a powerful heat can be raised by means of the linings of dung and the sun-beams, and in it the insects on Pine and on other plants may be shortly destroyed by heat and water.
“Some persons may think that the Pine Apple cannot bear to be watered all over its leaves in winter, because it is of a succulent nature, and able to live long in a hot-house without being planted in earth or set in water. But, for instance, the common house-leek is of a very succulent juicy nature, and will bear the greatest heat of a hot dry summer on the warm tiles of a house: but it is well known that this plant thrives best when it gets occasional showers of rain. The case is exactly similar respecting the Pine Apple, and several other plants, of a similar nature. In regard, however, to the best method of cultivating the Pine Apple, there have been and will be persons who differ in opinion. I here give my opinion, which is founded on practice, that there is not the least danger in watering the plants plentifully all over their leaves in winter, or in any time of the year, provided there be a sufficient heat kept up in the tan bed and in the air of the house. But remember, I do not recommend watering the Pine Apple plants all over their leaves in winter as a general rule, only when it is necessary to free the plants from insects and filth; then the heat in the house among the plants must be kept strong, not lower than 70 in the morning, and raised to 85 or 90 in the course of the day.
“It is indeed evident that some of the most able writers on the culture of the Pine Apple have wanted that experience which may by practice be obtained. They have asserted, that it is impossible to keep the Pine Apple plant throughout a severe winter without the assistance of fire. But ingenious practical gardeners have ascertained, that Pine Apple plants require nothing more than a gentle heat in the tan bed, in which the pots of plants must be plunged, and a medium heat of air of about 60 degrees, to keep them through the most severe winters in England. To maintain this temperature of heat without the assistance of fire, is no difficult matter; it can be done by the assistance of horse-dung; for a dry heat is not at all necessary to preserve the plants, and to keep them in good health, in the brick beds, in which I kept Succession Pines all the year round without the aid of fire heat. The sun for about two months in winter had very little effect to warm or dry the leaves of the plants, so that during the dull months in winter, the plants were continually in a moist state, and water standing in the hearts of some of them, and the heat of the air among them was from 55 to about 65; and I do not recollect of having any of the plants die for want of heat.
Insects. By many experiments which I made, it is evident, I think, that in the process of managing and cultivating the Pine Apple, all injurious insects may be destroyed, and prevented from breeding on them, by a judicious application of the elements necessary, though in a less degree in regard to heat, for the production of any vegetables or fruits whatever. That this is true, may be proved by a reference to the state of fruits and vegetables growing, either spontaneously or assisted by cultivation, in every part of the kingdom, without the aid of artificial heat or impregnated air. For instance, the strawberry, the raspberry, and some other fruits, which grow naturally in some parts of this country, and peas, beans, cabbage, and cauliflowers in gardens, and the different sorts of corn and grass in the fields. These, in unkind seasons, we see affected by blights and by insects of various kinds, which prevent them from coming to good maturity, and make them less productive than we wish them to be. But in propitious seasons, the earth being refreshed occasionally by showers of rain, they are preserved from the inroads of insects and from blights, and are enabled to produce abundant crops, for the use of man and beast.”
Mr. M’Phail has thus the merit of being one of the first practical gardeners who freed themselves from the trammels of receipts and secrets for destroying insects. He says, “after having studiously observed the nature and causes of the vigorous growth and healthfulness of plants, and of fruit-trees of different kinds, I have been induced to believe that a fruit-tree or plant of any sort requires nothing but proper cultivation in good earth, and in a kindly climate adapted to its nature, to prevent it from being injured by insects, or by blights of any kind, and to enable it to produce, of its kind, abundant crops. However, I wish it not to be understood that I disapprove of using means of any kind to destroy insects which are injurious to plants; but I conceive that all methods used for that purpose, ought to be such as are conducive to accelerate the growth of vegetables, by having at least a tendency to purify the air, and to make the circumambient atmosphere about them congenial to their nature, unless when the destruction of the insects by the hand is effected.”
“Every insect has its proper plant, or tribe of plants, which it naturally requires for its nourishment, and on which it generally lays its eggs, and that on the most concealed parts of the plant; and the plant, and insect which attacks it, are always natives of the same climate, and therefore endure the same degrees of heat and cold; consequently, when plants are attacked by their natural tribe of insects, it is an exceedingly nice and curious operation to exterminate them without injuring the plants, or stopping them in their natural growth. But observing that insects increase rapidly in hot dry weather, and that they appear impatient of moisture, was the means of inducing me try which would bear the greatest heat and live.”
“To ascertain what degree of heat a Pine Apple plant can endure without destroying it, I filled four vessels with hot water. The water in the first vessel was 130 degrees hot; that in the second 140; that in the third 145; that in the fourth 150. Into each of these vessels I put a few Pine plants, divested of their roots, of their fibrous roots, and suffered them to remain in the water about an hour. The plants which had been immersed in the water heated to 140 and 145 degrees, were a little hurt in the extremities of their leaves, but after being dried in the hot-house, they were planted, and grew as vigorous as if they had not been put into hot water; the plants put into water 130 degrees warm were not in the least injured; but those put into water heated to 150 degrees were entirely destroyed.
“By this experiment I ascertained that a vegetable can endure, without hurting it, 130 degrees of heat, according to the degrees on Fahrenheit’s thermometer. I am inclined to think that no animal is able to endure such a heat and live. Undoubtedly, insects increase rapidly in hot weather in the open air, especially on the peach tree, and on other trees, against warm walls, both in the spring and summer months; and they increase most rapidly in dry weather; but the heat in the open air against walls seldom rises to 100 degrees. And in the hottest countries in the world, where vegetables and animals exist, the heat in the shade seldom rises to blood heat, which is about 97. Having considered these things, and ascertained that a plant can endure a heat of 130 degrees, I determined to try another experiment, that is, to ascertain whether heat and water would destroy insects, and keep plants alive. I therefore thought of, and determined to try, the following method:
“In the month of June I selected about twenty large Pine plants, some of which had green fruit on them, and their leaves, fruit, and roots, were almost covered with insects. These plants I plunged in a tan bed, with a very gentle heat in it. The tan bed was in a brick frame designed for rearing succession plants: it was nearly five feet wide, twenty feet long, and the glass frames were close and in good repair. These plants I watered frequently and plentifully, sometimes twice a day, with water not less than 70 or 80 degrees, and sometimes 100, warm: in short, I kept the plants constantly in a moist air, by plentiful waterings without measure; and, excepting the time of giving water, I kept the lights constantly close shut down, even in the hottest sunshine, without shading the plants. In this frame I had no thermometer, but the heat was, I think, sometimes about two or three o’clock in the afternoon, upwards of 120 degrees. This great heat and much moisture caused the plants to grow most vigorously; and having subjected them to the said mode of management for a few weeks, the insects, in the course of that time, were totally destroyed, many of them lying dead on the leaves and fruit. In the spring-time, before this operation, the plants had been strewed with sulphur, which, at least, is a harmless dressing to plants of any kind, and probably may be of use in preventing insects from breeding numerously, or the means of depriving them of part of their natural food. This circumstance, however, I just here mention, because, from experiments which I have tried since then, it is probable that the effluvia arising from flour of sulphur, being scattered on the leaves, or about in the hot-house, in conjunction with heated air and moisture, may more suddenly destroy insects than heat and moisture alone; but it ought to be remembered, that if sulphur be by any means set on fire in a confined place, among plants of any kind, it will either totally destroy or greatly injure them.
“Being satisfied with my success in the above-mentioned experiment, of having totally destroyed the insects on these plants without hurting them, I hesitated not to begin to water the whole of the plants under my care, whenever they wanted it, all over their leaves and fruit, with water about 85 degrees warm. This process I continued to practise for several months, during which time I do not recollect that the thermometer was ever below 70, and in sunshine it was raised sometimes to upwards of 110 degrees. I continued this practice longer perhaps than was absolutely necessary, but I was determined to destroy the whole of the insects in the house, whether on the plants, or in the tan, or in any part of the house; and this I certainly did accomplish effectually. Thus, by this easy, and not unnatural, mode of management, the plants became perfectly free of insects; they were perfectly cleansed of all filth; they grew vigorously; and the fruit swelled fine to a good size. After this I had several times Pine Apple plants from abroad, and out of hot-houses at home, full of insects, which, by the means that I have, without reserve, described, I effectually destroyed, and made the plants grow very fast indeed.”
“If Pine Apple plants be kept in a strong vigorous growing state by giving them plenty of heat, and water applied occasionally all over their leaves, whether they be in frames heated with dung, or in hot-houses heated by a fire, a few insects will do them little hurt. But if the methods which I have given for cultivating the Pine Apple plant be adopted, I am persuaded all sorts of injurious insects natural to these sorts of plants will disappear on them.
“When we see human creatures lean in body for want of a sufficiency of wholesome food, or, for want of cleanliness, lice and fleas breed upon them; and poverty in cattle for want of food has the same effect on them. Similar causes in vegetables has a similar effect, so that when Pine Apple plants are in a state of poverty, for want of a sufficiency of good earth, or of heat, or of water, insects natural to them, if there be any of them in the hot-house, will breed rapidly on them and hurt them. Those insects which naturally breed and live on the Pine Apple plant, appear to delight in a dry dirty situation. Where Pine Apples grow naturally and produce large fruit, they are not free of insects; and though plants be free of insects, they will not grow well, nor produce fine fruit, unless they get enough of good earth, sufficient heat, and be watered plentifully.”
Fruit produced. The green, and some other sorts of Pine, Mr. M’Phail “ripened in a shorter period of time than two years after planting,” (Gard. Rem. 87.) but some large kinds he found required three seasons, as the black Antigua, Jamaica, and Ripley. His object was to have his fruit come in for use between May and October, for he very justly remarks, that “the fruit of the Pine Apple, if it happen to appear ripe in winter, will have its flavour insipid.” He therefore recommends, that such plants as show fruit in September or October, had better be cast away, unless there be plenty of room for them in the hot-house; in that case they may be retained by way of experiment, and to obtain young plants from them. (Gard. Rem. 98.)
Mr. Nicol was from 1790 to 1800, the best grower of the Pine Apple in Scotland; he had afterwards much experience as a constructor of hot-houses; and extensive observation of the practice of the best gardeners of the north.
Form of House. “Pineries,” he says, “are, and may be, very differently constructed; and we find plants thriving, and plants not thriving, in all kinds of stoves, pits, &c. The culture of Pine Apples is attended with a heavier expense than that of any other fruit under glass; especially if they be grown in lofty stoves, the erection of which is very expensive, and the keeping up proportionally more so, than that of humbler stoves, or flued pits.
“But, independently of all considerations of expense (which may not be valued by some, provided they can obtain good fruit), Pine Apples may certainly be produced in as great perfection, if not greater, and with infinitely less trouble and risk, in flued pits, if properly constructed, than in any other way. I would therefore have the Pinery detached from the other forcing-houses, and to consist of three pits in a range; one for crowns and suckers, one for succession, and one for fruiting plants. The fruiting-pit to be placed in the centre, and the other two, right and left; forming a range of a hundred feet in length; which would give Pine Apples enough for a large family.
“The fruiting-pit to be forty feet long, and ten feet wide, over walls; and each of the others to be thirty feet long, and nine feet wide, also over walls. The breast-wall of the whole to be on a line, and to be eighteen inches above ground. The back-wall of the centre one to be five feet, and of the others, to be four and a half feet higher than the front. The front and end flues to be separated from the bark-bed by a three-inch cavity, and the back flues to be raised above its level.
“The furnaces may either be placed in front, or at the back, according to conveniency; but the strength of the heat should be first exhausted in front, and should return in the back-flues. The fruiting-pit would require two small furnaces, in order to diffuse the heat regularly, and keep up a proper temperature in winter; one to be placed at each end; and either to play, first in front, and return in the back; but the flues to be above, and not alongside of one another; as in that latter way they would take up too much room. The under one to be considered merely as an auxiliary flue, as it would only be wanted occasionally.
“None of these flues need be more than five or six inches wide, and nine or ten deep. Nor need the furnaces be so large by a third, or a fourth part, as those for large forcing-houses; because there should be proper oil-cloth covers for the whole, as guards against severe weather, which would be a great saving of fuel.
“The depth of the pits should be regulated so as that the average depth of the bark-beds may be a yard below the level of the front flues; as to that level the bark will generally settle, although made as high as their surfaces, when new stirred up. If leaves, or a mixture of leaves with dung, are to be used instead of bark, the pits will require to be a foot, or half a yard deeper.
“It may be thought too much to insinuate, that those who have large Pineries should turn them to other purposes, and erect such as are described above. There cannot be a doubt, however, respecting the satisfaction that would follow, if to have good fruit at an easy rate were the object. I have given designs for no other kinds of new Pineries these six years past, but such as these; with some variations respecting extent, however, in order to suit different purses.”
Soil. Vegetable mould, strong brown loam, pigeons’ dung, and shell-marl, are Mr. Nicol’s ingredients. “The vegetable mould used is that from decayed tree-leaves, and those of the oak are to be preferred; but when a sufficient quantity of them cannot be had, a mixture with those of the ash, elm, birch, sycamore, &c. or indeed any that are not resinous, will answer very well. In autumn, immediately as the leaves fall, let them be gathered, and be thrown together into an heap; and let just as much light earth be thrown over them as will prevent them from being blown abroad by the wind. In this state let them lie till May, and then turn them over and mix them well. They will be rendered into mould fit for use by the next spring; but from bits of sticks, &c. being among them, they will require to be sifted before using. Strong brown loam is the next article. This should consist of the sward of a pasture, if possible; which should, previous to using, be well reduced, by exposing it a whole year to the action of the weather. Pigeon-dung, also, that has lain at least two whole years in an heap, has been frequently turned, and well exposed to the weather, is to be used. Likewise shell-marl. And, lastly, sea or river gravel, which should be sifted, and kept in a dry place; such part of it as is about the size of marrowfat peas is to be used. This is the proportion: for crowns and suckers, entire vegetable mould, with a little gravel at bottom, to strike in; afterwards, three-fourths vegetable mould, and one-fourth loam, mixed with about a twentieth part gravel, and two inches entire gravel at bottom, till about a year old. For year-olds, and till shifted into fruiting-pots, one-half vegetable mould, one-half loam; to which add a twentieth part gravel, and as much shell-marl, with three inches clean gravel at bottom. For fruiting-plants, one-half loam, a fourth part vegetable mould, and a fourth part pigeon-dung; to which add marl and gravel as above, and lay three or four inches of clean gravel at bottom. The above compositions are what I formerly used for Pine-plants with much success; and are what may be reckoned good medium soils for the production of Pine Apples.”
General Management. Mr. Nicol plants his suckers in summer and autumn as the fruit is gathered, sticking them into the front part of the bark-bed, “where they will strike root as freely as any where. If a large proportion of the crop come off early, the crowns and suckers may be potted at once, and plunged into the nursing-pit; or they may be twisted from off the stocks, and may be laid by, in a dry shed or loft for a few days, till the other operations in the Pinery be performed, and the nursing-pit be ready to receive them and the crowns, (collected as the fruit have been gathered;) which, if rooted, may be potted, and may be placed for the above time, either in a frame, or in a forcing-house of any kind, as they will sustain no injury, though out of the bark-bed for so short a time. Such crowns as have not struck root, may be laid aside with the suckers.
“With respect to the time for taking off the suckers, it is when the bottom part becomes brown; and they are then easily displaced by the thumb, after having broken down the leaf immediately under them. But, indeed, by the time the fruit is ripe, all suckers of the stem are fit for taking off, though they will sustain no injury by being left on, even for a month, but rather improve, if the stock be healthy, and if it be well watered. Suckers that rise from the root always have fibres, and may be taken off at any time; but, as they are tardy of fruiting, they should not be taken into the stock, unless in a case of necessity.
“Some think it necessary to dry, or win, all crowns and suckers before potting them, and for that purpose lay them on the shelves, &c. of the stove for a week or ten days. By this treatment, they certainly may be hurt, but cannot be improved, provided they have been fully matured before being taken from off the fruit or stocks, and that these have previously had no water for about ten days. They will succeed as well, if planted the hour they are taken off, as if treated in any other way whatever; and I only advise their being laid aside as above, as being a matter of conveniency.”
In preparing the suckers and unstruck crowns for potting, he twists off a few of the bottom leaves, and pares the end of the stump smooth with the knife. “Then fill pots of about three or four inches diameter, and five or six inches deep, (the less for the least, and the large for the largest plants), with very fine, light earth, or with entire vegetable mould of tree leaves, quite to the brim; previously placing an inch of clean gravel in the bottom of each, and observing to lay in the mould loosely. Thrust the large suckers down to within two inches of the gravel, and the small ones and crowns, two inches into the mould; firming them with the thumbs, and dressing off the mould, half an inch below the margin of the pots. Then plunge them into the bark-bed, quite down to, or rather below the brim, especially of the smaller pots. If the pots be placed at the clear distance of three or four inches from each other, according to the sizes of the plants, they will have sufficient room to grow till next shifting.”
The temperature of the nursing-pit in January with fire heat, he keeps as near as possible to 65° mornings and evenings; and in sunshine, on good days, it may be allowed to rise to about 70°. In March from 70° to 80°; and after newly potting and plunging, unstruck crowns and suckers to 80° or 85°.
To save fuel, he covers up the Pine pits when fires are used, every evening after sunset, either with double mats, or with a thick canvas cover, mounted on rollers. This cover he removes by sun-rise in the morning, unless the weather be very severe; in which case he leaves it on during the day. By the judicious use of this cover, he finds “a considerable deal of fuel may be saved.”
As to water, he says, “nurse plants require very little, perhaps once in eight or ten days, or even at greater intervals, if the weather be moist and hazy. It is safer, in winter, to give too little, rather than too much water to Pine-plants; nor should they be watered over head at this season. They should be watered in the forenoon of a sunny day, at this time of the year, in order that any water spilt on the bark, or in the hearts of the plants, may be exhaled by the heat of the sun, and by an extra quantity of air purposely admitted. This precaution, however, is only necessary for the sake of such crowns and suckers as have been struck late last season, and are not very well rooted; such being more apt to damp off than others that are better established.” In summer he supplies water regularly and plentifully once in three days; giving the proper quantity at root, and then a dewing over the leaves. He waters frequently with the drainings of the dunghill.
Air he admits to the nursing-pits every good day. Even in hard frost, when the sun shines, two or three of the lights should be slipped down, to let the rarified air escape at top. After potting unrooted offsets, he gives no air till the heat begin to rise in the bark-bed; but as the plants indicate their having made roots, he gives air during sunshine, so as to keep down the thermometer to 85° or 80°.
Suckers planted in summer he shifts or re-pots in the following March. He says, “Let them be shaked out entirely; the balls be quite reduced; the roots be trimmed of all straggling and decayed fibres; and let them be replaced in the same, or in similar pots. The proper size of pots, however, in which to put crowns and suckers struck last season, is about four inches inside diameter at top, and six inches deep. A little clean gravel should be laid at the bottom of each pot, in order to drain off extra moisture; and this should be observed in the potting of Pine-plants of all sorts. I have generally observed, that if the bark heat be not violent, the plants will push very strong fibres into this stratum of gravel, in which they seem to delight. I therefore generally make it two inches thick in small pots, and three or four in larger ones, less or more, according to their size. From the time I first adopted this mode of potting, I hardly ever had an instance of an unhealthy plant; and this very particular, together with that of keeping the plants always in a mild bottom-heat, is of greater importance in the culture of Pines, than all the other rules that have been given respecting them, out of the ordinary way. The roots of Pines seem to delight in gravel; and I have been careful to introduce it into the mould for plants of all ages. I generally used small sea-gravel, in which was a considerable proportion of shells, or chips of shells, with other particles of a porous nature; and I have uniformly observed the finest fibres cling to these, and often insinuate themselves through the pores, or embrace the rougher particles. Therefore, if sea gravel can be obtained, prefer it; and next, river gravel; but avoid earthy pit gravel, and rather use sharp sand, or a mixture of pounded-stone, chips, and brick-bats. The plants being re-potted, plunge them in the bark-bed again, quite down to the rims of the pots, keeping them perfectly level. Eight or nine inches from centre to centre will be distance sufficient. When they are all placed, give a little aired water, to settle the earth about their roots. This need not be repeated till the heat in the bed rise to the pots, after which, as the plants will now begin to grow freely, they must be watered at the root once in four or five days; and they may have a dewing over head, from the fine rose of a watering-pot, occasionally, if the weather be fine.”
In May, Nicol again shifts, but the plants are not to be shaked out at this time, but are to be shifted, balls entire, into pots of about six inches diameter, and eight inches deep. “If the roots be anywise matted at bottom, or at the sides, they must be carefully singled out; and in potting, be sure that there be no cavity left between the ball and the sides of the new pot. In order the more effectually to prevent which, use a small, blunt-pointed, somewhat wedge-shaped, stick, to trindle in the mould with; observing that it be in a dry state, and be sifted fine; and also to shake the pot well, (potting on a bench or table), the better to settle the earth about the ball. Pots of this size should be filled to within half an inch of their brims, (the balls being covered about an inch with fresh earth), as the whole will settle about as much, and so leave a full inch for holding water, which is enough. In preparing the plants for potting, observe to twist off a few of the bottom leaves, as they always put out fine roots from the lower part of the stem. Also, before letting the plant out of hand, trim off the points of any leaves that may have been bruised or anywise injured in the shifting. Replunge the pots to the brim, as before, observing to keep them quite level, at the distance of fifteen inches from centre to centre of the plants on a medium; then give a little water, which need not be repeated till the heat rise to the pots.”
In November, he shifts such others whose roots have filled their pots, and have become anywise matted. “Examine any you suspect to be so, and let them be shifted into pots of the next size immediately above those they are in; keeping the balls entire, and only singling out the netted fibres at bottom. The rest should be trimmed of any dead leaves at bottom of their stems, and should have a little of the old mould taken from off the surface of the pots; which replace with fresh earth; filling the pots fuller than usual, as but little water will be required till next shifting time in the spring. The whole should then be replaced in the bark-bed as before, and should be plunged quite to the rims of the pots; giving a little water to settle the earth about their roots, which need not be repeated till the heat rise in the bed.”
Plants intended to fruit in the succeeding year, are shifted finally in the August of the year preceding. The plants are again looked over in the February following, and top dressed; but such as are unhealthy, feeble, and do not stand firm in their pots, he shakes out of their balls entirely, and re-pots in the same, or in smaller pots. “Any plants,” he says, “that have already started into fruit, should also be shaken out, and be fresh potted, as above; which, by the check they receive, will keep them back to a better season of ripening, and by the force of fresh earth, make them swell their fruit larger than they otherwise would have done. I have thus new-potted plants, even in flower, with very much success, and have swelled the fruit to a size far beyond my expectations; of which fact any one may easily satisfy himself, by fresh-potting a few plants, and comparing their progress with others treated in the ordinary way. Let the plants be re-plunged to the brim as before, keeping the pots quite level. If the plants be full-sized, and strong, they will require to be set at about twenty inches apart from centre to centre, on a medium. But they should be sorted; the smallest placed in front, and the largest at back, as in arranging plants on a stage, that they may have an equal share of sun and light. As soon as re-placed in the bark-bed, let them have a little water, to settle the earth about their roots.” In May he again top-dresses, “reducing an inch or two of the earth from off the surface, and adding some fresh mould, which will invigorate the plants, cause them to push surface radicles, and so keep them the more firm and steady. This needs not be done, however, to plants whose fruit are nearly ripe; but chiefly to healthy plants new shown in flower, past the flower, or with the fruit about half grown. And with respect to any that are unhealthy, and whose fruit are less than half grown, do not hesitate to shift them, shaking them out, trimming their roots, and retaining only healthy fibres. This is a very great improvement in the culture of Pines, which I formerly practised, have since advised, and have seen followed with much success.”
The temperature of the fruiting-pit is kept at the same degree as that of the succession department in mid-winter. This is from 60° to 65°; but as spring approaches, he rises gradually to 75°, but not allowing the thermometer to pass 80°. From 72° to 75° is his temperature for March and April. In May, June, July, and August, he requires 75° mornings and evenings, and 80° or 85° at noon. In September, after fire-heat becomes necessary, he keeps as nearly to 65° as possible, and in sunshine, by the free admission of air, to about 70° or 72°. In October, November, and December, he lowers the temperature to 60° mornings and evenings, and 65° in sunshine.
Air is admitted at all seasons in fine sunshine weather, and freely, as the fruit approaches to maturity, in order to enhance its flavour.
He gives water seldom in January, and not oftener than once in six or eight days in February. In March, “water may given oftener than heretofore advised, and also in larger quantities; generally a moderate watering at root once in three or four days, and a dewing over head occasionally, to refresh the leaves, and keep them clean from dust. From the time the plants are out of flower, and the fruit begins to swell, water must be applied in a very liberal manner once in two or three days, always giving the necessary quantity at root, and then a dewing over head. Watering to this extent, however, if the fruit be not in too forward a state, will seldom be necessary before the end of the month, or till April.” In April, “water must be given in a plentiful manner, once in two or three days, in order the better to swell off the fruit. The roots have now much to do in sustaining it, and also the suckers, which will be fast advancing in growth. For this reason, water frequently with dunghill-drainings, or with water of dung, soaked on purpose; and after each watering at root, give a dewing over the leaves, as directed above.” In May, June, and July, “from the time the fruit begin to colour, however, begin also to lessen the quantity of water; and towards its being fit for cutting, withhold water entirely, else the flavour will be very much deteriorated. I shall here observe, with respect to the different kinds of Pines, that the Queen and the Sugar-loaf sorts require considerably more water than the King or Havannah, and the Antigua. The difference in the manner of watering should be more particularly attended to as the fruit approach to maturity; as the latter-named kinds are naturally more juicy and watery than the former.” In August, the plants that have done fruiting being removed, the succession stock which replace them are to be watered freely at root, and occasionally dewed over top. In October and November, the waterings are gradually lessened; and in December, once in eight, ten, or twelve days, will be sufficient.
Insects. “If Pine plants,” Nicol observes, “by proper culture, be kept healthy and vigorous, insects will not annoy, but leave them. This fact I have repeatedly proved, both with respect to the Pine, and to other plants that are liable to be affected with the coccus, (the only insect that materially injures the Pine), which seems to delight in disease and decay, as flies do in carrion.
“I have received into my stock, plants covered with the pine-bug, (coccus hesperidum), without the smallest hesitation; made no effort whatever to get rid of them; and by next shifting time, in two or three months, have seen no more of them. This I have not done once, but often; and I have known my brother do the same thing. In short, I never but once in my life have tried any remedy for the bug; and as I was completely successful, I shall here give the recipe, which may safely be applied to Pine plants in any state; but certainly best to crowns and suckers at striking them, or to others in the March shifting, when they are shaked out of their pots at any rate.
“Take soft soap, one pound; flowers of sulphur, one pound; tobacco, half a pound; nux vomica, an ounce; which boil all together in four English gallons of soft water to three, and set it aside to cool. In this liquor immerse the whole plant, after the roots and leaves are trimmed for potting; and this is the whole matter. Plants in any other state, and which are placed in the bark-bed, may safely be watered over head with this liquor; and as the bug harbours most in the angles of the leaves, it stands the better chance of being effectual, on account that it will also there remain longest, and there its sediment will settle. In using it in this latter way, however, if repeated waterings be necessary, the liquor should be reduced in strength by the addition of a third or a fourth part water.
“The brown scaly insect, also a coccus, is often found on the Pine, and other stove plants; but I never could perceive that it does any other injury than dirty them, and so is of less importance than the other species, which eats or corrodes the leaves, in so far as it leaves them full of brown specks or blotches. The above liquor, however, is a remedy for either, and indeed for most insects, on account of its strength, and glutinous nature.
“Ants are also to be found in the Pinery; but I never could observe that they do the plants any harm, though they are generally to be found in the pots, and among the bark. They are most frequently to be met with there, if the coccus be present; and seem to feed on its larvæ, or perhaps on its fæces.”
Fruit produced. He does not state any determinate object as to this subject; if the object be to have large fruit, he says, all suckers of the root and stem must be twisted off; and to retard the progress of fruit that is shown too early, he recommends re-potting the plants in February. He says, “If Pine Apples be not cut soon after they begin to colour, that is, just when the fruit is of a greenish yellow, or straw colour, they fall greatly off in flavour and richness; and that sharp luscious taste so much admired, becomes insipid.”
Mr. Griffin has been a most successful cultivator of the Pine Apple; perhaps more so for the limited means which he possessed at Kelham, than either M’Phail or Baldwin.
Form of House. This is so nearly that of Speechly, that we do not consider it necessary to give the details.
Soil. Mr. Griffin laughs at those who prescribe “many different strange ingredients for composts;” adding, that, “after numerous experiments made with mixtures of deers’, sheeps’, pigeons’, hens’, and rotten stable-dung, with soot, and other manures, in various proportions and combinations with fresh soil of different qualities from pastures and waste lands, I can venture with confidence to recommend the following: Procure from a pasture, or waste land, a quantity of brown, rich, loamy earth, if of a reddish colour the better, but of a fattish mouldy temperature; that by squeezing a handful of it together, and opening your hand, it will readily fall apart again: be cautious not to go deeper than you find it of that pliable texture; likewise procure, if possible, a quantity of deers’-dung: if none can be conveniently got, sheeps’-dung will do, and a quantity of swines’-dung. Let the above three sorts be brought to some convenient place, and laid up in three different heaps ridge-ways, for at least six months; and then mix them in the following manner, covering the dung with a little soil before it is mixed: four wheelbarrows of the above earth; one barrow of sheep’s-dung, and two barrows of swine’s-dung. This composition,” he adds, “if carefully and properly prepared, will answer every purpose for the growth of Pine-plants of every age and kind. It is necessary that it should remain a year before applied to use, that it may receive the advantage of the summer’s sun and winter’s frost; and it need not be screened or sifted before using, but only well broken with the hands and spade, as when finely sifted it becomes too compact for the roots of the plants.”
General management. In rearing the young plants, he generally plants the crowns in the bark till they have struck root; but the suckers he pots at once, unless they are small and green at bottom, when he treats them like the crowns. The pots he uses for both crowns and suckers are five inches diameter, and four inches deep, unless the suckers are very strong, when he puts them in pots seven inches and a quarter wide, by six and a half inches deep. The plants are shifted in the March following into pots nine inches in diameter, by eight inches deep, “turning each singly out of its present pot, with a ball of earth entire around its roots, unless any appear unhealthy or any ways defective, when it is eligible to shake the earth from the roots, and trim off all the parts that appear not alive. He plunges them in the bark (refreshed as at each shifting) eighteen inches from plant to plant in the row, and twenty inches distance row from row.”
Mr. Griffin shifts for the last time in the October of the year preceding them in which the fruit is expected; the pots he uses are twelve inches in diameter, and ten inches deep. He plunges them in the bark-bed, about twenty inches plant from plant, and two feet distance from row to row. He says, “place the first row eighteen inches from the kirb, angling them in the rows as you go on.”
It is of some consequence to remark, that Griffin’s practice in not divesting the plants at any one shifting of their balls of earth, differs from that of Speechly, Nicol, and most other practitioners, excepting Baldwin. It appears highly probable, that by not disturbing the balls of healthy plants, they will produce their fruit both earlier and of a larger size; for the cutting off the roots must produce a check in the growth of the plant, and their renewal must occupy its chief energies for some time, and thus lessen the vigour of the leaves; since the leaves and roots of all plants assist each other alternately as occasion requires.
Those who advocate the practice of shaking off the balls of earth, and cutting off the roots of Pines in the second year’s spring shifting, say, that though, at first sight, it has an unnatural appearance, yet, on more minute enquiry, it will be found congenial to nature. In the first place, they say that they only cut away the lower decaying roots, and preserve all the others, unless they are bruised by the shaking off the ball; or injured by disease, or otherwise. In the next place, they state, that on attentively examining the Pine-plant, it will be found, that, in its mode of rooting, it may be classed with the strawberry, vine, and crowfoot, which throw out fresh roots every year, in part among, but chiefly above, the old ones. This done, the old ones become torpid and decay, and to cut them clear away, if it could be done in all plants of this habit, would, it is said, be assisting nature, and contribute to the growth of the new roots. At the same time, it is to be observed, that encouraging, in any extraordinary degree, the production of roots, though it will ultimately increase the vigour of the herb and fruit, will retard their progress to maturity.
Speechly has the following judicious observations in allusion to those who recommend always shifting with the balls entire.
“First, It is observable, that the Pine-plant begins to make its roots at the very bottom of the stem, and as the plant increases in size, fresh roots are produced from the stem, still higher and higher; and the bottom roots die in proportion: so that, if a plant in the greatest vigour be turned out of its pot as soon as the fruit is cut, there will be found at the bottom a part of the stem, several inches in length, naked, destitute of roots, and smooth: now, according to the above method, the whole of the roots which the plant produces being permitted to remain on the stem to the last, the old roots decay and turn mouldy, to the great detriment of those afterwards produced.
“Secondly, The first ball which remains with the plant full two years, by length of time will become hard, cloddy, and exhausted of its nourishment, and must, therefore, prevent the roots afterwards produced from growing with that freedom and vigour, which they would do in fresher and better mould.
“Thirdly, The old ball continually remaining after the frequent shiftings, it will be too large when put into the fruiting-pot, to admit of a sufficient quantity of fresh mould to support the plant till its fruit becomes ripe, which is generally a whole year from the last time of shifting.”
In giving air and water, Mr. Griffin differs nothing from Nicol; he waters moderately in winter, and more liberally in the growing season, from March till October; want of water to keep the plants moist, he considers one of the reasons of their showing fruit prematurely. He never waters over the leaves in any stage, nor gives much at the roots in damp weather.
With respect to temperature, this author differs from most others who have written on the Pine, but not from many very successful practitioners. He recommends 60° as the heat proper for the Pine in every stage, not exceeding five or six degrees over or under. The bottom heat, which he considers proper, is from 90° to 100°. Treatise on the Pine Apple, p. 60. and 66.
Insects. After many trials and experiments, he found the following the most effectual wash for destroying insects on Pines:—
“To one gallon of soft rain-water, add eight ounces of soft green soap, one ounce of tobacco, and three table spoonfuls of turpentine; stir and mix them well together in a watering-pot, and let them stand for a day or two. When you are going to use this mixture, stir and mix it well again, then strain it through a thin cloth. If the fruit only is infested, dash the mixture over the crown and fruit, with a squirt, until all is fairly wet; and what runs down the stem of the fruit will kill all the insects that are amongst the bottom of the leaves. When young plants are infested, take them out of their pots, and shaking all the earth from the roots, (tying the leaves of the largest plants together,) and plunge them into the above mixture, keeping every part covered for the space of five minutes; then take them out, and set them on a clean place, with their tops declining downwards, for the mixture to drain out of their centre. When the plants are dry, put them into smaller pots than before, and plunge them into the bark-bed.”
Fruit produced. Mr. Griffin’s object seems to have been to produce large fruit in the proper season. In the year 1802, when gardener to J. C. Girardot, Esq. at Kelham, near Nottingham, he cut twenty Queen Pines, which weighed together eighty-seven pounds seven ounces. In 1803, one weighing five pounds three ounces. In July, 1804, one of the New Providence kind, weighing seven pounds two ounces. In August, 1804, one of the same kind, weighing nine pounds three ounces. And in 1805, he cut twenty-two Queen Pines, which weighed together one hundred and eighteen pounds three ounces.
Mr. Baldwin is reputed the first Pine cultivator in England; he has given some account of his practice in a tract of a few pages, which, being sold much above the usual price of printed books, never obtained so much circulation as manuscript copies of it, which were handed about among the principal Pine-growers near London.