Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/405

Rh formed; and, on re-placing the pots ill such bed, the plants must be gsntly watered, in order to clear the dust, &:c. from the leav^es. — Thus managed, pine-apples will require little additional trouble, till the comuienceraent of the winter; when the heat ought to be increas- ed by artiticial means of stoves or flues, and the plants to be watered gently every week, or oftener, if the mould should become dry. — Farther, no pine-apples should be removed into fresh pots, after the fruit appears; for such attempts would not only impede its gr;;vth and maturation, bat likewise im- pair its delicate flavour. The principal difficulty attend- incr the propagation of this valuable exotic, in Britain, is the extirpation of the inseds that infest it; and of which ]Mr. Speechley, in his practical "Treatise on the Culture of the Pine- Apple" (8vo. ll. Is. 1779), enumerates three species, viz. the Brown Turtle Insect (Coc- cus hespcridum, L.); the White Scaly Insect; and the White Mealy-crimsoned Insect. The expedients usually adopted for destroying such dej.redators, having f^iied of suc- cess, Mr. recommends the following pri^paration : — Take one pound of quicksilver, put it into a glazed vessel with one galloii of boiling water, and let it stand till it become cool, when the li- <]uid m-.^st be decanted for use. This infusion must be repeated on the same quicksilver, till a suffi- cient numoer of gallons be pro- vided. Next, six ounces of soft green soap are to be ilissolved in each gallon; and the whole made lukewarm. The plants should now be taken out of the pots (the leaves of the larger ones being previously tied t( :gether),aiid immersed wholly P IN in the liquid for three minutes; at the expiration of which time they must be exposed to the open air with their tuoIs downwards, till they are dry. In tiie course of a few hours, the iinmersion should be performed a second time, pre- viously adding one table-spoonful of sweet oil to each galln of the mixture; after which the plants aro ag:iin to be dr ed, with their tops inclining to the ground; and, as soon as the moisture is evaporated, they may be returned to the hot- house. — The proper sea^ojis for taking these preventive measures, are stated to b*. the months of March and September. In the d/th vol. of the Philoso- phical Transactions of the Royal Society, we meet with a curious and simple rntrthod oi' raising pine- apples in ivatcr, hy William Eas- TAKD, Esq. The plant, contained in a pot of earth, is placed in a pan that is kept constantly full of wa- ter, and which is deposited on a shelf near the highest and most heated part of the back-v/all of a hot-hiHise; so that the pine-apples stand as closely as possible to the glass, without coming in contact with it. — The fruit thus raised, is said to be unifornily larger, and to possess a finer flavour than such as is propagated in the u.-;ual manner on baik-beds. Piue-appies generally attain to maturity, in Eiltam. t i(jm the moi-th of July tin the end of September; but, vv hen too frequently removed to uid'crent pots, or otherwise mis- managed, they will not ripen till the end of October, or November. Their maturation is known by the strong aromatic odour which they exhale, and by the facility with which the croyr //i- or protuberances yield, oil pressure with the haixi., As