M. Boursault grows them in low houses, which may be termed pits, being without glass in the front or ends; the plants are plunged in tan, and kept as near the glass as possible; and the soil used is good garden earth, or free soil (_terre-franche_), with about half its bulk of _poudrette_, or desiccated nightsoil. M. Boursault tried them formerly in the _poudrette_ alone, but found they did not succeed so well as when a smaller quantity was used. He produces fruit from half a pound to two pounds in weight, and it is said of a good flavour. Rosier states, that M. Mallet, a curious horticulturist, grew ananas in a peculiarly constructed frame of his own invention (fig. 3.); but we could see none of these frames in use in any way, and were informed by different persons, that they were too expensive in their first cost to succeed. [Illustration: 3] The Pine plants in the royal gardens, did not appear to us so well cultivated as those of M. Boursault; they were very much drawn, and seemed too sparingly watered. All the Pine plants which we have seen in France, and also in Italy, had this yellow sickly appearance; and the fruit produced was universally of small size; one of three pips is thought worth presenting to table. It is certainly a very singular fact, and not hitherto explained, that the Pine plant in a climate where it gets more light than in Germany, Britain, or Russia, should yet be less green than in those countries. Had the reverse been the case, the circumstance would not have been surprising; but that more green should be produced in the northern hemisphere, and under the torrid zone, than under what might be considered as a happy medium between two extremes, is astonishing, and leads to a suspicion of deficiency of management. The cause seems referable to deficiency of water, and too great heat during night; for during day they have the precaution to shade them from the sun’s direct influence. SECT. V. _Culture of the Pine Apple in Italy._ The Pine Apple was grown in Italy before the revolution, by the Pope, at Naples, and by the king of Sardinia, at Turin. The late king of Sardinia sent his gardener to England, to study the culture of this fruit; and he returned and published in 1777, a pamphlet on the subject. He recommends it to be grown in pits, much the same as those of the Dutch, but without flues, which is still the general practice in Italy. After the possession of Piedmont by the French, the royal palaces and gardens were neglected, and in 1819, when we saw them, they were not restored.