THE PLANT WORLD 217 



ods for their improvement. Important lines of study are suggested for 

 teacliers and schools in connection with trees and forests, and the in- 

 formation and advice given apply to country church jards and to school- 

 yards in many towns and villages. 



The flavor of the pineapple is so agreeable that no one has to acquire 

 a taste for it. Pineapples are on the market throughout the year, but 

 those sold at other times than during the main crop season are too high 

 priced a luxury for the average man. The main shipping season is 

 from the middle of April to the middle of July. The area in the 

 United States adapted to their cultivation is considerable, and 

 can be greatly extended. The largest tract of pineapple land 

 is in Florida. Pineapples can also be produced profitably on some 

 land in southern California. Although all of Porto Rico and the Ha- 

 waiian Islands are free from frost, the soil and climate are not uni- 

 formly adapted to their production. There is more land in the Phil- 

 ippines adapted to the production of pineapples than will be utilized 

 for several generations. The pineapple supply of the United States is 

 contributed to by Porto Rico, the Bahama Islands, Jamaica, San Sal- 

 vador, and Trinidad. With the view of furnishing to all persons inter- 

 ested in the culture of pineapples information relative to their propa- 

 gation and cultivation, the U. S. Department of Agriculture has had 

 prepared and will soon issue Farmers' Bulletin No. 140, entitled " Pine- 

 ai)ple Growing." This Bulletin was prepared by Peter H. Rolfs, path- 

 ologist in charge of the tropical laboratorj^ of the Bureau of Plant In- 

 dustry. The publication gives a concise statement of the general ope- 

 rations connected with the production of pineapples in the field and on 

 a large scale. No attention is given to the growing of pineapples in 

 glass-houses, the method being so radically different that a separate 

 treatise is necessary. It gives a history of the pineapple family; de- 

 scribes the leading varieties, and treats of all matters connected with 

 the cultivation of the pineapple and disposal of the crop, including soil, 

 gathering, shipping, markets, prices, fertilizers, planting, cultivation, 

 irrigation, canning, and disease. The Bulletin is for free distribution, 

 and will be sent to any address on application to Senators, Representa- 

 tives, and Delegates in Congress, or to the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C. 



