November i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



447 



prolific vegetation flourishes apparently upon the bare 

 rock, the siurface of which is broVen and honeycombed, 

 the small openings being full of vegetable mould, and 

 furnishing holding-places for the roots of not only plants 

 and grasses, but often of large and stately trees. The 

 ordinai-y soil of th(3 Bahamas is not fitted for the cultiv- 

 ation of the pine-apple, as this plant requires a depth of 

 at least two feet to be grown successfully. But upon 

 many of the islands, extensive tracts of soil are found, 

 composed of a reddish clay, about two foot deep, and 

 these are peculiarly adapted to the pine-apple ; this soil 

 is very rich, being, as geologists say, composed of the 

 decayed remains of decomposed vegetable life, and the 

 debris of shell-fish and coral insects, each cubic foot of 

 the soil representing the decay of about 1,000 times that 

 quantity of original matter. In preparing a field for plant- 

 ing, the dense natural growth of bush, or _ chaparral, is 

 first cleared away, and this is done by cutting and burn- 

 ing, the cutting being effected by the blacks, with heavy, 

 loug-bladed knives called "machetes." The plants are 

 then set out about two feet apart, when thoy take root, 

 and grow very quickly, great care being taken to keep 

 down the weeds. The fruit comes to maturity in from 

 eight to nine months, at which time the main stalk dies, 

 leaving an abundance of young sprouts, which in turn 

 spring up and bear fruit. The bush or plant upon which 

 the pine-apple grows, is at maturity about thirty inches 

 high, having long, slender, hard, blade-shaped leaves, with 

 serrated edges. The leaves bend outward from the centre, 

 and out of this centre the fruit springs, one pine-apple 

 only to each plant. An acre of good land will easily 

 support 6,iX)0 plants of the sugar-loaf variety, or about 

 5,000 of the scarlet kind, and there is a large quantity 

 of land in the Bahamas eminently adapted for the piu:- 

 poses of growing pine-apples which has never yet been 

 cultivated. The price of good land varies between £1 and 

 £4 per acre, and depends upon the size, the fertility of 

 the soil, and its proximity to a suitable place for ship- 

 ping the fruit; and as much of the fruit is taken on 

 board vessels which call along the coast dining the sea- 

 sou, a plantation which borders upon some cove, bay, or 

 good anchorage, is a valuable oue. The average life of 

 the scarlet pine is three years, and that of the sugar- 

 loaf about five. The average weight of the fruit in the 

 Bahamas i.s from three to three and a half pounds. A 

 field is generally gone over three times during the sea- 

 son, affording three grades of fruit, called first, second, 

 and I third cuttings. The scarlet variety ripens a month 

 or two earlier than the sugar-loaf. Owing to the sharp 

 serrated leaves of the plant, the gathering of the fruit 

 is a tedious and difBcult matter, the men, women, and 

 children engaged in the work being obliged to wear heavy 

 canvas leggings and gloves with gauntlets to protect them- 

 selves against the sharp spikes of the plant. The pine- 

 apple plants furnish but one regular crop during the year, 

 although the local markets are seldom without pine-apples 

 for sale. The first cuttings of the scarlet pines are made 

 about the middle of April, and the last is made about 

 the 1st of July. The sugar-loaf pine is at maturity dur- 

 ing July and August. The shipping season is one of great 

 activity in the Bahamas, as when the fruit is ready for 

 the knife, it must be cut and hurried with all speed to 

 market, or it will be lost. It is estimated that from 

 seventy-five to one hundred cargoes of fruit are shipped 

 from April 15th to July 15th, and about 40,000 pine-apples 

 make an average cargo, the total exports reaching from 

 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 pine-apples during the season. The 

 fruit for shipment is never allowed to ripen, but is cut 

 when green, as soon as it is full of juice, otherwise it 

 would spoil before reaching a market. The average price 

 paid for the fruit is about Is. 9d. per dozen for first cut- 

 tmgs. Is. 6d. for seconds, and Is. 3d. for thirds. Some 

 gi'owers export their own fruit, others sell to local buyers 

 who purchase the crop at the foregoing figures. The pine- 

 apple business, though a luctative one, is very hazardous ; 

 if everything is favourable good profits are realized, but 

 a few untoward circumstances will bring ruin. Occasion- 

 ally there is too much rain or there is drought; at times 

 armies of rats and land crabs invade and devour whole 

 fields ; and, again, bush fires frequently devast.ite a plant- 

 ation. As a rule, the scarlet pine-apple is consigned to 

 the United States, the sugar-loaf goes to England. As 



the latter voyage is a long one, the pine-apple plant is 

 cut off at the root, and plant and fruit are shipped uu- 

 separated. The whole of the piue-apple crop is not uow 

 exported, a portion being put up or preserved iu tin cans, 

 several factories upon the islands being engaged iu this 

 work ; at one alone, iu Nassau, it is estimated that about 

 25.000 pine-apples per diem are cousumeil, and 200,000 to 

 250,000 cans of fruit are put up during the season. The 

 wages paid to the workmen are at the rate of about 2s. 

 a day for men, Is. for women, ami (id. for childrcjn, and 

 even lower wages are paid to plantation hands. For sev- 

 eral years prior to 18S0 the pine-apple industry was un- 

 profitable to the colonists, owing to a succession of dis- 

 asters in the way of bad weather, low prices, and decay ; 

 but during ISSO and 1881 good crops were made, better 

 prices prevailed, and business materially revived. In 1880, 

 about 340,000 dozen pine-apples were exported; iu 1881, 

 about 363,000. There were also shipped about 200,000 tins 

 of preserved pine-apples ; in 1S80 and in the following 

 year this number was increased to 237,000 tins. — Journal 

 of the Societii of Arts. 



INDIA : CROP AND WEATHER REPORT. 

 For the Week ending the 10th Oct. 1S82. 



General Remarks. — Light rain has fallen in all districts 

 of the Madras Presidency except Travancoro, where it 

 was heavy. There has also been some rain in Mysore and 

 Ooorg, Bengal, Assam, and British Burma. The North- 

 western Prorinces and Oudh, Central India, and the 

 Bombay Presidency report showers in a fow districts. The 

 Punjab, Rajputaua, the Central Provinces, and the Nizam's 

 Territories have had slight rain in one or two places j 

 there hag been none in Berar. 



Prospects of standing' crops are, on the whole, favoura- 

 ble everywhere, although some more rain would be bene- 

 ficial in a few places. 



Harvest operations continue in ttiany parts of the coun- 

 try. Preparations for, and sowings of, rabi crops are iu 

 progress in parts of the Bombay Presidency, Bengal, the 

 North- We^tei'n Pro'\'inces and Oudh, the Central Provinces, 

 Mysore, the Nizam's Territories, and the Central India 

 and Rajputana States. 



In I he Bombay Presidency locusts are doing much in- 

 jury to crops in Khandesh, Ahmednagar, and Nasik. 



A ecner^l rise in ttie barometer durias^ the earlier 

 part of the week was followed by a fall of equal extent, 

 less marked in Northern India than in most other parts. 



Madras. — General prospects good. 



AsSA5r, Sylhet, (Oct. nth.)— Crops reported on favo'- ra- 

 bly fi-om all quarters; cholera and small-pox still reporlel. 



Mysore a.vd Coorg. — Seasonable showers in .all districts 

 except Kolar, where more rain is wanted ; standing crops 

 generally in good condition ; racri, juari, horse gram, &c., 

 harvested in pans; sowing of other grain continues ; pub- 

 blic health good ; prices easy. 



Ceylon Planters' Assoclation. — We have to acknow- 

 leilge receipt of a copy of the Proceedings of this body 

 for the year ending 17th February, 1882. Apart from a 

 record of the cm'rent business of the Association and of poli- 

 tical proceedings, there is a large amount of agricultural 

 information, more particularly in respect of new products, 

 coffee leaf fungus, grub, &c. Dr Trinien's Notes on trees 

 yielding India Rubber are also included, and altogether this 

 volume IS well worthy of the best of its predecessors. 



No Rain for Six Moxths and Vine Ctjltcre in the 

 Nokth-VVest. — Kalpitiya, iSrd October: We have had 

 a slight drizzle after a spell of six months' drought but 

 still the heat is wellnigh unbearable. The monsoon is 

 uow evidently fast approaching and this is a bad sign 

 for the urapes. The grape crop of this place has been 

 fairly good this year as upwards of 20,000 lb. of it had 

 been sold. [Sold to whom? Surely the writer is exag- 

 gerating the quantity of crop, or that the crop has 

 been much larger than usual owing to the pro- 

 longed drought, — £b,] 



