J. VAN OVERBEEK 



229 



to falling over. The application of )S-naphthoxyacetic acid, applied after 

 the fruit development is well under way, has corrected the difficulty (28). 

 Another effect of the use of synthetic hormones applied in the course of 

 fruit development is a delay in fruit maturation, causing an increase in 

 fruit weight (11,28). This double hormone treatment, one for flower 

 initiation and a later one for strengthening the peduncle and increasing 



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CAYENNE 

 SPRAYED WITH 010 MG NA /PLANT (00005 %) 

 ON AUGUST 16,1946 ^ -^ ^ " 



HARVEST JAN- 17, 1947 



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 4 



5 LBS 



FRUIT WEIGHT 



Figure 3. Regression curve showing the relation between the number of 

 leaves of a pineapple plant and the weight of the fruit it produces. The data 

 were obtained on 100 plants of the Smooth Cayenne variety growing on 

 Vieques Island (P.R.) which were forced into flower by an aqueous spray of 

 0.0005 per cent NAA. The average number of leaves was 25.0 ± 0.53; and 

 the average fruit weight 3.5 ± 0.07 lbs. The broken lines indicate the standard 

 error of estimate. 



the fruit weight, has been adopted as a standard practice in several of the 

 large plantations. 



A drawback which has not yet been overcome is that the use of 

 NAA on pineapples of the Cayenne (Hawaiian) variety causes a reduction 

 in the number of slips which the plant produces. These slips are branches 

 which develop from lateral buds located on the upper part of the 

 peduncle just under the fruit. They are important as replanting material. 

 Not all pineapple varieties, however, suffer from a severely reduced 



