INTRODUCED PLANTS AND ANIiNFALS. 261 



Though this fungus has loug been found (in the fruit grown here, its effects 

 are never serious. 



Tlie historjr of the development of the banana business is an intei'esting 

 one. 1)ut it must suffice here to note that the first exportation of the fruit was 

 ni;i(h' ill LStj4, when 121 liuiichcs were sliipped to the mainland. 



I'lNEAPPLES. 



The pineapple'" is a native of America, and is the most important member 

 of the family '1 in which it is placed. This family has nothing whatever to do 

 with either the pine or the apple families. The pineapple is a sorosis, or col- 

 lection of fruits formed by the cohesion into a mass of the ovaries and perianths 

 of the compact fruit. The flowers themselves are abortive. In the cultivated 

 pineapple, seeds are rarely found, but the wild variety, from v.-hich it originated, 

 has many seeds. 



Ill Hawaii it is extensively cultivated, and was of early introduction. It 

 seems well adapted to the islands and several varieties are grown, which produce 

 fruit of the most excellent flavor. There are instances where the fruit has es- 

 caped or has been abandoned, where it is to be found growing in a wild state. 



As is well known, the plant usually produces but a single fruit crowded in a 

 rosette of stiff serrated leaves, on the top of the stem of the plant, which ma- 

 tures in from twelve to twenty months. The fruit is itself crowned with a 

 cluster of stiii" leaves. The plant is propagated by means of slips, suckers, 

 crowns and rattoons. Over fifty well-defined varieties are recognized, some of 

 them quite distinct forms, which vary widely in color, size and flavor. The 

 most important species grown locally are limited to a few carefully selected 

 t.ypes that are especially suited to the requirements of the canneries. 



Fruits of the largest species not infrequently attain a weight of twelve or 

 more pounds. The crop is harvested at certain seasons, but fresh fruit reach 

 the market the year around. The plants are not entirely free from pests and 

 diseases. The most serious disease, perhaps, is known as the "pineapple dis- 

 ease" of sugar-cane. This disease, which attacks the fruit causing it to prema- 

 turely decay and ferment, was first discovered on cane and received its name 

 from the fact that it produced an odor in the decaying cane similar to that of 

 the pineapple. 



The Avoc.\no or AiJ.uiATOR Pe.\.r. 



The avocado, or alligator pear,'- though technically a fruit, is from the 

 culinary standpoint a salad vegetable, in that it is used much the same as the 

 cucumber, since it is usually eaten with salt, pepper and vinegar. It is almost 

 tlie only fruit which is eaten only as a salad. Persons who are served with this 

 curious pear-shaped fruit for the first time are usually disappointed. But a just 

 valuation of the rich mitty or butter-like flavor of the fruit is soon acquired, 

 and once it is fully appreciated the taste becomes little short of a craving. 



