408 



GI.EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



about it. By the way, when I write of these 

 honey-plants, a good many people will be sure 

 to want seed ; and this may all be very well 

 for somebody who wants to make a collection 

 of plants that yield honey. But it rarely if 

 ever is the case that it will pay to plant any 

 thing for just the honey alone. Friend Pop- 

 pleton visits his out-apiaries with a gasoline- 

 launch large enough to carry a dozen or more 

 people ; and, in fact, he uses it in bringing 

 his bees from one locality to another, and it 

 will carry successfully a considerable apiary. 



I made a brief but pleasant call at Mr. J. E. 

 Fultz', and another one where there was a very 

 extensive pineapple plantation under a shed. 

 Friend Poppleton and his neighbors claim 

 that their locality is about the best point in 

 Florida for growing pineapples, and also that 

 the good ground is pretty well appropriated 

 or held by somebody, with the expectation of 

 getting big prices for it. I have told you 

 something about Florida land that could be 

 bought for £0 cts. an acre ; but right near Mr. 

 Poppleton's there is desira- 

 ble property for growing 

 pineapples, which can not 

 be bought for $100 an acre, 

 even in its wild state. Ow- 

 ing to its proximity to the 

 water, there is little danger 

 here from killing frosts, 

 even if pineapples are right 

 out in the open air. But the 

 sheds give better results, 

 and are quite a protection 

 during severe weather. 



I succeeded in getting ko- 

 dak views so perfect that 

 they explain the construc- 

 tion of the sheds almost 

 without any thing further. 

 See cut adjoining. 



The posts are made of 

 some durable timber found 

 in the woods, of such a 

 length as to go three feet or 

 more into the ground, and 

 to keep the roof overhead 

 about 8 feet from the sur- 

 face. The slats are about 3 

 inches broad, usually of 1- 

 inch lumber. The spaces 

 between them are usually 3 

 inches, sometimes 4. 



The shed pictured was 

 constructed for a relative 

 of Mr. Poppleton. I be- 

 lieve it was built under Mr. 

 P.'s own supervision. 



The second picture shows a view after the 

 plants were pretty nearly full-sized. There 

 are walks of different widths separating the 

 plants into beds of perhaps 10 or 12 feet in 

 width. Real healthy plants have sometimes 

 spines or sharp-pointed needle like leaves 

 nearly as high as your head. In fact, it is 

 somewhat dangerous business to get around 

 among them. Friend Poppleton said there 

 were a few ripe fruits that ought to be gath- 

 ered. He said he would walk down one side 

 of the bed and I down the other. He told 



me to look out for 'apples that had commenced 

 to turn Now, I pride myself on being re- 

 markable about keen vision, especially when 

 it comes to picking up potatoes. Some of the 

 boys claimed I could see a potato that was en- 

 tirely under the dirt. Well, I felt sure I could 

 find every pineapple fit to pick ; but when my 

 good friend pointed out a beautiful specimen 

 I did not see, not over a yard from where I 

 passed along the path, I began to think I was 

 not so much smarter than common people aft- 

 er all. 



A pineapple in bloom is a beautiful thing. 

 Why, even if it did not bear fruit at all, I 

 should not be surprised if the plant were 

 grown in greenhouses just for the blossoms 

 alone. Well, at the same time the plant is 

 producing fruit, little plants something like 

 suckers are growing up around the parent 

 plant ; and where the variety is valuable and 

 high-priced, the little plants frequently bring 

 as much money as the ripe fruit. It is no un- 

 common thing to have pineapples that bring 



A NKW PINKAPPLE SHED, SHOWING CONSTRUCTION, AND 

 I.ITTI.E PLANTS JUST STARTING. 



75 cents each at wholesale. Dyer Brothers, 

 who are near neighbors to Mr. Poppleton, have 

 sold during the past two years $5500 worth of 

 pineapples from about 12 acres. If I am cor- 

 rt- ctly informed, a large part of the 12 acres 

 is not yet in bearing. The pineapple grower 

 gets some fruit in about 18 months after be- 

 ginning operations, but not much before the 

 plants are two years old. The fertilizer alone 

 for an acre of pineapples costs about |50 a 

 j'^ear. 



Right near his honey-house Mr. Poppleton 

 has a little grape-fruit tree about as high as 



