The Pine- Apple. 241 



and requiring a good deal of moisture, the area of the 

 successful outdoor culture is still somewhat limited. 

 Hence we hear little or nothing of it from countries 

 which, although they may be warm enough for it, are 

 comparatively dry, such as Spain. It does not care, 

 either, to live above the level of the sea, and mountains 

 it will have nothing to do with. In the Malayan Archi- 

 pelago, where all the conditions are favourable, the fruit 

 attains a prodigious size; the pine-apples of Java and 

 Sumatra are reputed the best in the world. The cultiva- 

 tion in the western tropics is now something enormous. 

 In San Salvador there are fields of pine-apples extend- 

 ing from twenty-five to sixty acres, every acre yielding, 

 in good seasons, about eight hundred dozen. In the 

 Bahamas there are spots where as many as twelve 

 hundred thousand growing plants can be seen at a single 

 glance, the ground being covered with them just as in 

 English farms often with turnips. Great pains are now 

 taken with the cultivation, because so lucrative an article 

 for export, and the same in the Azores. The produce of 

 the islands named has realized very considerable profits 

 in the English markets, and henceforwards it would seem 

 that this grand fruit will be placed within the reach of 

 the poorest of the people. " Pine-apple a penny a slice" 

 is a cry that carries more than a simple statement of fact 

 for the time being. The enormous importation has even 

 now profoundly affected the home-culture. The wealthy 

 amateur will no doubt continue to grow his own pine- 

 apples for private pleasure, especially as the imported 

 21 



