168 FLORIDA FRUITS PINE- APPLES. 



been started on pine land, and moderately cared for, you 

 will find the owner preparing to plant more and more in 

 sheer delight at the " treasure trove" he has discovered at 

 his feet. Even the poorest pine land, moderately fertil- 

 ized, with a yellow subsoil close to the surface, has been 

 proved to give better plants and larger fruits than rich 

 hammock lands adjoining. 



Another mistake, that is not made so frequently as it 

 used to be, was setting the plants on moist land. The 

 pine-apple is closely allied to air plants, and therefore is 

 not only a moderate feeder, but also a moderate drinker ; 

 its long, narrow leaves draw no small share of its required 

 nutriment and moisture from the air, leaving the roots 

 little to do. 



Pine-apples, unlike most other fruits, are not propagated 

 from the seed, for it is a singular fact that not more than 

 one fruit in a million of the cultivated varieties contains 

 a single seed ; hence, if compelled to depend on seeds for 

 their increase, we should be badly off indeed. When seeds 

 are found they are regarded as great treasures, and care- 

 fully planted ; for from this source only can new varieties 

 be obtained ; sometimes they prove valuable, more times 

 not. 



The pine-apple plant, like the banana, bears fruit but 

 once and then dies down ; if the old root is left in the 

 ground, suckers rise up from the base of the leaves near 

 the ground. As soon as these attain a sufficient size, the 

 root should be raised and cut, with one sucker to each 

 piece, and these pieces set where they are to stay. 



At the top of the fruit is a crest of leaves called the 

 crown, and surrounding this, at its base, are other tufts 

 called crownlets ; while at the base of the fruit itself, sur- 

 mounting the stem upon which it grows, are still other off- 

 sets termed slips. Upon the stalk which bears the pine 



