170 FLORIDA FRUITS PINE-APPLES. 



them in the ground when planting ; cover them with more 

 moss, not damp, and place them in a shady spot. 



After they have lain thus a week or two examine them, 

 and plant those that have sent forth slender white rootlets 

 a half inch or more in length; some will take several 

 weeks longer than others to do this, but it is best to wait 

 their time before setting them out, and they will grow 

 off more surely and thrifty by this method than by any 

 other. 



Some planters recommend leaving the offsets exposed to 

 the sun for weeks or even months to facilitate rooting ; but 

 while the plants will really root under this heroic treat- 

 ment, it is at the expense of their ultimate thrift, and the 

 rooting in the damp moss and in the shade is by far a 

 better plan, and one that makes a certainty of the after 

 well-being of every offset; not one will be lost by this 

 method. 



But no matter how the plants are rooted, it is necessary 

 to see that after being set out they do not lack moisture 

 until thoroughly established a period that will be known 

 by a wider opening of the offset in the center, and new 

 leaves appearing there ; after that they may be mulched 

 when the soil is moist, and left to take care of themselves, 

 so far as moisture is concerned. 



In preparing ground for a pine-apple plantation, parallel 

 lines three feet apart should be laid off, and a compost of 

 well-rotted stable manure and muck, or leaves, or muck 

 and bone-meal spread in along these lines for a width of 

 about eighteen inches and a depth of one foot. 



The trenches thus prepared should be settled by one or 

 more heavy rains before setting out the plants. The latter 

 should be placed two feet apart, not closer, to insure each 

 plant plenty of room ; too close planting will, of a surety, 

 stunt both plant and fruit. 



