330 THE FRUIT PLANTATION 



olives are soaked in weak lye before they are placed in 

 the brine. 



Olive trees respond to good care and cultivation, and 

 will remain in fruit for many years. The Mission olive 

 is largely grown in California, and Manzanillo, Pendoulier, 

 Uvaria, Columella and Macrocarpa are receiving at- 

 tention. 



THE PINEAPPLE 



This fruit thrives on rich hammocks and clays, although 

 sandy soil with a yellow subsoil is generally preferred. 

 It is propagated either from suckers that spring up from 

 the base of old plants, from the bud and tuft of leaves 

 above the fruit, which is called the crown, or from "slips" 

 which grow from the stems below the fruits. They 

 root re-adily by inserting them in beds of damp moss or 

 sand, after removing some of the lower leaves. The 

 ground for pineapples is prepared by opening furrows 

 or shallow trenches a foot or so wide and deep, in which 

 a compost of manure, leaves and muck is placed. For 

 large fruits, the plants should not be closer than two 

 feet in the rows. The weeds must be kept down by 

 frequent cultivation or by a heavy mulch. To secure 

 against frost, the plants must be covered. For this pur- 

 pose shingles or boards can be used while the plants are 

 small, but as they become larger stout stakes are set in 

 the ground; these are connected by rails, over which 

 brush or burlaps are placed. With good care the fruit 

 may ripen in two years, although three or four may elapse 

 before it comes to maturity. 



Spanish, Sugar Loaf, Egyptian, Ripley Queen, and Porto 

 Rico are favorite varieties of pines. 



BANANA 



This fruit can be grown in but few localities, as it is 

 greatly injured by frost and, unlike the pineapple, it can- 



