THE PINEAPPLE. 679 



ful digester, and has been made the basis of an extract of un- 

 doubted efficacy in relieving stubborn cases of dyspepsia. It 

 will also quickly dissolve and disperse the obstructions in the 

 throats of diphtheritic patients. Thin- people who do not 

 properly assimilate their food soon gain flesh and strength on 

 a diet of ripe pineapples. The long, narrow leaves contain an 

 abundance of one of the best fibres known, being strong, flex- 

 ible, soft, and silky. 



On the Florida Keys the regular crop becomes ripe enough 

 to cut in April, the season lasting for several months ; but a 

 few are coming in at all times. Those that mature under 

 sheds in the winter often bring five times the price of others. 

 The fruit is taken off with long, sharp knives, and carried out 

 in baskets holding four or five dozen. The first crop is con- 

 sidered the best for size and quantity, except under intensive 

 cultivation, which causes progressive improvement. It is 

 packed for shipment in crates the size of a barrel, which 

 when full weigh about one hundred and sixty pounds. One 

 hundred crates to the acre is called an average, and one hun- 

 dred and twenty-five a large yield of the common kinds, 

 which run fifty to eighty in a crate : but some fancy varieties, 

 like Porto Rico, Smooth Cayenne, Queen, or Abbaka, are 

 much larger. Often twelve Porto Ricos will fill a crate, and 

 specimens of twenty pounds in weight have been gathered. 

 Those too small for shipment are canned and preserved, or 

 made into cider and vinegar. As before remarked, a valuable 

 medicine is prepared from the juice, which may also be dis- 

 tilled into brandy. The pines grown on the mainland of 

 Florida are more tender, sweet, and succulent than most of 

 those from other countries. 



PROPAGATION. 



Like the banana, the pineapple originally produced seed 

 freely, but renewal by offsets through a long course of years 

 has caused these seeds nearly to disappear. Of a dark color, 

 and about half as large as those of an apple, they may be found 

 interspersed in the pulp near the crown. New varieties are 

 started from these or from the offsets of cross-fertilized plants. 

 The writer once saw a Black Jamaica apple on a smooth Cay- 



