THE BAHAMA ISLANDS 173 



all that one man can care for. His work is not done in an extensive way, 

 for his object is to grow only enough provisions for his own family. But in 

 these small clearings he grows a little of everything that the soils and climate 

 produce. No systematic arrangement of planting is followed, each product 

 being planted in the spots considered best suited to it. Thus, in the same 

 clearing may be found cocoanut, orange, lime, sapodilla, alligator pear, bread- 

 fruit and other trees, with possibly sugar cane, yams, sweet cassava, onions, 

 tomatoes and other vegetables. This manner of planting applies particularly 

 to the small tracts of the natives, which may be regarded more as gardens than 

 as fields. Such crops as pineapples and sisal are grown in larger fields, de- 

 voted to a single crop. 



No crop rotation is followed, but in the growing of " provisions " 

 some change in the crop may take place over the field upon replanting. With 

 this system there is no way to estimate yields, and all that can be said is that 

 the people try to grow enough produce to supply their needs. Cultivation 

 is done entirely by hand. The machete is used to dig up the soil for planting, 

 and the after cultivation consists of scratching about the plants with the same 

 implement. Fertilizers or manures, as a rule, are not used on provision 

 crops. 



The production of oranges and other fruits is carried on in a haphazard 

 way, no particular care being given either to cultivation or the improvement 

 of the stock. Budding and grafting are practiced, but old methods are em- 

 ployed. So far it has been impossible to introduce the modern methods of 

 budding and grafting. 



More care is used in the cultivation of pineapples. After the land has 

 been cleared fertilizer is put into the holes, and a sucker, or, if suckers can- 

 not be had, the top of a pineapple, is planted. The former does much better. 

 Each hole or pocket in the rock usually contains only one plant, so that the 

 number of plants to an acre is dependent upon the number of pockets. The 

 usual number ranges from 2000 to 4000 dozens. There can be no arrangement 

 in rows, and the fields appear very irregular. (Plate XXV, Fig. 2.) Twice a 

 year, usually in April and August, more fertilizer is added, and at the same time 

 the soil is loosened around the plants. In 18 months from planting the plant- 

 ing being done in August the first crop of pineapples can be gathered. Crops 

 are gathered for two succeeding years, after which they decline. The picking 

 season extends over four months. Generally three crops are all that can be 

 taken from the original plants. New plants are then set out, and the cropping 



