96 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



on manganiferous soil since the stump itself furnishes a large 

 store of material for the production of the young plant. 



In preparing suckers and slips for planting it is customary 

 to remove some of the leaves at the base of the sucker or slip 

 and to allow the cut end to dry thoroughly before placing in 

 the soil. The suckers or slips are then planted in rows, being 

 inserted only a few inches into the soil. These young plants 

 are extremely drought resistant and will withstand a long dry 

 season, finally striking root and beginning to grow when the 

 rain appears. 



The rainfall required for the successful growth of pineapples 

 should be at least 50 inches, but pineapples will endure a 

 much heavier rainfall if the soil is well drained. Good tilth and 

 satisfactory drainage are very necessary for the proper growth 

 of pineapples. The pineapple is a rather anomalous plant in 

 some of its relations with the soil, belonging as it does to a 

 family of plants many of which are epiphytes or air plants. 

 It appears itself to be able to live for considerable periods prac- 

 tically as an air plant. Occasionally, one will find in the case 

 of large vigorous plants that practically all of the roots have 

 died and decayed. The living roots, however, possess an un- 

 usually heavy coating of root hairs near their growing tips, and 

 the physical condition of the soil with respect to drainage and 

 aeration appears to be one of the prime factors in the proper 

 growth of the plant. It is necessary to keep pineapple fields 

 as free as may be from weeds. This may be accomplished 

 either by hand weeding, by horse cultivation, or by spraying 

 with arsenite of soda. The chemical method for destroying 

 weeds is used to some extent in the pineapple fields of Hawaii 

 in the same manner as in the cane fields. In seasons when 

 rains occur so frequently as to keep the soil constantly moist 

 for a long period, it may be necessary to resort to dynamiting 

 pineapple fields in order to bring about drainage without pud- 

 dling the surface layer of the soil by cultivation. Dynamiting 

 has been tested on a considerable scale in Hawaii and with sat- 



