HORTICULTURE 289 



Florida Keys the laying off of lands is impracticable, but plants 

 must be set wherever there is room and enough soil. 



When the planter has determined the size of his lands and the 

 distance between the plants in the row and the distance between the 

 rows, the rows and checks are laid off either by hand or by a horse 

 marker. It is not worth the while to exercise great care to have the 

 rows exactly straight nor the plants placed at mathematical dis- 

 tances. If the soil be somewhat firm the rows may be opened with 

 a small plow. Various other methods are adopted to meet the needs 

 of the individual field. In planting under sheds the lands, or beds, 

 are laid off so as to leave the roads and ways free from posts, the 

 beds being made as wide as the greatest distance between the posts, 

 with the rows of posts running down the middle of the beds. The 

 location of the roads will depend upon the needs of the individual 

 sheds. 



Planting. Suckers are planted for the main crop of the com- 

 mon varieties. Slips and crowns take too long to mature a crop to 

 be utilized excepting when suckers are not to be obtained. Well- 

 matured suckers will produce a crop in fourteen to eighteen months 

 from time of setting out. 



The sucker should be set 3 to 5 inches deep, according to size, 

 care being taken not to set it so deep that sand can be easily blown 

 into the bud. Many planters prefer to clip off the ends of the leaves 

 to keep the wind from blowing the plants over. This is not neces- 

 sary except in exposed fields and should be avoided if practicable. 



Crowns are not utilized extensively for planting because they 

 are shipped with the fruit and it requires a year longer for them than 

 for suckers to come into .bearing. In the vicinity of canneries they 

 might be used, but as a rule they are not worth the cost of saving. 

 They are set out just as suckers are, but there is less danger from 

 sanding and from being blown over. 



Slips are usually so small that they are used only in the higher- 

 priced varieties, or when plants are scarce. They are treated very 

 much as the sucker, but need much more attention and care. They 

 can not be set more than 2 to 4 inches deep, and even then there is 

 danger of their sanding or being blown over. It usually takes slips 

 a year longer to mature a crop than it does well-matured suckers, 

 though large slips planted at the right time may mature a crop in 

 twenty months. Seed is used only for experimental purposes, like 

 originating new varieties. It is said to take these ten or twelve years 

 to mature a crop. 



Time of Planting. Plants may be set out at any time during 

 the year, but the favorite time is during the fall after the suckers 

 have made a good growth and are somewhat hardened off. If ^set 

 at this time of the year they will make considerable growth during 

 the fall months and early winter. If set at the beginning of winter 

 a considerable per cent may be lost from various causes. 



If there should be suckers fit to set out during the spring the 

 pineapple grower should not permit any avoidable disturbance at 

 that time, because it is the time of fruiting, when the plants need 



