PINEAPPLE CULTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA 



will not be many years before we see such Pines the general 

 rule. At present the bulk of the Pines are under weight. 



CUTTING FOR EXPORT. 



The Pineapple for export must be fully coloured, and must 

 be cut with a stalk of from three to four inches in length. Each 

 fruit must be carefully handled, and only perfect shaped fruit 

 with single heads or crowns should be exported. A mistaken 

 idea prevails here, that the English buyers think a Pine is not 

 good if the crown is not set on straight. The English buyer 

 thinks nothing of the kind ; what he does think and know, is 

 that most consumers in England place the Pineapple as a sort 

 of centre piece in the dessert dish, and if the crown is all 

 twisted or bent over the effect is quite spoilt. The business of 

 the grower in this country is to produce the article in the form 

 it is wanted on the market at Home. It is no use trying to 

 teach the buyer in England that a Pine with a crooked crown is 

 just as good eating, he knows that, but it is not what he requires 

 and the aim of growers in this country must be to produce it 

 in the desired form. The buyers in England (I do not mean 

 the consumers) have been long enough at their business to know 

 the requirements of the consumer, and it is useless for people 

 in this country to try and teach them. 



EACH PINE WRAPPED. 



Each fruit should be wrapped in tissue paper, and, to prevent 

 any shifting, coarse wood wool or mealie husks should be used; 

 only one layer of Pines in each box is permissible. The packing 

 for export should be done as near to the field as possible, in 

 order to avoid any damage to the fruit through transit over 

 rough roads. When once the box is properly packed, with all 

 intervening spaces filled up with packing material and the lid 

 nailed, the damage which might otherwise be caused in transit 

 is reduced to nil, that is, provided the boxes are of good strong 

 material. Sides, tops and bottoms should not be less than a 

 quarter inch in thickness with seven-eighths inch ends and cen- 

 tres; lighter material than this is likely to be the cause of 

 considerable loss. 



Cold storage is the only method by which Pines can be safely 

 exported. The fruit should not be placed in the cool chamber 

 or refrigerator truck straight from the field, but should be 

 cooled down gradually. Too sudden a drop in temperature is 

 not good for any fruit. The agents overseas have had experience 

 of this by now, and know that it does not pay to bring 'fruit out 

 of the cool chamber of a ship and put it suddenly into a tempera- 

 ture, perhaps 20 degrees, or more, higher than it has been in 

 for the previous three weeks, and the same applies to this end. 



19 



