PINEAPPLE CULTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA 



of the scuttle hoe, after the first 18 months, but with the wider 

 plantings it is consistently carried on, as in the case of other 

 fruits. 



PROPAGATION OF THE PINEAPPLE. 



Pineapples may be propagated by means of suckers or slips. 

 Some writers describe other methods of propagation, such as 

 by crown or crown slips, or again by discriminating between so- 

 called ratoons and suckers; for practical purposes these are one 

 and the same. 



THE SUCKERS. 



The sucker is produced from the parent plant, either above 

 or below the surface, at the juncture of the leaf with the stem. 

 Slips are produced by some varieties at the base of the fruit 

 itself on the fruiting stem. 



PREPARATION OF SUCKERS. 



The Embryo sucker can be readily seen on the removal of the 

 basal leaf and, where the growth is close, they are apt, as in 

 the case of the Egyptian Queen, to cause a bunchy growth or 

 thin weedy plants, which will only produce poor fruit. In such 

 cases most of the Embryo suckers should be removed at the time 

 of planting; if this is done, much work will be saved later on 

 In thinning the suckers. 



SUCKERS FOR PLANTING OUT 



should be removed from the parent plant as soon as they are 

 well developed; this, in the case of vigorous plants, means in 

 about six months from their first appearance; they should be 

 broken out at the junction with the parent plant. The basal 

 leaves should be removed and the heel cut with a sharp knife. 

 Many do not remove the heel, but this is a mistake, as the 

 sucker will send out roots from the lower portion if cut, as well 

 as the sides, and these downward roots tend to keep the plant 

 erect when high winds are prevalent. The remaining leaves of 

 the sucker should be reduced to about half their length. 



REMOVE THE BASAL LEAVES. 



If the basal leaves are not removed, it will be found that the 

 roots cannot penetrate the tough fibrous leaves, and will simply 

 form a whorl of roots, which will wind round the stem, one 

 consequence being that the plant will only exist, until such time 

 as the leaves decay, after which it will probably thrive. As 

 the leaf of the Pineapple is largely composed of a flax-like fibre, 

 the time taken for thia decay of the leaves is, during wet weather, 

 as long as six months or more, and in dry weather, i perhaps 

 double as long. It will be readily seen, therefore that failure 



IB 



