PINEAPPLE CULTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA 



SUITABILITY AND SELECTION. 



There is little doubt that selection of varieties suitable to 

 certain areas in this country has simply meant a survival of the 

 fittest for the climatic conditions. This is not the method of 

 selection required now. 



FIRST METHOD. 



It is an admitted fact that certain plants produce better fruit 

 and less suckers than others, and again some produce medium 

 fruit and a superabundance of weakly suckers. The grower who 

 desires to start right will endeavour by selecting those plants 

 which produce good fruit, and which are not too prone to pro- 

 duce large quantities of suckers, and marking these in his fields, 

 to produce a much superior fruit to that produced by promiscu- 

 ous planting. It must be borne in mind that this is a question 

 - of time. 



SECOND METHOD. 



In order to avoid the propagation of those- Pines which have a 

 tendency to produce an excessive amount of suckers, it is advis- 

 able, if planting from an old Pinery, to carefully eliminate such 

 plants, to discard weakly looking suckers. It would obviously 

 be impossible for a man to select sufficient under the first 

 method' to plant out. say a hundred or more acres, but he can, 

 by selecting sufficient to plant out ten acres, and rogueing them 

 out as the 'growth and habits are determined, raise sufficient to 

 plant out in three years another hundred acres, and by this 

 means he will be building up a type, which work so far has 

 never been attempted in this country with the, pineapple. It 

 must be borne in mind that pineapples, like all other plants, are 

 liable to variation and such variations, if in the right direction, 

 may frequently be turned to good account. There is no hard 

 and fast rule in plant life. One cannot say that what is a suc- 

 cess in Natal will, therefore, be a success in Albany or Bathurst. 

 Tne soil and climatic conditions vary so considerably that 

 varieties and methods of planting must suit the different con- 

 ditions. 



LARGE VARIETIES. 



There are varieties such as Abbaki, Porto Rico, and Enville, 

 which would doubtless succeed well and produce their immense 

 fruit in parts of Natal, but they would take years to acclimatise 

 in the cooler latitudes of the Eastern Province, and even when 

 acclimatised, it might be found that the quality of fruit pro- 

 duced would not compare with the smaller fruits of the Eastern 

 Queen, either in flavour or carrying capabilities. 



The best advice that can be given, is to stick to the varieties 

 at present grown in the districts, and, by methods of selection, 

 to build up a superior type of fruit. 



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