1344 



PINEAPPLE 



PINEAPPLE 



above, and the increasing and decreasing of the amounts 

 may be determined by the progress of the plants. As 

 the average spruce-pine Pineapple land is not suffi- 

 ciently fertile to grow a full crop of Pineapples, much 

 more depends upon proper fertilizing than any other 

 one operation. 



Propagation. This plant is propagated by means of 

 crowns, slips, suckers and rattoons. The crown is the 

 leafy portion of the fruit as found in the market. Just 

 below the fruit small plants form, which are left in the 

 field when the fruit is gathered; these are known as 

 slips. In the axils of the Ivs. buds occur; those that 

 develop near the ground make strong plants in a few 

 months and are known as suckers. A strong plant will 

 mature an " apple " in June and produce 2-5 suckers by 

 the middle of September. Buds which develop from a 

 portion of the plant under ground and form a root sys- 

 tem independent of th,e parent plant are known as rat- 

 toons. Crowns are not planted extensively, as they re- 

 main on the fruit when marketed. Good strong suckers 

 are usually employed for planting out. Rattoons are 

 left in the field to replace the plants which have borne 

 a crop, but they are not sufficiently numerous to make 

 a full stand; hence some of the suckers must be left 

 also. Slips require a year longer than suckers to ma- 

 ture a crop. According to Webber, it takes 10-12 years 

 to mature a plant from seed. Plants are raised from 

 seed only for breeding purposes. 



Preparation of the Land. If spruce-pine land is pre- 

 pared it is cleared of all stumps, wood, roots and any 

 other organic material, and is plowed deep and leveled 

 off smoothly. The fields are then laid off in beds of 6 or 

 8 rows wide, depending on the variety. The beds should 

 be narrow enough to permit fertilizing and working with 

 a scuffle hoe without entering the beds, as breaking the 

 Ivs. is very detrimental. For Red Spanish the rows are 

 made 18-20 in. apart; for Queens 20-22 in.; for Porto 

 Ricos 30-36 in. They are usually placed in checks of 

 about the same distances. 



The methods employed on the Keys are quite different. 

 The land is cleared by cutting off the trees, shrubs, 

 etc., which are allowed to dry and are then burned. The 

 plants are then set out with a grubbing hoe ; they must 

 be set out irregularly, as the rocky soil does not furnish 

 root-hold everywhere. Such fields become exhausted in 

 a few years and have to be abandoned. 



Tillage. This operation consists in running over the 

 ground with a scuffle hoe. Where the plantation is set 

 out in beds the handle of the hoe is long enough to per- 

 mit cultivating to the middle without the laborer enter- 

 ing the bed. Only about an inch of the surface soil is 

 agitated, usually immediately after the fertilizer has 

 been applied. Weeds are not troublesome, excepting in 



plants the greatest care should be exercised to avoid 

 breaking the Ivs., which are very brittle. 



Marketing. The fruit is picked a week before it 

 would mature. It is packed at once into barrel (12x20 

 x36 in.) and half-barrel (12x10x36 in.) crates, usually 

 in the latter, the different sizes being packed in separate 

 crates and designated as 18's, 24's, 30's, 36's, 42's, 48'a 

 and 54's, according to the number required for a half- 



1810. The Queen Pineapple. 



fields that have been cxiltivated a long time. Under 

 shede tillage is more frequent and appears to be more 

 necessary. On the Keys no tillage is possible, but tall- 

 growing weeds and such ligneous plants as may spring 

 up are cut off. In all of the work among Pineapple 



1811. The Enville Pineapple. 



barrel crate. The fruit must be handled without being 

 bruised and packed firmly to prevent its abrasion 

 in transit. To protect the fruit each one is wrapped 

 separately in brown paper. 



Varieties. Since the propagation is carried on by 

 means of offsets, the varieties are fairly stable and 

 quite definitely marked. The variety most extensively 

 grown is called Red Spanish, Spanish or Reds. It has 

 a medium-sized apple, and is a hardy plant. Abachi 

 (Abakka), Blood, Queen (Fig. 1810), Sugar Loaf, En- 

 ville (Fig. 1811) and White Antigua are varieties that 

 produce medium-sized apples of excellent quality. 

 Black Jamaica, Black Prince, and Prince Albert pro- 

 duce large apples of excellent quality. Smooth Cayenne 

 produces a large apple of good quality. Porto Rico 

 produces a very large apple of good quality. There are 

 other varieties grown more or less extensively and other 

 names for the above-named varieties, but the foregoing 

 have been officially recognized by the Florida State 

 Horticultural Society. 



Pineapple Sheds. It has been found very advan- 

 tageous to build a shelter for "pines"; in the winter a 

 shed protects the plants from too great radiation of 

 heat, and in the summer it reduces the intensity of the 

 sun. The original object of the shelter was to protect 

 the plants from frosts and freezes. Pineapple plants 

 freeze at 32 F. This degree of cold does not kill the 

 heart of the plant, but only the larger portion of the Ivs. 

 Pines under sheds have passed through a temperature 

 of 25 F. without serious injury. The roof of a shed is 

 usually flat, or undulating with the surface of the land. 

 The height varies with the desires of the individual, but 

 is usually about eight feet above the ground. 



In Fig. 1812 the roof is slightly less than 7 ft. from 

 the ground. The stringers running crosswise in the 

 figure are I%x3x21; those running lengthwise are 

 1% x 1> x 15. The material for the roof is cypress 

 plastering lath of usual length and width. The stringers 

 running lengthwise are 46 in. apart. The openings be- 

 tween the lath are just the width of a lath. The amount 

 of lumber needed (per acre) is about as follows: 



414 posts (352 for roof, 72 for sides) 4'x 4' x 8. 

 160 pieces 1%' x 3' x 20. 



960 pieces (840 for roof, 120 for sides) 1%' x 1%'x 15. 

 80,000 lath (75,000 for roof, 5,000 for sides) %'x 1' x 4. 



It takes about 9,000 feet of lumber for the above ma- 

 terial exclusive of the lath. All lumber must be first- 

 class and free from knots. This can still be reduced bv 

 about 2,500 feet by using wire in place of the 1/4' x 1%* 

 x 15 and weaving the lath in this. Under the most 



