174 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



CHAP.- 



The Pine-apple. Ananas sativus. 



Hot-house 

 pines. 



The pine- 

 apple trade. 



Cultivation 

 in the West 

 Indies. 



Habitat. 



Varieties. 



The best 

 soil. 



Lime in the 

 soil advan- 

 tageous. 



The pine-apple is universally acknowledged to be one of 

 the most delicious fruits in existence. Before the wonderful 

 strides made in rapid passages between Europe and tropical 

 countries by steam vessels, great numbers of pine-apples 

 were grown in hot-houses for the home markets : and to 

 such a degree of perfection did gardeners attain in this 

 industry, that the English hot-house pines were considered 

 to be the finest in the world. But now a large and increas- 

 ing trade has been built up by the exportation of pine-apples 

 from the West Indies and elsewhere, to the great fruit 

 markets of England and the United States. Indeed, in the 

 Bahamas, the cultivation of the pine-apple is one of the chief 

 industries of the colony, and the cultivation has been taken 

 up in Jamaica, Antigua, and in other islands of the West 

 Indies. The pine-apple is a native of tropical America, but 

 it has been greatly improved by cultivation — some of the 

 finest varieties being the Jamaica Ripley, the black Antigua, 

 the Queen, the Sugar-loaf, and the smooth Cayenne. 



Soils. — The best soil for the cultivation of pine-apples is 

 a sandy loam with good drainage, and next come the free 

 sands and gravels. Clay of all kinds, and badly drained 

 lands are unsuitable to the cultivation, but the plant can be 

 successfully grown on red, loamy clays, if the land be well 

 tilled and properly drained. A good proportion of lime is 

 advantageous ; the soil of the Bahama islands, where the 

 pine-apples are grown, consists of decomposed coral rock, 

 and, in Antigua, a considerable portion of the soil is formed 

 from broken-down limestone. 



Climate. — The coast zone of the West Indian islands 

 may be taken as the typical climate for j^ine-apples, for the 

 plant in an apparently wild condition is found in Dominica 

 and others of its sister colonies. Pines will grow at high 



