THE CUBA REVIEW. 23 



Each grower will have to gather the fruit so as to have it reach the market in a 

 mature condition and be just beginning to color nicely. 



In picking fruit the red Spanish variety can be very easily broken off, but it is better 

 to use a sharp knife and cut the stem just below the fruit. The pickers should be pro- 

 vided with long gloves, or, as is common in this country, they should wrap the hands 

 and arms in burlap sacking. The fruit should be handled very carefully and as soon as 

 it is gathered it should be taken to the packing house so as to keep it as dry and cool as 

 possible. Pineapples should never be gathered when wet or even when damp. 



The grading and packing of pineapples is a very important part of the work, for if a 

 person has grown nice fruit and if it is poorly graded and packed it will arrive on the 

 market in poor condition and bring a lower price than a poor grade o'f fruit that is well 

 graded and packed. 



The common package used in this country is the Florida standard pineapple crate. 

 Its size is : 12 inches wide, ioJ/4 inches deep, 36 inches long. It has one partition in the 

 middle. 



It takes the following material to make a crate: Two heads i2xio^xi>^ inches, one 

 partition 12x10^x1% inches, eight slats 4^^x5/16x36 inches. 



The size of paper used is about 16 by 18 inches. 



Pineapples are graded or sorted into the following sizes : 18 — 24, 30 — 36 and 42 — ^48 

 fruits to the crate. It very seldom pays to handle a fruit smaller than 48 to the crate. 

 Tt is very probable that it would pay better to use all fruit smaller than ^ to the crate for 

 some by-product, such as canning, than to have them go on the markets. 



The grading of the fruit is largely a question of training the eye so as to see at a 

 glance to which size a fruit belongs. There is no fixed rule by which sizes run, but they 

 have approximately the following dimensions in inches : 



18 fruits to the crate 5^ by 6^ inches 



24 

 30 



42 



■AV?, by 415-16 

 AY2 by SM 

 ■ AYa by Al4. 

 ■3H by 43-16 

 • 3^ by 3^ 



While grading, all bruised or inferior fruits should be thrown out, and the fruits in 

 every package should be just as nearly of a uniform size as possible. 



In packing, each fruit should be carefully wrapped in paper and then firmly placed in 

 the crate, so that the fruits will not move in transit. A packing 'diagram is as follows 

 for the different grades : 



Eighteen fruits to the crate are packed with 3 layers of 3 fruits each, in each end 

 of the crate. 



Twenty-four fruits to the crate are packed with 3 layers of 4 fruits each, in each end 

 of the crate. 



Thirty fruits to the crate are packed with 3 layers of 5 fruits each, in each end 

 of the crate. 



Thirty-six fruits to the crate are packed with 3 layers of 6 fruits each, in each end 

 of the crate. 



Forty-two fruits to the crate are packed with 3 layers of 7 fruits each, in each end 

 of the crate. 



Forty-eight fruits to the crate are packed with 3 layers of 8 fruits each, in each end 

 of the crate. 



The name and address of the consignee should be carefully marked on each crate, and 

 also the number of fruits in the crate. 



Success with pineapples in this country is largely a question of the grower using 

 more care in handling the crop, first as to cultivation and later regarding the maturity of 

 the fruit and its careful grading and packing. Also the transportation companies should 

 furnish better facilities so that they could deliver the fruit more quickly and with 

 more care. 



VARIETIES. 



In comparison with many of our fruits, the pineapples has very few varieties, and 

 of these only a part enter into the commercial side of the question. A number of choice 

 kinds could be grown commercially if transportation facilities were better, but very few 

 sorts will stand the present rough handling and long delays so as to come into the market 

 in good condition. 



Red Spanish. — This is the only variety that it is profitable to grow on a commercial 

 scale at the present time, though some others are grown in a small way. The Red 

 Spanish is a very strong, hardy, vigorous variety. The fruit is small to medium, weigthing 

 from two to eight pounds ; the color when fully ripe is a dull, reddish yellow. The fruit 

 stem is large and stiff, and very seldom bends so as to expose one side of the -fruit to 

 the sun as is common with many varieties. The flesh is a pale yellowish-white very 

 solid and firm, rather coarse and juicy; flavor poor, being very acid unless fully ripened 

 on the plant. As a pine for home use it is not to be compared with many other varieties, 



