274 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 437. 



of from three thousand to four thousand five hundred feet ; 

 it does not, however, exist on the mountain ranges of Spain, 

 where, in the south, it is replaced by Abies Pinsapo, a spe- 

 cies with quadrangular leaves. . 



Hale, Switzerland. U- CflriSl. 



Pineapple-growing in Florida. 



LOCATION. 



UNLIKE the cultivation of Oranges, which is a general 

 industry in Florida, Pineapple-growing is extremely 

 local. While there is one general region whose main in- 

 vestment is in Pineapple-growing, there are several smaller 

 districts which make this a prominent industry. The 

 northernmost place where this industry is carried on to a 

 considerable extent is Orlando. The surface of the coun- 

 try is level and only slightly raised above the water in the 

 lakes. There is no eminence which can be dignified as a 

 hill. The soil is generally sandy, with considerable vege- 

 table matter intermixed, as a rule, and, as a whole, excel- 

 lent for Orange groves, except that much of it needs 

 draining. Well-drained and elevated places are the best 

 for Pineapple-growing. Unbroken tracts fifteen or twenty 

 acres in extent, with all the requisites naturally suitable 

 for this crop, are not common. This section is far enough 

 south to be protected from most of the heavy winter frosts, 

 and but few light frosts occur. Such a heavy freeze as 

 occurred in December, 1S94, is fatal to Pineapple cultiva- 

 tion. Slight frosts are not unknown here as late as the 

 20th of March. 



Avon Park is located about sixty miles south of Orlando, 

 in a high, dry, flat woods country. Flat woods is the local 

 name for the level Pine woods land. This district has a 

 greater elevation than Orlando and is more exempt from 

 slight frosts. As a whole, this section is rather drier than 

 typical Orange land. This district has no railway commu- 

 nication, consequently the industry cannot be carried on 

 very extensively. 



Myers is located on the south banks of the Caloossa- 

 hatchee River, and about 150 miles south of Orlando. 

 While Pineapples are not extensively cultivated here, the 

 industry is of sufficient importance to attract the notice of 

 commercial carriers. The fruit has to be carried in small 

 sailboats and transferred to cars at convenient points. 

 While the land is usually low, it is at some places rolling, 

 and usually covered with Pine-woods. The Pineapples are 

 grown largely, however, on the drained land. The ideal 

 land for Pineapples is not met in this section. This is 

 more than compensated for in the fact that frosts rarely 

 occur, and even the most severe freezes have not been 

 sufficient to destroy the oranges or pineapples in this sec- 

 tion. A frost is exceptional in this part of the country. 

 Tomatoes are grown here for the winter markets. When 

 the railroad shall have reached this section it will doubtless 

 become one of the important centres for raising pineapples. 



The keys are coraline islands skirting the southern coast 

 of Florida. They range in size from a few square rods to 

 many acres, and from sterile to fertile. Here are ideal con- 

 ditions for the cultivation of Pineapples. The climate is 

 largely affected by the trade winds and Gulf stream, and 

 the year is divided into wet and dry seasons. On many of 

 the islands frosts are almost unknown. The formation 

 permits free drainage. The industry began on these 

 islands, but it is not carried on so extensively nor so in- 

 tensively as on the mainland. 



East Coast is the general term given to the section along 

 the Atlantic coast from the north end of the Indian River 

 to the lower end of liiscayne Bay. The Pineapple section 

 of this country begins near Melbourne, or a little north, and 

 stretches about 200 miles south. On the west shore of the 

 Indian River, or, more properly speaking, on the coast of 

 the mainland, the land is made up largely of sand dunes, 

 and for some distance back from the immediate shore the 

 country has the character of old sand dunes overgrown 

 with vegetation. The soil is generally rather coarse sand, 

 with usually a slight amount of vegetable matter, it often 



running as low as three per cent., and Pineapples have 

 been planted on land containing even less vegetable mat- 

 ter. This high, dry, sterile sand is considered the ideal soil 

 for Pineapples by the growers of the east coast, and can be 

 obtained in unbroken blocks of hundreds of acres. The 

 sand dunes sometimes rise to the dignity of hills, but all 

 have a gentle undulating character. It should be under- 

 stood that the portions planted to Pineapples are not the 

 newly formed sand dunes, nor always those on the imme- 

 diate coast. At several places, as in Jensen, the Pineapple- 

 fields run down to the edge of the water, there being no 

 barren sand dunes in this section. The land some miles 

 back in the country has not been used for Pineapple-grow- 

 ing, though much of it is suitable. The section imme- 

 diately north of Melbourne is visited by slight frosts about 

 once in three or four years, and freezes sometimes occur, 

 but if the winds happen to be from the north-east, as they 

 usually are during frosts in the interior, there is no great 

 danger to the islands or along the immediate coast of the 

 Indian River. The warmth given off by the adjacent 

 waters is usually sufficient protection, and this whole sec- 

 tion is more exempt from freezes than any other portion of 

 the state in the same latitude, consequently Pineapple- 

 growing without protection is carried on much farther 

 north along the east coast than in any other part of 

 Florida. Though the freezes of December, 1894, and Feb- 

 ruary, 1S95, were severely felt, the damage was compara- 

 tively light, as was shown by the amount of fruit shipped 

 from this section during the summer of 1895. 



SOIL. 



The ideal soil for Pineapple-growing, as stated before, is 

 high, dry sand, with but a very small percentage of vege- 

 table matter; not that the latter is disadvantageous, but 

 there are other conditions governing the introduction of 

 vegetable matter which are at times detrimental to the 

 growth of this plant. There is no doubt that low sandy 

 land containing much vegetable matter, when well drained 

 and made perfectly dry, is a favorable soil for this crop. 

 It is not uncommon to select sterile land and supply the 

 vegetable matter as a fertilizer, usually in the form of cot- 

 ton-seed meal. Drainage is of first importance and may 

 be natural or artificial, and irrigation is needed. Flat land 

 must be drained during the rainy season and irrigated dur- 

 ing the dry, to obtain the best results. The field is prepared 

 with much more care than is usually given for a vegetable 

 crop. All debris is removed. Slight depressions are filled 

 in and sharp elevations cut down, so as to make the land 

 either quite level or gently undulating. 



CULTIVATION. 



After the field has been thoroughly cleared it is laid off 

 in checks. The usual distances are from one and one-half 

 feet to two and one-half feet. Roads are provided for 

 travel and to cart the gathered fruit, and these vary from a 

 few feet to ten or fifteen rods apart. The breaking of the 

 leaves is injurious to the crop, and most of the work has to 

 be done by hand. During its early growth a hoe of the 

 ordinary sort may be used, but later it is necessary to use 

 a shuffle hoe, to cut the weeds under the leaves. The root- 

 system of this plant is weak and the plants cannot stand 

 alone, but require the support of their neighbors by brac- 

 ing themselves with their leaves. Various kinds of ferti- 

 lizers have been used, with varying degrees of success. 

 Stable manure is desirable where it can be obtained at a 

 reasonable price. The industry is too new to give definite 

 information, and it is only certain that some kind of ferti- 

 lizer should be used. 



VARIETIES. 



The Red Spanish variety is probably most widely grown 

 and one of the earliest introduced. While stil" quite popu- 

 lar it is being rapidly crowded out by finer varieties. It is 

 grown largely on the keys. It is a small fruit of good 

 flavor. Smooth Cayenne has one desirable feature which 

 serves at the same time as a means for recognizing it — 

 that is, the edges of its leaves are quite free from serrations. 



