68o 



THE PINEAPPLE. 



enne stalk, the result of crossing, the effects of which prob- 

 abl}' extended to the crown above and the slips immediately 

 below it. Plants are multiplied by the crown at the top of 

 the fruit, the slips which cluster about its base, the suckers 

 near the foot of the stalk, or the ratoons from the root. If the 



variety be scarce and va- 

 luable, additional plants 

 may be produced from 

 cuttings of the stem, 

 which contain dormant 

 axillary buds, but these 

 are slow in sprouting 

 and require a long time 

 to become established. 

 Suckers are preferred 

 as being much the 

 strongest and soonest 

 to arrive at maturity. 

 Ripe apples may be 

 expected from them in 

 twelve months, and 

 from slips and crowns 

 inside of two years. 

 Each stalk bears but 

 once and is renewed by 

 the suckers, which, ex- 

 cept in a plant of extra- 

 ordinary vigor, should 

 be thinned out to one or two ; if more are left the fruit will be 

 small and inferior. The natural increase of the pineapple is 

 exceedingly rapid. Starting with a single fruiting plant, and 

 using all the slips and suckers as they mature, it has been 

 estimated that, if all grew, the number in a dozen years would 

 occupy more than sixteen acres, allowing ten thousand plants 

 to the acre. 



Cultivation. 



Pig. 837.— Manner of Growth of Pineapples. 



Exemption from frosts in winter, combined with a season of 

 prolonged heat in summer, are requisites to success. From 

 seventy degrees to seventy-eight degrees may be considered 



