33 



" At Clover, on the red soil of Mandeville, the pines were 

 grateful for manure, and Mr. Pa lac he has ascertained from the 

 experiments that the complete manure, 2 cwt. sulphate of 

 ammonia, 4 cwt. mixed phosphate, and 2 cwt. -sulphate of 

 potash, applied to plot 2 gave the biggest fruit and fruit of 

 the best quality. 



" The analysis show that this soil is of low fertility compared 

 with the others. 



" On the St. Catherine soil 80 per cent, of the Smooth 

 Cayenne may be expected to produce monstrosities. The high 

 content of nitrogen (six times the normal and sixteen times 

 that of the Florida soil) is undoubtedly one of the causes of 

 this extraordinary vegetative exuberance. 



" As has been mentioned pines are here usually grown with- 

 out manuring at all, and it is perhaps noteworthy that the 

 soils best adapted here or rather most largely used foi pine 

 cultivation are remarkably deficient in potash and lime. It is, 

 however, to be remarked that the pine fields of the Straits last 

 a considerably shorter time than those of the West Indies, and 

 the field pine is decidedly poor in flavour for dessert purposes, 

 though it seems well suited for tinning. The ordinary resident 

 is quite satisfied with the tinning pine, although he often 

 grumbles at the poorness of its quality, and he does not seem 

 to be aware of the fact that a better class of pine could easily 

 be grown here for direct eating with very little trouble. 



" The Chinese are said here to increase the size of pines by 

 cutting out the terminal shoot. This, though producing a 

 large pine, diminishes its sweetness. 



Amount of Pine per Acre. 



" The yield of pines in a crop in the West Indies appears to 

 be in good estates from 8,000 to 15,000 per acre. In the Malay 

 Peninsula it is usually about 5,000. But much depends on the 

 growth allowed as explained above if all the suckers are left 

 on the plant they will produce pines though small, while if 

 only one or two are left on the plant the pines are larger and 

 better. 



Cost of Pines. 



" The cost of pines varies from time to time according to the 

 supply, which depends on the season and on the weather. In 

 Singapore pines can be obtained pretty nearly always through- 



