450 



THE PINE-APPLE. 



is left from stem to stern for admission. The fruit is then placed, 

 with a portion of its foliage on, to protect it from bruising, in layers 

 of about four pines deep, upon racks, which are built to prevent the 

 great pressure that would otherwise be upon the lower portion of 

 the fruit. 



Within the last three or four years a steam factory for preserving 

 pine-apples has been started at Nassau, New Providence. In 1872, 

 494:5213 cans of pine-apples, valued at 8190Z., were preserved and 

 exported, chiefly to the United States. In 1873 the value of the 

 canned fruit shipped was 14,700Z. 



There is a large local demand for tinning it, and 113,000 dozen 

 fruit were bought by one firm at Nassau, filling more than 1,000,000 

 cans with sliced pine-apples. For canning, the pines are required 

 fully ripe, and to average 15 inches in circumference, none to be 

 less than the usual shipping sizes, 13 inches and 12 inches for first 

 and second cutting scarlet, and 12 inches and 11 inches for sugar-loaf. 



The operation of peeling and slicing is performed on tables in the 

 yards of the waterside premises, over which an awning is placed to 

 protect the operators from the influence of the sun. About 20,000 

 pine-apples are peeled and 12,675 cans filled in a day. The cans 

 are carried to the warehouse on wooden trays (each containing 15), to 

 be immersed in syrup. The tops of the cans are soldered on, and 

 they are lowered in an iron framework, 400 and 500 at a time, 

 into the steam boiling vats. After boiling, the cans are perforated at 

 the top to allow the steam to escape. They are then hermetically 

 sealed, and spread over the yard to cool. Each can of fruit, before 

 the syrup is added, weighs 2 lbs. 



Mr. H. Spruyt, Professor of Agriculture at the School of Vilvorde, 

 gives, in his ' J ardin Potager,' some very useful instructions as to the 

 cultivation and selection of pine-apples in Europe. These will be 

 found reprinted in the well-known periodical, ' Belgique Horticole,' 

 for 1871, pp. 324-339. 



As it does not seed, this plant is proj)agated by suckers. Occasion- 

 ally the crown of the fruit (the small aggregated mass of leaves) is 

 planted ; but as this requires three years to arrive at fruit-bearing, 

 and the suckers only take 12 or 18 months, the suckers are preferred 

 for propagation. They should be planted in rich red soil, about 18 

 inches apart, and weeded every three months. Careful cultivation 

 greatly improves the size and flavom' of the fruit. In the Botanical 

 Gardens of Singapore the enormous golden yellow fruit measure 

 often 4 feet long by 9 inches wide, forming a remarkable contrast to 

 the puny pine-apples which appear on the London fruit-stalls. A 

 field of wild pine-apples, such aS cover many of the islands in the 

 Straits of Malacca, is almost as inaccessible as a field of cacti, and 

 the leaves, with their sharp points, are a formidable obstacle to the 

 naked legs of the marauders who desire to obtain the fruit. 



New York now almost monopolises the trade in pine-apples from 

 the West Indies. In 1854, 20 cargoes, averaging 80,000 dozen per 

 ship, were imported there from Cuba, 20,000 dozen from St. Bar- 

 tholomew, and 200,000 dozen from the Bahamas. The shipments 

 from the Bahamas in the three years ending 1870 averaged 290,000 



