162 



Billy Dun. 



Insoluble Residue .. 80.71 o/o 



Humus . . . . 1 . :$2 



Nitrogen .. .. .0770 



Total Phosphoric Acid .0973 



Available Phosphoric Acid .. .0411 



Total Potash . . . . ... 0274 



Available Potash .. .0084 



Total Lime .. .6606 



The soils of Florida are so barren that the cane or banana planter of 

 Jamaica would pass them by in contempt, yet these soils are made pro- 

 ductive and profitable by intelligent use of green manures and com- 

 mercial fertilizers, as well as by scientific and up-to-date methods of 

 cultivation. Barren as they are, they give in mechanical condition 

 just what the pineapple desires. Stiff, hard, lumpy soils are absolutely 

 unsuitable. If you will strip the lower leaves from a pine sucker you 

 will note that the rootlets are already pressed close to the but. Now, 

 if when planted these rootlets encoun er soil, or lumps of soil difficult to 

 penetrate, they continue this winding instead of spreading freely 

 through the earth, resulting in what is known as " tangle root" and the 

 consequent death or stunting of the plant. 



I have heard the argument used that whereas the pinguin is allied 

 to the pineapple, therefore any soil upon which the pinguin thrives is 

 suitable for pineapple growing. This is very superficial logic however 

 for it is also true that the Tillandsias and Bromelias are related to the 

 pine, yet I do not think that anyone has advocated setting pineapple 

 plants in the branches of the forest trees. Choose the lightest, sandiest 

 soil you can find. Fertility is of secondary importance. 



Preparation of the Land. 



Yery few soils exist in Jamaica naturally light enough to give the 

 ideal conditions desirable for the pineapple. We must therefore pre- 

 pare the land we have selected with the utmost care, being thankful 

 tbat this increased expense is fully offset by the greater fertility we 

 enjoy here. The land must be thoroughly cleared of all trees and 

 roots and the soil well worked with plough or fork until it is as fine 

 as the seed bed of ihe market gardener. Drainage is of as great im- 

 portance as the soil itself, no plant being more intolerant of excessive 

 moisture. In St. Thomas- ye- Yale I find it necessary to run ditches as 

 close as twenty feet apart. In St. Andrew forty feet apart will an- 

 swer — the ditches being two feet wide and eighteen inches deep. The 

 land between the ditches is divided into beds 10 to 12 feet wide with 

 a four feet path separating the beds. The land should be carefully 

 marked out for planting and it is well to continually bear in mind the 

 fact that we are to engage in intensive cultivation. 



Propagation. 



The pineapple is propagated by suckers, ratoons, slips, crowns, and 

 seeds. The word " sucker" is used so indiscriminately in Jamaica, 

 often referring indeed to young orange seedlings, tomato plants, &c, 

 hit [mi y be pardoned for defining these terms : — 



