Edible Products. 



30 



[January, 1910. 



Seasons for Planting and 

 Harvesting. 

 The planting season in the Philippines 

 is during the months of July and August. 

 The young rattoons and suckers are 

 gathered from the old plantations and 

 planted in a clay-loam soil about 5 to 

 7"5 centimeters deep and from 60 to 80 

 centimeters apart. At the time of plant- 

 ing such fruit trees as the "lanea" 

 (Artocarpus integrifolia), "guayaba" 

 (Fsidium guayava L.), " santol " (San- 

 doricum indicum L.), "mabolo" (Dios- 

 pyros discolor Willd.) are set out to 

 shade the new plantation. About 40 to 

 60 per* cent, of the plants bloom during 

 the months of February and March of 

 their second year of growth, and the 

 fruits are harvested in the months of 

 May, June, and July. In most provinces 

 the fruits are consumed in the locality 

 where they are produced, but in Bataan 

 and Bulacan the product is sold to 

 local dealers who in turn ship it to 

 Manila for sale in the raw condition. 

 Commercially speaking, none has yet 

 been prepared or canned for home con- 

 sumption or for export. The fruits are 

 usually sold without even being graded 

 for size and quality, all of which means 

 a reduction in the selling price. 



Estimated Expense and Income. 

 The following estimate of the expenses 

 and the income from a pineapple plant- 

 ation of one hectare was given me by 

 some of the growers. This will give 

 prospective investors an idea of the 

 present cost of production and the 

 annual receipts from one hectare of land 

 planted with pineapples. 



Expense or capital invested. 



1. Average cost of a hectare of 



land (P150 to P300) ...P225-00 



2. Tools, " dulos," a spatula like 



bolo, and a bolo ... ... 5'00 



8. Cost of clearing of brush and 



timber land ... ... 30-00 



4. Cost of planting (20,836 suck- 



ers), at P2 per 1,000 ... 41-67 



5. Cost of harvesting 10,417 fruits, 



at PI -50 per 1,000 ... 15-63 



6. Tax, at six-eighths of 1 per cent 



of the land value, for two y ears 3'36 



Total ... 320-66 



Income. 



Prom 40 to 60 per cent, of the 20,835 

 plants will produce about 10,400 fruits, 

 which sell at from P3 to P5 a hundred, 

 giving a total income of at least P416 

 for the first year. This shows that for 

 the first year of production the returns 

 are mucii greater than the total ex- 

 pense or the capital invested ; while 



for the succeeding years the only ex- 

 pense would be for cultivation and 

 harvesting, which when intelligently 

 carried on with the judicious use of 

 fertilizers would give a continual in- 

 crease in the income of the grower. 



Suggestions. 

 With an industry which has received 

 so little attention it would seem proper 

 that some elementary directions be 

 given for the improvement of the Philip- 

 pine product. 



Selection. — We must resort to proper 

 selection or crossing of the individual 

 plants to obtain a greater number of 

 bearing plants, say not less than 80 

 per cent., to raise larger fruits, not 

 less than 1-38 kilograms, and at the 

 same time a better quality of fruit. 

 Of course to maintain such desirable 

 characteristics we must give the field 

 proper cultivation and use of fertilizers. 



Cultivation,— In the way of cultiva- 

 tion, hoeing can be done thred or four 

 times a year, enough to stir the sur- 

 face of the soil around each plant to 

 hold the moisture as well as to kill the 

 weeds. In the first place, a sandy soil 

 should be selected as it is usually free 

 from obnoxious grasses and it forms a 

 desirable bed for the pineapple, owing 

 to its great looseness and porosity. 

 The superfluous leaves, rattoons, suckers, 

 and slips should all be destroyed, un- 

 less the rattoon or the lowest sucker 

 must be saved to take the place of the 

 mother plant. Good cultivation will 

 act as a remedy to the disease known 

 as "tangleroot," which is characteriz- 

 ed by the roots growing round and 

 round the stem or tap root in search 

 of food instead of reaching out into 

 the ground. Of course, to facilitate 

 hoeing and cleaning, an ample space 

 between the plants should be allowed, 

 for instance, about 80 centimeters be- 

 tween the plants in rows about 120 

 centimeters apart. 



Fertilizers. -At the end of a period of 

 about eight years the old plantation 

 must be all cleaned and ploughed under 

 with some manure or fertilizer to restore 

 the elements which have been taken 

 from the soil. It has often been said 

 that our soils in the Philippines are very 

 fertile, but "Where does their fertility 

 goto?" It often goes to waste without 

 farmers paying any attention to return- 

 ing it to the soil. It has been found by 

 scientific agriculturists that an applica- 

 tion to the soil of the proper kind of 

 fertilizers containing nitrogen, potas- 

 sium, and phosphorus in the necessary 

 proportions will improve the fruit or 

 the plant, and sometimes both, and thus 



