126 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



preparing to plant more and more, in sheer delight at the " treas- 

 ure trove " he has discovered at his feet. 



Even the poorest pine land, with a yellow sub-soil close to 

 the surface, has been proved to give better plants and larger 

 fruits than rich hammock laud adjoining. 



Another mistake that is not made now so frequently as it 

 used to be, was setting the plants on moist land. The pine-apple 

 is closely allied to air plants, and therefore is not only a mod- 

 erate feeder, but also a moderate drinker ; its long narrow leaves 

 draw no small share of its required nutriment and moisture from 

 the air, leaving the roots little to do. 



Pine-apples, unlike most other fruits, are not propagated 

 from the seed, for it is a singular fact that not more than one 

 fruit in a million of the cultivated varieties contains a single 

 seed ; hence, if compelled to depend on seeds for their increase, 

 we should be badly off indeed. When seeds are found they are 

 regarded as great treasures, and carefully planted; for, from. this 

 source only, can new varieties be obtained ; sometimes they prove 

 valuable, more times not. 



The pine-apple plant, like the banana, bears fruit but once, 

 and then dies down; if the old root is left in the ground, suck- 

 ers rise up from the axes of the leaves near the ground. 



As soon as these attain a sufficient size, the root should be 

 lifted and cut, with one sucker to each piece, and these pieces 

 set where they are to stay. 



At the top of the fruit is a crest of leaves, called the crown, 

 and surrounding this, at its base, are other tufts, called crowdlets ; 

 while at the base of the fruit itself, surmounting the stem upon 

 which it grows, are still other off-sets, termed slips. Upon the 

 stalk which bears the pine are "eyes," which, treated like grape 

 cuttings, are also used to increase rare varieties. 



From these sources suckers, crowns, crownlets, and slips and 

 eyes, pine-appks are easily and abundantly propagated, and 

 these are usually sought after in the order named, from the idea 

 that suckers fruit first, crowns next, and so on. 



This, too, however, has been shown to be an erroneous im- 

 pression ; the fact is, that the size of the plant alone governs its 



