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CULTIVATION. 



On account of the shallow root growth and the close planting, 

 cultivation is confined almost entirely to hand work. With the single- 

 row or narrow-bed system some horse work can be done the first- 

 season, but after that the leaves interlace and with horse cultivation 

 more or less damage is caused by breaking and tearing the leaves. 

 The extent of the damage compared with the difference in the cost 

 of cultivating will naturally determine the best method to be em- 

 ployed, but some hand work will always be necessary. On the sandy 

 soils in Florida the scuffle hoe is generally used, but on the heavier 

 soils in the West Indies it is necessary to use the ordinary hand hoe, 

 not alone on account of the heavier soil, but also because of the 

 much more abundant growth of weeds. Wherever the land is weedy, 

 cultivation should be strictly attended to, because a crop of weeds 

 is detrimental to the growth of the pineapple plant ; and if left to 

 grow, large weeds are much more difficult to eradicate than if at- 

 tended to in time. 



FERTILIZERS. 



A great many soils in the West Indies can produce pineapples 

 without being fertilized, but the writers have not noted a single in- 

 stance where an application of the proper kind of fertilizer did not 

 exert a beneficial influence, either on the fruit or on the plant or 

 on both. Although the pineapple belongs to the natural order of 

 Bromeliaceae, many of which are air plants, the pineapple requires 

 more than air for its development. It is true that it does grow in 

 poor soils, but the Florida planter learned many years ago that no 

 fertilizer meant few pineapples, most of which were too small to 

 ship. In the West Indies the rich soils always produce the largest 

 plants but never the best grade of fruit, and here fertilizers be- 

 come necessary in order to improve the quality. 



ACTION OF FERTILIZERS. 



In dealing with fertilizers the only elements in which we are 

 interested are nitrogen, potash, and phosphorus. The action of 

 nitrogen is especially in the formation of foliage: therefore a soil 

 containing large amounts of it compared with potash and phos- 

 phorus rjroduces large plants. For fruit, potash is the ingredient 

 especially needed, and its role seems to be to give firmness and ship- 

 ping quality as well as flavor. The stimulating action of a fer- 

 tilizer can often be detected in the plants a few clays after it has 

 been applied, and with a little experience the grower can tell when 

 his plants need fertilizing. The lack of fertilizer is usually mani- 

 fested in a turning of the leaves from dark to a lighter green, and 



