7U THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [May I, 1902. 
Necessity has no law ! — Ed.) — Journal of Horticulture- 
Cottage Gardener. 
PINEAPPLES AND THEIR VARIETIES. 
We have received the followins; letter from Mr. J. 0. 
Harvey, of " Baena Ventura" Plantation, Isthmas of 
Tehufttenpeo, San Juan, Evaugalista, P.O. V.C. Mexico 
Dated 25th Nov., 1901, and which is worthy of publi- 
cation :— 
In the 0(3tober issue of the " Tropic il Agriculturist', 
I note an article signed J. B., copied from the Journal 
of your Soaiety, re Pineapples, and although my 
principal interest here ia Rubber and Cacao I take a 
special interest in all fruits, if only for home use, and 
have according to invoice of some two years ago some 
(2) varieties of pines — besides two sorts which I know 
nothing ot. As a Britisher I hope I may be privileged 
to ask you. a few questions, and also desire to submit 
a proposition. First, however, is there any difference 
between Smooth C tyenne and Kew Giant ? also, as 
between Golden Qasen and Egyptian Queen ? Do you 
know anything of a pine called Black Antigua ? also 
Mauritius? What is Ripley Queen as against Jamaica 
Ripley ? Is there such a pine as Trinidad ? To my 
mind, pine nomenclature seems very much mixed. 
What i» Black Jamaica ? All these pines I have at 
least sent to me by a Florida specialist. Now as to 
my proposition. I have a pine here embracing in my 
opinion every good quality a pine should have, it was 
introduced four years ago direct from Guatemala — 
or lack of a name I ca'ljit "White Guitemala Spialeess" 
— it is absolutely smooth and has much the appearance 
of Smooth Cayenne, that is to siy, the plant. You 
doubtless are aware, that smooth (Jayenne, has a very 
few short spines at the extremity of everj leaf, and 
that the fleih is yellow, this plant has absolutely no 
spines whatever, and the flesh is almost snow white — 
Bweet yet with a sprightly subacid, yet not stinging 
taete as some have — the fruit is technically smooth, 
not shouldered, nor yet conical — in fact, perfect ia 
form — reaches with me with practically no cultivation 
7 lb., if the suckers are taken at the right sizs ripens 
from end of January to June, and even July according 
to planting, core never woody — from the facl that I 
have had them in the house 10 d*ys for perfect ripan- 
ing should be a good marketer; it is a vigorous plant 
and makes plenty of slips or offsets .-though not such 
a great number as Golden Queen does — anyway, a 
strong plant that can be calculated to give from 8 to 
15 for propagation annually. I canot fiiiJ any account 
of a pine in either Florida or the West Indies, 
agreeing with these characteristics, and I feel sore it 
w'ould be a most valuable addition to your list of 
pines, I may say as regards soil that this pine 
seems to grow remarkably well in heavy soil, and in a 
much damptr situation than many others I have, 
indeed some rot away completely at the roots under 
similar conditions, and have to be planted in selected 
situations — it also appears to do well in moderate y 
dry places, though I think on the whole it is best 
adapted to moderately damp situations in rather 
heavy rich soil. Our rainfall here is 100 inches distri- 
bated over eight months, the bulk of the rainfall how- 
ever occurs from May to October after which occasional 
rains till middle of February. March, April, and the 
moit of May hot and dry. 
Now what 1 desire to say is that I should like to 
get the following: — 2 Rothschilds, 2 Ripley (red), 2 
llipley (green), 1 Sugar Loaf, 2 Bullhead, 2 Black, 2 
Cowboy, 2 Cheese, 2 Sam Clark, 2 Jerusalem — 19 Slips 
for which I will s«nd an equal number of offsets of the 
White Guatemala Spineless, thev can be sent either 
way by mail — that is between Mexico and Jamaica. 
I, of course, do not know whether you can attend to 
thiH yourself personally, if not, will yor kindly com. 
rnnnicate with some grower that would care to do so, 
and advice at the earliest opportunity as I should 
greatly like to conclude the transaction before the dry 
Are your publications for sale, if so, kindly advise 
cost of subscription. 
We have replied as follows : — 
We are in receipt of your letter of the 25th Novem- 
ber, and have pleasure in replying to your queries as 
follows ; 
1. -«The Smooth Cayenne Pine Apple and Giant Kew 
are the same. 
2. — The Golden Queen and Egyptian Queen are two 
of the Queen varieties, (the Ripley .being a third.) 
They present similar characteristics but are not the 
same. 
3. — The Black Antigua is the common pine shipped 
in quantities from Antigua, 
4. — The Jamaica Ripley is the same as the Ripley 
Qneen, the Ripley being one of the Queen varieties. 
5. — We have never heard of any distinct variety 
Called " Trinidad." 
6. — It is indeed very desirable that pine nomenclature 
should be brought to some uniformity, now that in so 
many places pine culture is being put on a commercial 
basis. 
7. — Black Jamaica is often called Black Spanish. It 
has dark green leaves, shading to a darker hue, almost 
a blae-purple in the centre, and the leaves are hollow 
not open and flattish. The fruit is dark green, and 
is fit to eat before it shows any yellow or red. The 
leaves have little hooked prickles, not spines like the 
teeth of a saw, but set distinctly from each other. 
8. — We do not know the White Guatemala Spine- 
less, but all smooth-leaved varieties, so long as they 
are hard-fleshed and can carry well, are worth cultivat- 
ing, because of the facility for working when close- 
planted. Your description ot this variety almost fits 
our " Bull head," but our variety, although sometimes 
having entirely smooth leaves, has generally some 
prickles set irregularly on the leaves : sometimes in- 
deed the leaves are almost all prickly. The flssh of 
the Bull-head, when the pine is cultivated, is smooth, 
hard and white, with hardly any eyes, and has a sweet 
aoid flavour much as you describe. The '' Ball-head " 
also grows well in heavy soil, and though some Florida 
men have said it is the same as the Red Spanish, others 
have said it is not, — and we do not think it is. 
9. — We will send you three or four of the varieties 
you name, but Bull-head and Cowboy are the same 
and so are the Cheese and Sam Clark Pines. We shall' 
attend to this personally, |not knowing any one who will 
take the matter up in the spirit of an exchange. The 
subscription to our Agricultural " Journal " (copy sent 
herewith) is 43. par annum, and one shilling extra to 
foreign snbscribsrs. 
We have here : — 
Ripley— Red and Green. 
Golden Queen (which might be called Yellow Ripley.) 
Bull Head orCjwboy, (which is sometimes called 
Red Spanish, but is not.) 
Bam Clark, Queen, Cheese, Goffe Pine, Red Pine ; 
which we have called ' Red Jamaica." 
Sugar Loaf which you know. 
Black Pine or Black Jamaica. 
China Pines, very similar in general to the Black 
but presenting some difference when examined closely 
in shape and colour of leaf, in placing of spines, and 
in colour of fruit. These characteristics of China 
Pines will be closely noted during the coming fruiting 
season. 
Abbakas and Smooth Cayenne, imported from 
Florida and grown to a good extent here during these 
last few years. 
Rothschilds and Envilles, only grown here to the 
most limited extent as specimens. 
We have arranged tc get the pine suckers asked for 
sent, and on receiving the " White Guatemala Spine- 
less " suckers, will send them to the Public Gardens 
to be tried.— y/ie Journal of the Jamaica Agricultural 
Society, 
