19 
These data show that a considerably greater amount of sucrose w 
deposited in the lower and more protected portion of the fruit. This 
may be partially accounted for by the fact that the ripening process 
is abnormal in character and more hastened in the blanched portion 
of the fruit. There seems to be no evidence for believing that the 
hydrolysis of starch in the stalk and the diffusing of sugars to the 
fruit continues after the fruit becomes thoroughly ripe, even if it 
be left attached to the plant. The period of transference of sugars 
to the blanched portion of such pineapples, therefore, is shorter and 
consequently it should contain less sugars. In addition, osmosis may 
in some way be modified by the effects of direct rays of the sun on 
the fruit. 
SUMMARY. 
The root system of pineapples is very variable and particularly 
sensitive to adverse soil conditions. When grown in manganiferous 
soil the roots are less extensive and the ends of the roots are charac- 
terized by the development of swollen tips, the appearance of which 
seems to mark the cessation of the lateral growth of the roots, death 
and decay immediately following their development. The cells im- 
mediately beneath the epidermis of the roots are also somewhat more 
brown than are normal roots. 
The stem of pineapples serves as a repository for starch and con- 
tains large amounts of this substance. 
The leaves of pineapples in common with other members of Brome- 
liaceaa contain several rows of palisade cells which contain nothing 
but cell sap, and the chlorophyll is confined to the spongy paren- 
chyma in the lower three-fifths of the leaf. The fruit contains only 
faint traces of starch during early growth and when it reaches 
maturity starch is absent from it. 
The most conspicuous effect of manganese on this plant is seen in 
the bleaching of the chlorophyll which first begins to fade, the 
chloroplasts lose their organized structure, and later the color dis- 
appears altogether. Oxalate of calcium is much more abundant in 
pineapple plants growing on manganiferous soils. The ash of such 
plants also contains considerably more lime and less phosphorus 
pentoxid and magnesia than when grown on normal soils. 
During the growth of the fruit relatively small amounts of sugars 
are stored in it, but within the short period of normal ripening there 
is a rapid accumulation of sugars in the fruit. Pineapples gathered 
green do not develop a normal sugar content in subsequent ripening. 
The sugars of the fruit are derived from the starch previously stored 
in the stalk. 
[Bull. 28] 
