98 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
now unless crop rotation will restore 
it. We have grubbed the plants off the 
land, turned them under, and planted 
velvet beans. We hope to starve out the 
nematodes. 
But if we find the nematodes are still 
there after a year, we will plant natal 
grass and turn that under, still with the 
idea of putting back the fertility in the 
land. If after three years of crop rota¬ 
tion, pineapples cannot be grown, the 
pineapple industry on the East Coast, 
taken as a whole, is doomed. On the 
West Coast, from Haines City south, you 
have land similar in character to the land 
on the East Coast of Florida. It may be 
possible the industry could be started in 
that part of the state, but a location must 
be found that is as immune from frost 
as is the ridge south of Fort Pierce, front¬ 
ing the Indian River with water protec¬ 
tion as we have on the west of the ridge. 
I have planted four acres of limes on 
our worn out pineapple lands, and I am 
assured by our agricultural bureau that 
we can grow them there. During the 
freeze, I had lime trees fourteen inches 
high that received very little damage. 
Large lime trees were scarcely damaged 
at all; on one or two trees a single branch 
was injured enough to cut back. 
We can grow limes, avocados, man¬ 
gos, velvet beans and natal grass, and 
we are seeking for something else that 
can be grown that will yield a commercial 
profit. Pineapples have been a great 
product, and the culture of pineapples has 
turned thousands of dollars into the pock¬ 
ets of the grower. Now we are seeking 
to find something else as staple as pine¬ 
apples, to give us large profits. 
