FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
181 
prevent the irresponsible element from 
again entering the field; for the fertil¬ 
izer manufacturer, the crate manufac¬ 
turer, and others who were so kind as 
to advance their wares to all classes alike 
are more cautious now; for they can 
show you with feelings of emotion many 
entries on their ledgers in red ink—a 
standing monument to the folly of be¬ 
lieving, or at least having acted as if 
they did believe, that every man, black, 
yellow, white or what not, was a pre¬ 
ordained and predestined success in the 
profitable growing and marketing of 
pineapples. Approach the possessers oi 
ledgers with those red ink decorations 
now and they want your pedigree and a 
bank endorsement—a condition which is 
the correct basis for sound business op¬ 
erations and the proper protection for 
the legitimate grower. 
This of itself is one of the most potent 
factors in placing the business on a 
sound commercial basis; for, like all oth¬ 
er things, in the end it is the survival of 
the fittest; and, as the requirements of 
advanced business demand brains, skill, 
and co-operation, there always have been 
and always will be men and women to 
measure up to those requirements and to 
carry on to success any and all enter¬ 
prises in this country. 
Pineapple growing, having gone 
through the vicissitudes which sooner or 
later come to all business ventures, has 
practically eliminated the impractical and 
irresponsible element, and is assuming a 
strictly up-to-date plan and method of 
procedure. 
In the old days, every man who op¬ 
erated a “patch” had his individual stamp 
or stencil with which he shipped to his 
individual commission merchant; he had 
his individual ideas about picking, pack¬ 
ing and shipping his pineapples into the 
markets. The country was full of these 
pineapple “kings,” all acting separately, 
and in open competition with each other. 
Today these “kings” are out of the game, 
and the capers that they cut and the 
trouble they brought on themselves and 
others who were powerless to persuade 
them from their suicidal course crystal- 
ized the movement for consolidation and 
co-operation, which is another important 
factor that places the business on a surer 
footing. We do not mean that the best 
possible method is now in operation, but 
that it is far in advance of what it was 
in years past. 
We have, of course, to consider the 
competition from Cuba and Porto Rico; 
and, while it is formidable, it is not suffi¬ 
cient to cause us to lose faith or interest, 
for the soils of both Cuba and (Porto 
Rico where their pineapples are grown 
are admirably suited to the profitable 
growing of the more staple crops, such 
as tobacco, sugar cane and other articles 
of common use, so that when profits on 
pineapples get too low, they can, with 
little expense, change to something else 
which, while it may not pay as large a 
profit as pineapples did at one time, the 
difference would be overcome by the cer¬ 
tainty of the markets for a product that 
is steadily in demand as a necessity. 
On the other hand, the Florida soil on 
which pineapples are grown is unsuited 
for almost any other crop; yet, with our 
past experience, we are firmly of the 
opinion that by the economical plan of 
