FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
147 
rooted firmer. Usually about 12,500 Red 
Spanish slips are planted to the acre; 
twenty inches square being the proper 
distance. 
The ground is laid off with a marker 
which is pulled by a man, thereby giving 
you an even and symmetrical field. Plant¬ 
ing is done by the use of a trowel; the 
ground is simply broken and the slip is 
inserted to the depth of about one inch. 
Be sure not to set too deep. A slip set 
too deep becomes choked by the sand 
working into the bud and the plant does 
not make the proper growth. Equally 
as bad, however, is shallow setting, be¬ 
cause the wind blows the unrooted plant 
from its place. The point of proper set¬ 
ting cannot be overestimated and should 
receive the careful attention of every pine- 
apple grower. We have three methods of 
working pineapple plants; the most pop¬ 
ular as well as the best is shufflehoeing. 
This is done by means of a shuffle-hoe. 
When the plant is young you work care¬ 
fully up to the base of each plant, being 
sure Jo stir all of the ground. Opinions 
differ as to how often young plants 
should be shufflehoed; as for me, I do 
this early and often, every three weeks, 
if the ground is in the proper condition, 
until the plant becomes too large to per¬ 
mit. A small plough is used also to stir 
the ground in young fields; a rake is also 
used by some people, but it is much 
slower and more expensive. 
The shuffle-hoe is our most used tool, 
for with it are the trails kept clean of 
weeds and stirred, as well as the fields. 
Upon our sandy soils we have to fer¬ 
tilize extensively, almost from the time 
the plant is set, and continue to do so 
until the field has grown too old to bear 
properly. The question of fertilizing is 
an intricate one, requiring a great deal 
of study and close attention to details. 
10 
I have used Painter’s fertilizers for some 
time, with the best of results. It seems 
to be the census of opinion that a bearing 
field of pines should be fertilized twice 
a year.. What is called the summer ap¬ 
plication is usually put on about July 10th 
to 30th; and the fall application is put 
on about October 15th to 30th. It is 
almost impossible to tell formulas, be¬ 
cause of the differences in fields, age of 
plants and, last, the difference in land; 
there are not any two^ pieces of land which 
would require the same kind of fertilizer; 
climatic conditions change the whole 
status of affairs. 
The watch-word in shipping pineapples 
is carefulness in handling. Let it ever 
be the foremost idea in your mind, that 
a fall which will injure an egg will do 
the same to a pineapple. The first thing 
in shipping pines is the picking; upon this 
point lies success or failure; i. e., how 
to pick, when to pick, color and methods 
of picking. There are two ways to pick; 
first to snap the apple from the stalk; this 
is done by placing your knee or wrist 
against the stalk at the base of the ap¬ 
ple and giving a quick downward motion 
toward the body. If there are slips around 
the base of the apple, one should be re¬ 
moved. The snapping process is a very 
good one where the slips are not thick 
and when there has been rain, thus mak¬ 
ing the stalk brittle. The second method 
is by cutting with a knife; an ordinary 
all-metal oyster knife is the best; one or 
more slips, if necessary, are pushed off 
from the top of the stalk, the point of 
the knife is here inserted and the apple 
is removed by this method, the slips are 
saved, and it also prevents the apple from 
becoming plugged so it leaks and rots 
while in transit. The census of opinion 
is that the first-named method is the best, 
although many of the best growers use 
