THE PINEAPPLE. 
THIS tropical fruit is so-called 
from its resemblance in form 
and appearance to the cones of 
some species of pine. Its 
botanical name in most general use is 
Ananassa sativa, but some botanists 
who do not regard it as distinct from 
Bromelia, call it B. ananas. The Bro- 
meliacece, to which it belongs, are a 
small family of endogenous plants, 
quite closely related to the canna, 
ginger, and banana families, and dif- 
fering from them in having nearly 
regular flowers and six stamens, all 
perfect. As the pineapple has become 
naturalized in parts of Asia and Africa, 
its American origin has been disputed, 
but there is little doubt that it is a 
native of Brazil, and perhaps some of 
the Antilles, now a part of the domain 
of the United States. This fruit is a 
biennial, with the habit of the Aloe, 
but with much thinner leaves. In cul- 
tivation it early produces seeds but, in 
ripening, the whole flower cluster un- 
dergoes a remarkable change; all parts 
become enormously enlarged, and when 
quite ripe, fleshy and very succulent, 
being pervaded by a saccharine and 
highly flavored juice. Instead of being 
a fruit in the strict botanical sense of 
the term, it is an aggregation of acces- 
sory parts, of which the fruit proper 
forms but a very small portion. 
The first pineapples known in Eng 
land were sent as a present to Oliver 
Cromwell; the first cultivated in that 
country were raised in about 1715, 
though they were grown in Holland in 
the preceding century. The success- 
ful cultivation of the fruit was early 
considered one of the highest achieve- 
ments in horticulture, and the works 
of a few years ago are tediously elab- 
orate in their instructions; but the mat- 
ter has been so much simplified that 
anyone who can command the proper 
temperature and moisture may expect 
success. 
For many years pineapples have 
been taken from the West Indies to 
England in considerable quantities, 
but the fruit is so inferior to that raised 
under glass that its cultivation for 
market is prosecuted with success. 
The largest fruit on record, as the prod- 
uce of the English pineries, weighed 
fourteen pounds and twelve ounces. 
Better West Indian pineapples are sold 
in our markets than in thoseof England, 
as we are nearer the places of growth. 
The business of canning this fruit is 
largely pursued at Nassau, New Provi- 
dence, whence many are also exported 
whole. The business has grown greatly 
within a few years, and now that 
the United States is in possession of 
the West Indian islands, exportations 
may be expected to increase and the 
demand satisfied. 
More than fifty varieties of the pine- 
apple are enumerated. The plant is 
evidently very variable, and when 
South America was first visited by 
Europeans, they found the natives 
cultivating three distinct species. Some 
varieties, with proper management, 
will be in fruit in about eighteen 
months from the time the suckers are 
rooted. The juice oi the pineapple is 
largely used in flavoring ices and 
syrups for soda-water; the expressed 
juice is put into bottles heated through 
by means of a water bath and securely 
corked while hot. If stored in a cool 
place it will preserve its flavor per- 
fectly for a year. The unripe fruit is 
very acrid, and its juice in tropical 
countries is used as a vermifuge. The 
leaves contain an abundance of strong 
and very fine fibers, which are some- 
times woven into fabrics of great deli- 
cacy and lightness. 
Nor is it every apple I desire; 
Nor that which pleases every palate best; 
"Tis not the lasting- pine that I require, 
Nor yet the red-cheeked greening I re- 
quest, 
Nor that which first beshrewed the name of 
wife, 
Nor that whose beauty caused the golden 
strife. 
No, no! bring me an apple from the tree of 
life. 
C. C. M. 
110 
