The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1891-12-10
DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES.
THE PINEAPPLE.

some weighing II to Is lbs. Great
care is taken in packing them to Sc
cure their arriving in England in
sound condition. The stalk is cut
several inches below the fruit: an
ordinary large sized flower pot is
then filed with mould, into which
the stalk is inserted in such q manner
that a casual observer would almost
take it to be the way it was grown.
Each pine is then put into skeleton
wooden case made just enough to
hold it, so that it can be safely
handled without the risk of being
bruised or injured. There are a
large number of varieties grown in
outdoor cultivation, and there is a
large export to England.
FLoRIDA.-Pineapple culture is
yet in It's infancy in Florida, but the
success that it has already met with
in some parts of the State promises
to establish it as one of its most pro-
fitable industries. The following
varieties have given the best salts
faction: Spanish, Sugar Loaf, Cay
enne (noted for its large fruit and
the absence of stickers on its leaves),
and the Egyptian Queen or Trinidad.
This latter is probably the first
variety grown in Florida: the fruit
is of large size, superior quality and
with an almost entire absence of the
toughuess noticeable in some varie-
ties. Cotton seed meal is found to
be the best fertilizer, and generally
fifteen thousand plants are put to the
acre, yielding an average of ten
thousand fruits. Three or four
annual crops are produced without
replanting. Last year a crop of
Egyptian Queen yielded to the
planter net income of seven hun
dred dollars per acre. The lowest
returns the same individual ever
received were three hundred dollars.
The net price received is from three
cents to twelve cents each, depend
ing upon size, quality, season and
condition of the market. But the
pineapple area is limited. The bull
letin of the agricultural division of
the Census Bureau states that there
are now % 1896, 900 bearing plants in
| Florida, which is the only State in
the Union where it is cultivated.
MEXICO. In the tropical districts
of this country the culture of the
pineapple is being rapidly promoted
owing to the increased demand from
the United States. Experiments
made last year demonstrated that it
was better to have the plants wider
apart (say 5000 to 10000 per acre)
as they then produced larger pines.
The close planting hitherto practiced
is the cause of the larger quantity of
small fruit that floods the markets.
Between the rows of pines they
planted corn, the product of which
more than compensated for the neces-
sary labor in caring for the pines.
The pineapple not needing very
rich soil and only moderate food was
benefited rather than retarded by the
corn: it was discovered that too much
fertilizing actually retarded the
growth of the pines, for being
allied to air plants large share of
its nutriment is drawn from the air,
leaving the roots but little to do.
OTHER COUNTRIES. In Ceylon,
there are about 5000 acres covered
with pineapples, in Cochin China
about 5000 acres, and in India enor-
nous quantities are grown in great
ranges in Assam, In Rangoon, in the
Tenasserim provinces and at the foot
of the Himalayas. But it is mostly
consumed locally and does not figure
in foreign exports. From Acapulco
there are annually shipped to San
Francisco about 100000 pineapples
realizing about Sc per 100. Cutiva-
tion is increasing owing to the large
demand from the Pacific Coast.
Honduras annually exports to the
United States about 1000 of three
kinds-the horse, chercku and sugar
loaf.
Antigua exports to England about
| 500 barrels annually of the black
| pine pineapple.
Havana exports principally to the
! Tn;t ltc local
consumption, about 10000 barrels
each containing 50 pines of first, ID
of second, or 90 of third cuttings.
The average price ready for ship
ment is Sc, So, and S4, for each
quality respectively, and the freight
to New York is soc, to 15c. per barrel.
There is continued increase of pro.
! duction.
The annual import into the United
States from the West Indies is over
5000, 900 pineapples.
PREsERvEs.-In Florida an excel.
lent wine and cider are made of the
pineapple; and in the Azores wine
and alcohol are largely made.
In Nassau the local demand OF
fruit for timing equals the amount
of fresh fruit exported. The opera
ton of peeling and slicing is per
formed on tables IN the yards neaI
the waterside. The cans are carried
to the warehouse on wooden trays
(each containing liIteen), to be i'm
mersed in syrup. The tops of the
! cnns nrn snl1prrl on and they ari