The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-09-15
HOW TO PLANT PINES.
Directions for Handling the Fragrant
Cones.
Shelter Desirable For Them AlwayS-The
Profitable Varieties 70
Plant.

On the subject or pruning ana pro-
tecting pineapples, James Mott of Win
ter Haven, Florida, writing to the Bar
tow Courier-Informant, says:
I prefer land that is new, so l know
there has been no crop growing on 1t
that would be liable to cause it TO be-
come infested with the root knot para
site. / like it back some from any lake,
and if it can be sheltered from heavy
winds by some natural growth of tim
Der so much the better, and prefer
it level land. When 1 tell people | am
planting pineapples at Winter Haven,
often the answer will come, You don Z
have to shelter them there" l reply
mo. but l do shelter them" and so L
would should l grow them in Mexico,
in the country of their nativity. Grow
ing, wild there, they are always In the
forests, along the small streams, In
open timber-they naturally like a
martial shade, and when that is given
them we get better plants and larger
and better fruit.
like to break up the ground some
little time before planting, yet L DO
plant on freshly plowed ground. THINK
il better to subsoil, not deep blowing,
but subsoiling. l use scooter after
the pillow. letting it drop down pretty
deep, fifteen to eighteen inches. Then
nv shed goes I'D. This shed is usually
made of 2x6 fourteen feet long string
ers. the ends meet, or better IL longer
than fourteen feet, so that they lap by
on top of the posts. The posts are elght
feet long, set eighteen inches deep,
which leaves six and half feet in the
clear to walk under, and are set eight
by fourteen feet apart, the short dlS-
lance north and south; the cover is
made of three-quarter by three inch
sixteen and one-half foot long Stats
that are put on the stringers three IN
ches apart, running north and south.
Now I prepare the beds to be planted
by again blowing the ground crossWIse
from the first blowing, letting that
same bull tongue drop into the bottom
of the furrow l do not harrow the
ground, but rake it down smooth, being
careful not to tramp on the ground
where l am to plant, but all the time
work from the alley that is left between
the beds.
make a bed for seven rows of plants
eighteen inches apart, and the plants
are set thirty inches apart in the rows,
and a five-foot alley between the beds,
which is needed to do the work for
fertilizing, hoeing, gathering and
wheeling out the fruit.
1 like pretty large plants-if good
strong ones; often they will fruit in
half the time that it will take a small
plant to bear. 1 prepare my plants by
cutting a little of the butt off-say up
to where some little specks (embryo
roots) begin to show, being careful not
to cut too high up, nor farther than to
these little eye-like specks; then strip
off few of the lower leaves. Again un-
der these leaves are some little specks
(roots in embryo) and don't go too far
above them, and am ready to plant.
| I got two one-half by two-inch TWEEN
| ty-four feet long strips, within plain
marks thirty inches apart, then a board
| 1x10 eleven and One-half feet long.
make a plain mark square across six
! inches from one end, that term line
mark; then six inches from that anoth-
er mark for the first row Of plants, and
so on eighteen inches apart until L
! have the seven rows, which the last
one will be six inches from the end of
the board. Six inches outside of the
first row of plants / stretch a garden
line Git best be 100 feet long,, then my
strips are laid down at each side of the
bed inside of the line on one side and
the other, so it will be just outside OF
the rows of plants on the side, then my
board that l marked is placed on these
strips, the line mark directly on the
line, and if care is taken that the bed
is started square, which the line mark
on the board when placed on the line
will show, the rows will be straight
both ways. The planter never tramps
on the bed, but stands on the planting
board to do the work When one cross
row is planted the board is moved UP
to the thirty-inch point on the strips
The plants best be set pretty firmly in
the ground-which the proper depth
must be determined by the size of the
plant, one and one-haIf to four inches
deep. After the plants have been plant
ed three or four weeks they should
have one-third of a pound of some
good fertilizer, to the plant raked in
being careful that none of it gets on
the leaves or the heart of the plant.
After the roots have started never
use any tool except a shuttle hoe. and
that very shallow, as roots of the plants
grow near the surface. They should
have two or three more applications OF
fertilizer during the year, quite as
much as the first one, and little more
is better. In the fall before cold winds
come, the shed should be boarded up
tight on the north and west sides, to
keep off the cold.
OF varieties to plant there is so much
diversity of opinion that 1 hesitate to
venture one: for myself 1 prefer the
smooth leaved Cayenne to any other,
but plants are scarce, hence very eX-
pensive The Abbaka and Golden
Queen mot Egyptian Queen are fine
apples, and plants cost much less.
There is good money even in Red Span
ish, and plants cost but little; in con-
nection with it, l lately received a let
ter from an Indian river grower who