The record-union., 1898-08-07
PINEAPPLE GROWING.
INDUSTRY WOULD BE PROFIT
ABLE IN CALIFORNIA.
That is the Opinion Expressed by a
Successful Grower in
Florida.

semi tropical State does not grow the
pineapple? There is no fruit .rdus-
try that your people can engage in
that equals this business as a money
getter. Even your orange industry
| cannot compare with it, as the wait
Tor returns are SO short. This PEW
industry need not interfere with your
citrus or deciduous fruit interests in
the least, as all of these industries can
go along together.
The writer of this letter has been
in your State, and it is his best judg
ment that your fertile. rich valleys all
the way from San Diego in the south
to Sacramento, and beyond, in the
north, will produce pineapples. to per
fection.
AS an investment, let us see what
an acre of pines will do for the lucky
owner. You set 10000 plants to the
acre. In twelve to fifteen months
after your plants are set they should
give you 10000 apples. With US, here
in the East. these apples sell for from
30 cents to 81 each. as to size and
perfection. After fruiting time you
have your suckers and slips either for
sale or to increase your own acreage.
They are always spot cash. At pres
ent prices. say 10 cents each for your
smooth Cayennes, and for the other
varieties from 1 to ; cents. To take
the three leading varieties. the Golden
Queen, the earliest, the Abbaka next
and the smooth Cayenne closely fol-
lowing, will give you an average III
crease Of about ten scions to the plant
to add to the profits of your fruit for
the first year, and so on with its Won
derful increased ratio for all the years
| to fol1 ba ic l.
lowed to fruit the second time, after
which the old plant is removed and a
new one set in it's place; the old stump
just removed is trimmed up and reset as
a stool, from which suckers are prop
agated. So. here also comes in an addi-
tiOnal profit on eight or ten SciOnS.
/ Here at Orlando we grow all of cur
pinss urder CoTer-in sheds-but wheth-
er you would have to do the same thing
there / cannot say: but practical ex-
perience would soon settle that ques
ton. We do it to guard from eX-
cessive heat and cold. If you did not
have to protect your plants a greater
profit would be yours.
/ have received so many letters of
inquiry from all over the country that
find it impossible to write out n full
answer to each one, so l have pre-
pared the foregoing which covers the
main points in the cultivation and
growth of this most remarkable fruit
the Florida pineapple. To begin with
/ will say that the pineapple can be
grown successfully in all of Florida
and the whole gulf region to the west
ward. To grow pineapples success
fully you must guard against excessive
heat, and excessive cold. We thus guard
! nv tber11 11D6ar
aa rule, do best on low. rich .and
that will not overflow, and near a lake
or stream of water. They will do well
also on high land but as the plant
requires plenty of moisture, low land
is better For your Smooth Cayennes
give them the lowest ground IN your
pinery: the other varieties the highest
Set eight to 10000 plants to ths acre.
Cut your posts seven feet long, and
set them one foot in the ground in
rows nine feet apart, each way. Posts
should be three to five inches through
On top of posts lay your 2x6 1S feet
joists. running east and west, tapping
at ends on top of posts, spikins to-
gether and toe mailing to top of post
OPP top of joists lay your 1x:5 inch Stats.
eighteen feet long, running north and
south, ends tapping. and nailed to joists,
sides are put on tight: the boards run
ming up and down This completes
your pinery Cost of material and "a
Dor governed by local prices.
Lay your ground off and set plants
to line in rows both ways 1Sx2i inches,
leaving every eighth long row vacant
for walk: also leave space for walk
around your pinery outside of plants
and next to board fence. A cross walk
occasionally is a good idea. AMI will
save you a good many extra steps
With a hoe handle. or anything of the
kind. make a hole in the ground at the
right point, one and a half or two
inches deep after which set your
trimmed sucker in it, pressing the dirt
with your two hands around the plant
tightly after which press the dirt On
its four sides with your feet, being care
full not to injure the plant.
After your plants are set and you
are ready to fertilize, I would gi Te
them solution of cotton seed meal
and tobacco dust, equal parts Both
are good fertilizers. tobacco keeping
away insects Before putting liquid
on, first run around plant with the
: toe of your boot, making sort of
a saucer, to hold the liquid. Fill cavity
full and let it soak to roots, after which,
and before sun burns your cotton seed
meal, run through with scufiie hoe or
rake, filing cavity, thus covering fer
tilizer We now consider your plants
under good headway for growth, but
your work is not done. They need much
attention Don't spare fertilizer or
the scufe hoe Stable litter COW per-
ming. decayed vegetable matter OF any
kind, muck, mulch. all is good. But a
month or so before fruiting time I
would use blood and bone or potash
freely.
Good, average scions should grow to
produce an apple in twelve to fifteen
months, with proper care. Each plant
will produce an apple. The Golden
Queen variety will yield you slips and
suckers averaging six or seven to the
plant The Smooth Cayenne about
the same The Abbaka, being more
prolific will give you an average of
fifteen to twenty The quality of fruit
in these three varieties are about the
same-all first class-the Queen being
earliest and smallest in size, averaging
ripens it's fruit next. with the Smooth
Cayenne following closely. The last
two kinds grow under favorable con-
ditions, to weigh from six to twelve
pounds each / regard the pines pple
industry as being the most profitable,
with least danger of loss, of any pusi-
ness you can possibly engage III. The
&c ,N;y