The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1901-12-07
PlNEAPPLES GROWN IN CUBA.
Pronounced the Best and Ara Very
EasIiy Produces.

Nowhere on the globe do pincapples
thrive as in Eastern Cuba, where the
conditions OF soil and climate bring
the golden apples OF Iicspcridcs' to
absolute perfection; yet tie pineapple
industry has never had much attention
IN this section, says correspondent OF
the Precedence Journal Here is an
other chance for the enterprising Yam
kce. A tract of unocc'lpled land. ex
tending lar as one can see. may be
bCught for few dollars and turned in
to fruit farm, the virgin soil of uIl-
paralleled richness being capable Of pro
ducing every tropical growth Shipping
facilities are already established at Bsr-
acoa and several small ports, and II the
land touches the Iumurl or some other
river. 50 much the better :or its owner
Until one has seen the golden glory OF
a pineapple plantation. he can think OF
no more attractive sight than a -Ugar-
cane field, glistcn;rg pale ycllow under
the torrid sun and billowing i'll the gen
tie breeze like a Wildswept sea. But
even nlo:c fascinating is field of pines
each great apple guarded by circle
Of eiit;ering. sharp-cdced bayoncts. IN
Florida the pineapple leaf is so sharply
scrratcd tha. TIE thought of getting
around ain ng them suggest, a field Of
torture. Evolution seems to have pro
grcsscd further III Cub2. for i'll the Older
AID more carefully cultivated plan.a
tons. tao saw teeth that edge the long
pointed leaves have mainly disapp ,arcr.
Before the war it was the sight Of a
lifetime to so OFT to Marlanao, a suburb
OF Havana, and there drive through an
estate which had eighty tlloisand pine
ample plants in full bearing. Ovc, i'll
Ma sau they call the pine plantations
groves and "orcl,ards' as if thty
were trees. Whether groves or field;
the plant is about the same, producing
one of the most luscious and popular
fruits known to man, for which there is
constant and ample demand. Like most
things worth having in this troubled life
the golden pines are not easy to &C.
at A very short stroll among the
singing leaves will lead you 10 SYM
pathize with the New Yorker. who. after
a visit to Marianao, said: "You do net
mind the first two hundred or three
hundred sticks and prods from tie
needle points Of the bayonct leaves a,
you cross field, but after a while YOU:
tortured crltis can endure no more, and
your remarks about the pineapple crop
are likely to be prejudlced by present
soreness How much nicer it would be
if the apples really did grow If or
chards and you could send colored DO,
rp the trees to shake down few anl
then could sit down in the shade anh
eat them"
A plant produces only one pine at
time The fruit thrusts itself upward
from central stalk, precisely Ike :hos'
of the Agave Americana or century
in the middle of mass Of long, marrow
and sharp arcted leaves spreading forth
plant. with which everybody is familiar
The stem is perhaps eighteen inches 70
two feet in height.
The same plant produces a second
apple. and third. and so on through
several bearings; after which a new
plant must be started from the slip
Nothing is easier of cultivation or re-
quires less capital and previous ex-
Dcrience. and few crops bring III
greater or more certain returns.