The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1901-11-05
PlNEAPPLEs GROWN IN CUBA.
Pronounced the Best and Are Very
Easily Produced

Nowhere on the globe do pineapples
thrive as in Eastern Cuba. where the
conditions of soil and climate brinS
the golden apples OF Hesperides" to
absolute perfection; yet the pineapple
industry has never had much attention
IN this section. says a correspondent Of
the Providence Journal Here is an
other chance for the enterprising Yam
kee. tract of unoccnpied land. ex-
tending far as one can see. may be
oought for few dollars and turned in
to fruit farm. the virgin soil OF UNI
paralleled richness being capable OF pro-
ducing every tropical growth. Shipping
facilities are already established at Bar
acoa and several small ports. and If the
land touches the Yumuri or some other
river so much the better Tor its owner
Until one has seen the golden glory of
pineapple plantation. he. can think Of
no more attractive sight than a sugar
cane field. glistening pale yellow under
the torrid sun and billowing in the gen
tie breeze like a wind-Swept sea. But
even more fascinating is field OF pines
each great apple" guarded by a circle
OF glttering, sharp edged bayonets In
serrated that the thought OF getting
around among them suggests field OF
torture. Evolution seems TO have pro
crossed further in Cuba. for in the older
ard more carefully cultivated pan:a
tons, the saw teeth that edge the long
pointed leaves have mainly disappeared.
Before the war it was the sight OF L
lifetime 10 go out to Marianao, 4 suburb
OF Havana. and there drive through an
estate which had eighty thousand pine
apple plants in full bearing. Over in
Nassau they call the pine plantations
groves and orchards" as if the7
were trees. Whether groves or fields
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 ge,
at. A very short stroll among the
singing leaves will lead YOU to sym
pathize with the New Yorker. who. after
a visit TO Marianao. said: you do not
mind the first two hundred or three
hundred sticks and prods from tie
needle points of the bayonet leaves as
you cross 4 field. but after a while you-
tortured cults can endure no more. and
your remarks about the pineapple crop
are likely 10 be prejudiced by present
soreness. How much nicer it would be
il the apples really did grow in or
chards and You could send colored boy
up the trees to shake down a few AMI
then could sit down in the shade and
eat them"
plant produces only one pine at I
time. The fruit thrusts itself upward
from central stalk precisely like :hos:
OF the Agave Americana. or Century"
in the middle of mass OF long. narroy
and sharp arched leaves spreading forth
plant, with which everybody is familiar
The stem is perhaps eighteen inches 10
two feet in height
The same plant produces second
apple, and third, and so on through
several bearings; after which new
plant must be started from the "slip."
Nothing is easier Of cultivation or re-
quires less capital and previous ex-
perience, and few crops bring in
greater or more certain returns.