The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1914-09-23

extensive and practically the on
ly pineapple field in the United
States, our annual shipments
amounting to on an average OF
100000 crates, or 1000 carloads.
Mr.. Goodwin article follows:
The varieties of pineapples
most grown are Red Spanish and
Abbaka, with few Smooth
Cayennes and Porto Ricos and
Queens.
The Red Spanish are the most
popular variety on the market.
The abbakas and Smooth Cay
ennes will grow on soils insult
ed for Red Spanish.
The pargest acreage of pines
will be found at Osa, Viking, St.
Lucie, Fort Pierce, Eldred, Wal
ton, Eden, Jensen, Ankona, Rio,
Stuart, Delray, Boynton, Deer
field, Pompano, Little River, and
Miami, and at these points may
be grown without frost protec-
ton, though none of these field
have escaped frost damage at
times.
A few fields are protected
from frost damage by Slated
sheds, which cost about $3.50 or
$500 per acre, but it is generally
considered more profitable to
grow them in the open.
The pineapple plant delights
in a well-drained soil and abhors
"a wet soil, thus the high sand
ridge along the Indian river is
particularly adapted for growing
this fruit.
The best land for pineapples
in our section is covered with
Hickory scrub. The next best
is covered with scrub oak or
spruce pine, or both. Uncleared
land of this kind sells for about
$Ioo per acre and very little
available.
There are fields near Fort
Pierce that have borne FL crops
without replanting, the average
life of field is about IS years,
when the old plants are removed
and new ones planted.
To clear the land, cut off the
small growth even with the
ground with brush-axe or
! machette; then grub the land to
depth of about 10 inches with
a grub-hoe, throwing the roots
ito the top of the ground, where
all trash that would interfere
| with cultivation may be raked
up and burned.
After raking, mark off the
land with a marker that marks
four or five rows at a time,
2Ix2I inches, which will take
about $4,000 plants to an acre,
leaving two rows out between
beds of IS rows, for an alley to
facilitate picking during harvest
time.
The price of slips in July or
August. which mature during
and after harvest, is about Sc
per thousand delivered to the
station in sacks. The slips
should be at least 8 inches in
length, with a good, stock butt
Trim the slips by cutting off hall
ali inch from the hard butt, and
tear off three rows of the leaves
Drop a plant at the intersection
of each row, using garden
trowel to lift up the sand while
the slip is inserted about two
inches and left upright.
Drop in the heart OF the plant
about a heaping tablespoonful oil
fertilizer that will not burn. to
prevent sand from entering the
heart during a beating rain. AT.
ter four to six weeks. when the
young plants have rooted, hoe
with scuffle hoe to break any
crust that has formed and to kill
weeds. Frequent hoeing is OIL
benefit, but be careful to use on.
" scuffle hoe, as the pineapple
plant is shallow rooted.
Fertilize before cool weather
starts in September or October
and hoe it i'll we'll. with ahou,
1000 pounds to the acre.
Fertilize again. when the
plants are about a year old. with
at least 1000 pounds to the