The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1916-06-29
CULTURE or
PINEAPPLES
Interestingly Discussed by Lead
ing East Coast Grower
PROFITABLE FLORIDA CROP
The Best Known and Most Popu-
lar Varieties are Mentioned and
Methods of Cultivation Describ-
ed-Marketing Touched Upon,

The finest favored pineapple!
in the world are grown in Florida
There are three varieties that hno
a ready market: the Red Spanish
Abbaka, sometimes called tht
"sugar loaf, and the Smooth
Cayenne.
Other varieties have beer
grown in the past, Queen anc
Porto Ricos, but have been dis
carded for the more profitable
kinds.
The Red Spanish leads in pop
ularity with the market, the con
sumner and the grower as it is the
best seller, the most distinctive IL
flavor and the most prolific, long
lived and profitable.
The Abbaka, the Pima Blanca
of Cuba, belongs to the so called
fancy varieties, is prolific of fruit
slips and trouble. 1t is practical
ly free from fibre, juicy an6
sweet in summer but sour in win
ter as are other varieties. 1t is
considered to be a bad shipper
if bruised it spoils quickly. TC
get it to market, the utmost care
must be taken in its handling ano
it must be rushed to its destina
tion by fast expresses. The fruit
is large, long and rather conical
in shape, with large crown.
The Smooth Cayenne is grown
mostly on the West Coast in the
vicinity of Punta Gorda though a
few are grown on the East Coast
This is also one of the fancy varie,
ties, large, juicy tender flesh, and
sweet in summer. 1t is said that
under ideal conditions a. single
fruit has been grown to weigh As
pounds.
Both the Abbaka and the
Smooth Cayenne grow to large
size, are similar in texture and
juice content, easily bruised, but
sweet and delicious and are con.
sidered by many to be the" aris-
tocrats of the pineapple family"
In Hawaii the Smooth Cayenne
is grown for canning purposes
and it has been reported that
shipments of the fresh fruit have
been discontinued to the United
States owing to the danger OF
bringing the Mediterranean fruit
fly.
Hawaii ships about $6,O0O,O0O
worth of canned pineapples into
the United States. The industry
in Hawaii was a profitable bust
ness for the grower a few years
ago when there were only a few
fields and the grower received a
rcmuerative price for the fruit
but as planters were induced to
plant more and more of the fruit,
the price gradually came down
till now the grades of the fruit
sell for from S5 to $1,000 a ton to
the canneries.
The Smooth Cayennes of the
West Coast are grown under
Slated sheds costing about $500
per acre, to protect the fruit from
the hot tropical sun and the possi-
bility of a frost. On the East
Coast there are a few sheds left
but owing TO the cost of a shed
which lasts only about ten years,
the insurance is too costly and
most of the fruit is now grown in
the open.
On the East Coast the pineap-
pies are grown on a high ridge of
sand fronting on the Indian river,
and a few are grown on the fiat
woods land lying farther to the
west. The lower the land the
more danger of frost and flood,
and the land is thrown up into
beds with a ditch or alley between
beds, while on the ridge there is
no necessity of doing this as the
land is thirsty and porous so
there is perfect drainage.
Generally pineapples seem to
prefer the poorer sand soils while
the fancy varieties will do well on
the richer, heavier soils where the
Red Spanish will not do so well.
The characteristic growth on
the ridge land is hickory, scrub
oak mot black jack oak), and
spruce pine. The fiat woods
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