ON THE
CULTIVATION
OF THE
PINE APPLE.
CHAP. I.
OF THE PINE APPLE.
Its Culture in the West and East Indies.—Introduction to Holland.—To England.
The Pine Apple is the Bromelia Ananas of Linneus; of the artificial class and order Hexandria Monogynia; and of the natural order of Jussieu, Bromeleæ. The generic name was originally Ananas, from Nana, its common name in the Brazils; and the Queen Pine is named the Ananas Ovata, in the earlier editions of Miller’s Dictionary; but Linneus changed it to Bromelia, in memory of Olaus Bromel, a Swedish naturalist, and included under it the Karatas, or Wild Pine, till then considered a distinct genus. The English name of Pine Apple appears to have taken its rise from the resemblance of the fruit to the cone of some species of the Pine tree.
There are twelve species of Bromelia, described by Persoon; the fruit of all which may be considered edible, and is occasionally made use of by the natives. Six of these species are naturalized in the West Indies; and the rest are found wild in Chili, Peru, and other parts of South America.
The Bromelia Ananas is the only species in general cultivation; it is cultivated abundantly in both the Indies, and in China. It is said to grow wild in Africa; but Linneus ascribes it to New Spain and Surinam; and Acosta (Histoire Naturelle des Indes,) says, it was first sent from the province of Santa Croce, in Brazil, into the West, and afterwards into the East Indies and China. Persoon considers it as a native of South America; and Baron Humboldt and the Prince Maximilian found it in the Caraccas, in the Brazils.
Whichever way it was introduced from South America to the West Indies, its culture in these islands, and particularly in Jamaica, has been carried on for an unknown length of time. It is vulgarly supposed in this country, that it grows wild there; but, from the best information which we have been able to collect, the true Ananas is only cultivated in gardens, or grounds under spade culture; and there much in the same way as cabbages are in this country, and produces its fruit in from fifteen to eighteen months after planting the crown. The common weight of the fruit is from half a pound to three pounds; and it abounds chiefly in the dry season. In the rainy season, which includes nearly half the year, ripe Pine Apples are more scarce in the gardens of Jamaica than in the hot-houses of England.