Pineapples have been grown in Cuba since the beginning of the Spanish occupation, perhaps even before, although no mention is made of them as being cultivated by the Indians. As a commercial product the growing of the pineapple on a large scale began during the first Government of Intervention, although they were shipped abroad to some extent before that time. In point of money value, the industry ranks next to that of the citrus fruit. Although up to the present time most of the pineapples intended for export are grown within fifty miles of the city of Havana, over a million crates are annually shipped to the United States.
Pineapples may be grown on any rich soil in Cuba, and are considered one of the staple crops. The slips or offshoots from the parent plant are set out in long ridges some four feet apart, with intervening spaces averaging a foot. These produce fruit in one year from planting, and from each original stalk an average of six suckers may be taken for planting in other beds, so that with a very small start the acreage may be easily increased five or six-fold each year.
About 8,000 plants are considered sufficient for an acre of ground; and the cost of them when purchased averages about $30 per acre, while the preparation of the land for pineapple culture will amount to somewhat more. The net returns under favorable circumstances will vary from $75 to $100. The average net profit from pineapples grown near Artemisia and Campo Florida is said to be about $50 per acre. The high price of sugar, since the beginning of the European War, has, however, caused much of the former pineapple acreage to be converted into cane fields.
The profit derived from pineapple culture, as in all fruits or vegetables of a perishable nature, depends very largely upon the shipping facilities of the locality selected. Pineapples cannot long be held on the wharf waiting for either trains or steamers. In this connection it may be mentioned that the daily ferry between Key West and Havana, by which freight cars can be loaded in the fields and shipped to any city in the United States without breaking bulk, has been very beneficial to growers.
The Red Spanish, owing to its excellent shipping qualities, is preferred to all others for export, although many other varieties, such as the “Pina blanca” or sugarloaf, which will not stand shipment abroad, are used for local consumption and bring an average price of ten cents retail throughout the year.
The largest pines grown for commercial purposes include the Smooth Cayenne, a beautiful fruit, varying in weight from five to fifteen pounds. Unfortunate is he who may have partaken of the rich sweet, juicy Sugar Loaf of Cuba, since it will discourage his fondness for the Smooth Cayenne, the much advertised Honolulu and other cone shaped products, whose flavor is not in keeping with their appearance.
So delicious in flavor is the sugar loaf pine in comparison with those large varieties suited only for canning or cooking purposes, that the latter have never become sufficiently popular in Cuba to induce cultivation. In the Isle of Pines, however, as well as in Florida, the smooth Cayenne is grown and shipped to the nondiscriminating who live abroad. With care in packing, however, the sugarloaf may reach northern markets.
The pineapple more than any other fruit appeals to the canning industry, especially in Cuba, where hundreds of thousands that have ripened too late for the northern markets are left to rot in the fields. There are no better pineapples grown in the world than in the Island of Cuba, and the excess or overproduction of the fruit within the next few years will undoubtedly be handled by properly equipped canning factories and thus add another industry to the revenues of the Island.
The Anon is a small shapely tree seldom growing over twenty feet in height and common throughout all Cuba. The fruit of the Anon, sometimes called the sugar-apple, resembles a small round greenish white cone, about the size of the ordinary apple. Its delightful pulp suggests a mixture of thick sweetened cream, adhering to smooth black sunflower seeds. Although delicious to eat fresh from the tree, and very useful in making ices, it does not readily endure shipment, and is thus confined commercially to the local markets of the larger cities in Cuba.
The Chirimoya, belonging to the same family, is undoubtedly the queen of the Anones. It is larger than the Anon, reaching the size of an ordinary grape-fruit. Its pulp is white, soft and very delicate, while the skin, unlike the Anon, is smooth, yellowish in color, with a blush of red.