-52 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



February 20, 1909. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



BANANA PRODUCTION. 



The banana industry of the West Indies is now of 

 such value that all literature on the subject is likelv' to 

 •create interest. Some iniormation on the conditions of 

 banana cultivation in these islands, and ihe factors 

 which control the profitable production of the crop are 

 •brought together iu two articles wiiich appear respect- 

 ively in the issues of Troincal Lift' for November, and 

 December last. The three factors upon wliieh banana 

 growing as a commercial industry dejiends are soil, 

 •climate, and transport.-itiun. 



The ideal banana soil is one containing an abundance of 

 moisture, without being subject to [jeriodical droughts, and 

 a good supply of liunuis and plant food. The land must also 

 •be well drained. Bananas are largely giown in the Annatto 

 Bay and Port .\ntonio districts of .Jamaica on rather heavy 

 •clay .soil, but the most profitable plantations are on .soil of 

 a loamy consistency. If the land is allowed to deteriorate 

 in character, smaller bunches of bananas are produced, and 

 the size of the individual fruit also decreases. 



A good .supply of water is undoubtedly essential to 

 •succefisful banana culture, and the trees succeed well luuler 

 irrigation. It is mentioned that, early in 19118, there weie 

 8,3)0 acres of bananas under irrigation in .Jamaica, for which 

 11,.'576 cubic yards of water per hour were licing used. 



Strong winds are destructive to the leaves of the banana, 

 and as a result, vitality is lost and growth checked. The 

 nature of the leaf, being all in one piece, and soft and pleas- 

 ant to the t(rtich, indicates that the jilant will grow best in 

 fairly moist conditions, and where the aii- is still. 



Bananas remove a great deal of ]ilant fnod IVoni the soil, 

 and if production is to be carri(>d out on a conunercial basi.s, 

 fertilizers nuist be judiciously applied. The quantity of 

 potash removed is remarkably liu'ge, and has been estimated 

 at 272 lb. per acre per yeai'. .Mthougli jjliosjilioric acid is 

 not utilized to anything like llu- same extent, yet experiment 

 has shown that a nuxed manure is necessary. Under favour- 

 able soil conditions in the \\\:st Indies, it is recommended that 

 a suitable mixed fertilizer for application is: 200 Ih. sul- 

 phate of potash, 2.50 lb. sulpliate of anuuonia, and I-jO lb. 

 superphosphate, per acre. 



The physical condition of the soil must also receive 

 attention. As already mentioncil, drainage must be ensured, 

 lime must be applied if the land is sour, and deep cultivation 

 is also valuable. Banana plants are grown about 10 feet 

 apart eacli way, but to have a chance of developing to the 

 best advantage, their fee<Iing roots should extend thrfjughout 



the whole area of soil. This cannot be the ca.'c unless the 

 soil is lightened by deep tillage. 



The provision of hunuis is ensured by burying all dead 

 leaves and trash. Sometimes, too, as in parts of Cuba, it is 

 possible to grow a crop of cowpeas or the like, between the 

 rows of banana [ilants. These when dug into the soil are of 

 great value. 



TROPICAL FRUIT PRODUCTION IN 

 QUEENSLAND. 



The good progress that has been made in agri- 

 cultural industiies in ("Queensland is evident from the 

 particulars given in the report for the year 1907-8 of 

 the Department of Agriculture and Live Stock of that 

 colony. Owing to the enormous extent of Queensland, 

 the vegetable products naturally show great diversity, 

 ranging fiom such tropical crops as sugar-cane, cacao, 

 and banan.is in the north, to the crops of temperate 

 climates iu the extreme south. Uananas, pine-apples, 

 oranges, an<l m.-iugos are cultivated over increasing 

 areas. 



In 190.5 tliure were 0,1 9S acres nnder bananas in Queens 

 land, but the occuirence of a cyclone in I90G caused great 

 havoc in the plantations. This has resulted in the temporary 

 reduction of the acreage, although the crop has increased 

 from 1,343,0.3.3 bunches in 1900^ to 1,. 502,636 bunches in 

 1907. The average return for the whole State was 302 

 bunches per acre. 



In the past nine years the pine-apple industry has under- 

 gone good development, the area under cultivation having 

 increased three-fold. The land planted with pine-apples iu 

 1907 w-as 2,230 acres, f'nun this area 6IS,473 dozen fruits 

 were produced. Pinc-a|)iiles now form an imiiortant item 

 among the fruit exports of (,^)ueensland, the value of th»; 

 fresh fruit shii)[>cd in 1907 being £33,881, while canned 

 pine-a))ples to the value of £16,090 were also exiiorted. 



The total orange area of tlic colony amounted to 3,168 

 acres. Of this, however, only 2,019 acres are yet in bearing, 

 from' wliich .514,7.51 bushels of fruit were gathered in 1907, 

 as against 206,(iO0 bushels gathered from the bearing 

 acreage of 1906. 



-Mangos have also been planted in Queensland over 38(5 

 acres, the crop from the area that lias reached the fruiting 

 stage (308 acres) being 201,741 bushels in 1907. Some 

 of the niiingos are consumed locally, or manufacture 1 into 

 jjreservc, while small quantities find a market in the 

 Southern States of .•Vnstralia. 



