52 



THE AGRICULTURAL XEWS. 



Febeuaey 14, 1914. 



THE BAXANA: ITS CULTIVATION, DISTRI- 

 BUTION AND COMMERCIAL USES. By William 

 Fawcett, B.Sc, F.L.S. With an introduction by Sir Daniel 

 Morris, K U.M G., D.Sc , D.C.L., F.L S. Duckworth (t Co., 

 London, 1913. (Published under the auspices of the West 

 India Committee.) Price 7s. 6rf. 



Passers by in a crowded London side street purchase 

 bananas from the hawker's barrow. Some thousands of miles 

 distant, in the green shade of the plantation, majestic foliage- 

 heads are falling, and the figures of the black labour rs are 

 moving swiftly and systematically at their work. Tlie two 

 operations proceed automatically and, as far as the .tgents 

 in the processes themselves are concerned, end wi h the 

 completion of their acts. But before the 'cutter' in the I'anana 

 plantation can obtain regular employment, and betore the 

 consumer can be regularly supplied, a vast amount of 

 organization, scientific knowledge and capital is reiiuisite, 

 which as has already been intimated, is rarely reali/.ed by 

 those at either end of the industrial line. This book orings 

 them into touch. 



The most attractive feature of Mr. Fawcett's work is 

 that he takes, metaphorically speaking, a banana, an i tells 

 the reader all about it from the soil in which it has grown 

 until it is actually digested physiologically by the cou.' umer 

 in a distant country. We are told of the plant; we learn 

 how it is cultivated in different places; how it is transported 

 and how it is sold. Interesting information is presented, 

 further, in regard to the question of its manufacture into 

 various prepared forms, and statistics are presented relative 

 to the development of the industry — information which will 

 command the attention and give encouragement to both 

 intending capitalists and those who are interested in the 

 progress of tropical agriculture generally. 



In the first chapter, the botanical characteristics of 

 the plant are described. Amongst this information we 

 learn, for instance, that the roots of the banana plant, unlike 

 those of most species, do not seem to have the power 

 of adapting themselves to overcoming difiiculties; that is to 

 say, they do not respond to the stimulus of obstruction by 

 curving. This clearly emphasizes the necessity of planting 

 on well cultivated soil. Another interesting fact connected 

 with the banana plant is the enormous amount of food 

 produced by it per acre, compared with other plants. The 

 banana, it seems, yields, on an average, 242,000 lb. of food 

 per acre, whilst potatoes provide 4,000 lb. and wheat gives 

 only 2,000 D). This remarkable circumstance may be 

 accounted for by the fact that almost the whole of the banana 

 plant is composed of leaf structure. In connexion with the 

 leaves, the interesting characteristic may be commented on, 

 that the banana leaf collects the rain drops of a shower and 

 conducts them into the interior of each concentric sheath. 

 Water supplied in this way, and quite independent of the 

 amount at the roots, is important for a proper 'shooting' of 

 the flower stalk; it causes expansion of the trunk and 

 relieves the pressure on the central space. An observant 

 planter noticed that in dry weather a shower of rain seemed 



to start the plant 'shooting', and when he found this process 

 hanging fire used to spray hi.s bananas with a hose in imita- 

 tion of the beneficient shower. In the chapter under con- 

 sideration attention is given to flower formation, this 

 period in the plant's life-history being, from the planter's 

 point of view, the most critical. The size of the resulting 

 bunch of fruit is largely influenced by the store of food in 

 the bulb at the base of the plant at the time when the 

 inflorescence is produced. Perhaps the most interesting, and 

 probably the most important point discussed in this chapter 

 is the fertilization of the banana flower. As everyone 

 knows, the flowers of most cultivated species are sterile 

 as regards self-pollination, or even as regards cross- 

 pollination between two plants of the same variety. 

 But it has been proved in .Jamaica that seed can be 

 produced by dusting the stigmas of the Jamaica banana with 

 pollen from the stamens of the red banana. It is stated in 

 the author's preface, also, that experiments made quite 

 recently in Surinam confirm this result, successful crosses 

 having been made by dusting the female flowers of the 

 Gros Michael (the Jamaica banana) with pollen from 

 Musa haajoo and M. ornata Chittatjonff . Mr. Fawcett 

 considers there is economic scope ahead of cross pollination 

 between cultivated and wild species of bananas. 



The next thirteen chapters concern, almost exclusively, 

 the cultivation of the banana, and deal with the prepa- 

 ration of the land, planting, the care of the crop, 

 harvesting, diseases and manuring. The greater part 

 of this information is extremely practical and should 

 prove invaluable for reference by those who are directly 

 interested in the productive side of the banana indus- 

 try. In a more detailed way, reference may be made 

 to the discussion of planting distances, and to the selection 

 of suckers. In the management of a banana plantation, 

 perfect drainage is ab.solutely necessary, whilst where the 

 rainfall is low or irregular, irrigation schemes have also to be 

 employed. As regards cultivation after planting, the author 

 gives considerable attention to the important subject of 

 mulching, explaining why it should be done and how to do 

 it. As a green mulch, Jerusalem pea (P/c/seo^fs ?;iMt/-'vs) 

 is recommended. Bengal beans cause too much expense in 

 the matter of keeping the vines within bounds. An interest- 

 ing point of interculture is the ploughing close to the 

 banana and cutting through the roots. This seems stimulat- 

 ing, provided the roots are not cut too close to the stem. 



One of the most responsible duties involved in the 

 management of a banana estate is the supervision of 

 pruning and treatment of suckers. On this point again, 

 practical information is given, based on experience obtained 

 in Jamaica. During the growth of the plant, the pruning 

 of the suckers is so important that it may involve, if 

 improperly conducted, the loss of hundreds of pounds to the 

 large cultivator The great object in pruning should be to 

 enable the bulk of the crop to be marketed during the 

 spring months, when the consumer's demand abroad is 

 strongest, and hence when prices are highest. 



Banana plants vary, according to local conditions, in 

 the time they take to produce fruit. The usual time is ten 

 months to shoot (from the time of planting), but often 

 longer, and two and a half to four months more to ripen. 



After giving a description of the harvesting of the 

 banana, the replanting of estates — a banana walk is replanted 

 after three to sis years — and bananas as nurse crops and as 

 a catch crop, financial considerations and prospects in regard 

 to the industry are dealt with next in Chapter IX. One case 

 is given of a Jamaica estate (irrigated) occupying 200 acres, 

 which incurred a total annual expenditure of £2,038 14»\ 4ic?. 



