Vol. XV. No. 373. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



269 



USEFUL FACTS CONCERNING THE 



BANANA. 



The Banana and Its Culture in Jamaica, is the 

 title of a useful article by the Director of Agriculture 

 of that Colony, appearing in the Jiidletin of the Depart- 

 ment of Jamaica, New Series, Vol. I, No. 4, issued 

 during 1911. The writer gives consideration first to the 

 botanical aspects of the banana plant, special attention 

 being given to the root system and the fruit system, both 

 of which are obviously of great importance in conne.x;ion 

 with culture and yield. As most planters will know, the 

 banana has an extensive root system, but one that has very 

 weak penetrative power and is exceedingly susceptible to any 

 adverse conditions in the soil. Free drainage to a depth of 

 4 to 5 feet for the accommodation of the anchor roots, and 

 a mellow tilth for the free development of the roots in the 

 surface soil, are two conditions that are essential. Where 

 rainfall is deficient, irrigation must he provided, as the 

 succulent roots of the banana plant very easily perish from 

 want of moisture. In regard to the fruiting system, it is 

 pointed out that there are three sets of flowers, Efnd that the 

 number of 'hands' in the bunch is determined as soon as the 

 three types of flowers on the stalk have been formed; it is 

 therefore evident that the grade of fruit is settled at a com- 

 paratively early period in the life of a sucker. The size of 

 the individual 'fingers' may be modified by subsequent 

 circumstances, but the number of 'hands' that a bunch shall 

 contain is incapable of increase in the later stages of growth. 



The section in the article under review dealing with 

 varieties of the banana is of very considerable interest. 

 It shows how the millions of bananas now cultivated in 

 Jamaica have practically all been derived from a single plant 

 of Gros Michel, introduced into Jamaica about 1836 by 

 John Francois Pouyat, a French botanist and chemist who 

 settled in the Colony about 1820. It is stated that while 

 other varieties are grown to a limited extent, the Gros 

 Michel, for size, flavour, uniformity of bunch, and good ship- 

 ping qualities, is superior to any other in .Jamaica. Some 

 thirty varieties of bananas have been under trial at the Hope 

 Gardens for the past seven or eight years, and although many 

 of these have a high reputation in India, Java and 

 other parts of the East, they nevertheless possess, 

 as already intimated, some defect from the commer- 

 cial stand-point. The Chineese banana or Cavendish banana 

 common in Barbados, is regarded as quite inferior for all 

 commercial purposes in Jamaica as compared with the Gros 

 Michel. It hag to be remembered, however, that there are 

 many who prefer the distinctive flavour of the Cavendish 

 banana to that of the larger, but somewhat coarser Gros 

 Michel. 



In dealing with banana .soils, the writer draws attention 

 to the remarkable developments that have followed the initi- 

 ation of schemes of irrigation. In one part in the dry plains 

 of St. Catherine, 10,000 acres of land that was formerly only 

 of nominal value for grazing purposes, have been made to 

 produce good crops of bananas simply by the artificial appli- 

 cation of water. In the parish of Trelawny are found some 

 of the richest soils in the island, but owing to the droughts 

 that periodically occur, the bananas have been found to be 

 apt to dry out; but the planters have successfully overcome 

 this difliculty by means of mulching, that is by the appli- 

 cation of grass mulch on a liberal scale, thereby improving 

 the moisture content of the soil. It is of interest to note 

 this good effect of mulching in the case of the banana, since 



its value has already been demonstrated in regard to cacao 

 and limes. 



The reader who wishes to begin planting bananas will 

 find full instructions given in the article under consideration. 

 Some of the information consists of that furnished by planters 

 themselves and can be regarded as essentially practical and, 

 therefore, u.seful. Concerning the distance of planting, it 

 appears that any departure from the usual system of 14 feet 

 spacing, which is now generally adopted in Jamaica, does 

 not prove advantageous in the long run. In regard to 

 preparing holes for suckers, it is stated that fairly deep holes 

 measuring, say, 2 feet 6 inches each, will give better results 

 than the usual shallow hole 1 foot deep. 'The suckers to be 

 planted are selected six to eight months old, when they are 

 about 10 feet high. The information then given concerns 

 cultivation after planting, the treatment of suckers, including 

 pruning. Concerning harvesting methods, it is believed that 

 instead of employing the cutter by himself, it is a better plan 

 to have a cutter and a helper working together, the latter 

 catching the bunch and handing it to women who are 

 employed to carry it to a particular spot. 



;\Iuch interest centres round the probable return from 

 banana cultivation, especially if the figures are such as refer 

 to actual plantation practice. In the article under consider- 

 ation, accounts submitted by two Jamaica planters are 

 published, and these provide us with a good insight into the 

 expenses and returns that may be expected. On one estate, 

 the total annual expenditure was .£2,038 1 4s. 4(7., and the total 

 receipts £3,635 10s. Sd. This refers to an estate of 200 acres, 

 in an irrigated district. On another estate situated in a 

 non-irrigated district on the north side, the total expenditure 

 was £1,2-50, and the total receipts £2,668. On this estate 

 30 acres were planted to produce a crop the following year. 

 There were besides 1 3-5 acres yielding fruit, of which oO acres 

 were plants, and 8-5 ratoons. The.se figures indicate that 

 very considerable profits may be looked for from banana 

 culture, especially after the plantation has become established, 

 and provided that there is an organized system of transport 

 and marketing, such as exists in Jamiaca. 



The area under bananas in .Jamiaca in 1909-10 was 

 69,066 acres, and the value of the fruit exported in 1909-10 

 was something approaching 1 i million pounds sterling. This 

 shows the enormous dimensions of the Jamaica banana 

 industry. In 191.5 the value of the bananas exported was 

 £1,490,-563, the area under this crop being 86,854 acres. 



The weather in the neighbourhood of the Virgin Islands 

 during July was in a disturbed condition around the 

 9th instant. According to the Curator of the Experiment 

 Station, the clouds on the 8th indicated anti-cyclonic condi- 

 tions, but by the morning of the 9th these conditions changed, 

 and the wind blew from about north-east, with .squalls of 

 rain, the barometer being somewhat low. During the day, 

 the wind veered fiom east to south-east, and in the after- 

 noon blew quite strongly from nearly south. Heavy rain fell on 

 the afternoon of the 10th, and thunder occurred on the morning 

 of the 11th. The movements of the wind and the cloud 

 indicated the passage of a cyclonic disturbance to the south- 

 west of Tortola. The state of weather referred to was 

 connected with the cyclone that was the cause of .several days' 

 delay of steamers .southward bound at that time from New 

 York to the West Indian islands. 



