95 



THE BANANA. 



Tall and stately, capped by a grace- 

 fully arched group of leaves and a nod- 

 ding spike of numerous tiowers, the 

 banana is noted alike for its beauty, its 

 nourishing fruit and its many qualities 

 of economic value. Some one has said, 

 "The banana is the queen among orna- 

 mental herbs, and the household god of 

 the laborer's cottage." 



To him who dwells in the tropics the 

 banana is as wheat and rice are to the 

 inhabitants of more temperate regions. 



Nearly all the authorities on the dis- 

 tribution of plants believe the banana 

 to be a native of Asia and that it was 

 not found in the New World previous to 

 its introduction by man. An argument 

 which strongly supports this theory is 

 the lack of native names for the plant 

 in Mexico and in South America. It 

 was mentioned by the early Latin and 

 Greek writers, but seems to have been 

 unknown to the ancient Egyptians. 



Botanical authorities quite generally 

 agree that the numerous varieties of our 

 common banana are produced from 

 Musa sapientum. The generic name, 

 Musa, is by some claimed to have its ori- 

 gin in the Arabic word Moux, their name 

 for this group of plants. Others claim 

 that the name was given in honor of 

 Antonius Musa, a physician who cured 

 Augustus Caesar of a disease that had 

 been considered incurable. The specific 

 name has its origin in the myth that the 

 groves of the banana plant were used 

 by the sages or wise men (sapientes) of 

 India for their councils and for rest, they 

 also partaking of the fruit. 



Another species of the genus Musa is 

 called paradisiaca from the mythical 

 story that it was the forbidden fruit of 

 Paradise. The common name of this 

 species is the plantain and by many it 

 is considered the parent of the numerous 

 varieties in cultivation in Asia and the 

 adjacent islands and also in the New 

 World. Many eminent authorities be- 

 lieve that both the banana and the plan- 

 tain, with the numerous varieties of each, 

 are the same species. 



The banana plant is herbaceous and 

 dies down to the ground after fruiting. 

 The true stem is underground and per- 

 ennial, sending up new shoots each sea- 

 son, which grow rapidly and in a few 

 months bear ripened fruit. 



The stalk that bears the flowers grows 

 to a height of from fifteen to twenty feet 

 and is surrounded by the sheathing bases 

 of the leaves. The flower cluster or 

 spike is terminal and from two to four 

 feet in length and nodding. The oblong 

 leaves are dark green in color, from five 

 to ten feet in length, and from one to 

 two feet in width. The beautifully arch- 

 ing leaves and the pendulous cluster of 

 flowers or fruits forms an attractive 

 foliage and makes the plant a noted or- 

 nament for the garden. 



The many varieties of both the banana 

 and plantain, which vary in taste, color, 

 form and size, are very widely distributed 

 throughout the world, being usually 

 found in a zone bounded by 38 degrees 

 North and 38 degrees South latitude. 

 It is said that a single plant will produce, 

 on the average, in one year three bunches 

 of fruit weighing fifty or more pounds. 

 The amount of labor required in its culti- 

 vation is very small, especially in the 

 older plantations. 



The number of bananas on a single 

 stalk of the ordinary variety varies from 

 about one hundred to two hundred, with 

 an average of about one hundred and 

 thirty. When a plantation is fully de- 

 veloped growth is so rapid and so con- 

 stant that ripe bunches of fruit may be 

 gathered each week. 



For the best results a good, fertile soil 

 is required. It is interesting to note 

 that but little moisture is needed, for the 

 plants attract water, either from the air 

 or the waters deep under ground, and 

 the surface of the ground is always moist 

 even in a time of unusual drought. 



The stalk that bears the heavy bunch 

 of fruit, occasionally weighing as much 

 as eighty pounds, may be easily cut down 

 by a single stroke of a scythe or a 

 machete. 



