FRUITS 267 



hands of a single corporation, the United Fruit 

 Company, and this concern alone constantly employs 

 from one to two hundred steamships in carrying 

 bananas from various tropical ports to the United 

 States. 



The banana is strictly tropical and will not endure 

 frost. It grows everywhere in the tropics under a 

 great variety of conditions, and it is an important 

 factor in the local food supply. It grows best, 

 however, in deep, rich, alluvial soils, and it is particu- 

 larly partial to sheltered valleys along streams. The 

 greater part of the bananas grown for export are on 

 river-bottom lands. Jamaica was originally the chief 

 source of supply for the banana ships, and for many 

 years this has been the principal industry of that 

 island. Plantations at various points on the Central 

 American coast have, however, constantly increased 

 in importance, and the larger part of this fruit reach- 

 ing the United States now comes from that quarter. 

 Cuba produces some commercial bananas, but the con- 

 ditions are less favorable than in these other countries. 



Bananas are propagated by means of suckers that 

 spring up freely from the roots. The usual distance 

 for planting is about fifteen feet apart each w^ay. 

 Cultivation is very simple, consisting simply in keep- 

 ing down grass and weeds with the hoe or cultivator. 

 Kew lands are preferred for bananas, when possible, 

 '.'he timber is cut down and burned and the plants 

 are set among the blackened stumps without plowing 

 or other preparation of the soil. A great effort is 

 usually made to keep these new-land plantations free 

 from grass. Men go around with sacks and pull up 



