64 FRUITS 



to another on a waggon, who packs them in carefully so that 

 there shall be no bruising. It is singularly picturesque to 

 ride through the shady rows of bananas with here and there 

 rough majestic heads falling and figures swiftly moving at 

 their work, to note the quick movements of the men, the 

 stately walk of the women with a bunch balanced on their 

 heads, all accompanied by the noise of the large leaves in 

 their descent, the cries of the men and the peculiar call for 

 the women when they are wanted.' l 



CULTIVATION. Bananas produce no seeds, but from their 

 underground stems they send forth shoots, and, when new 

 plantations are required, these shoots are cut off from the 

 parent plant and set in the earth. They are cut when about 

 six months old, and ten months afterwards they begin to 

 flower. Bananas require heat and moisture, a rich soil, and 

 sheltered situation. Wind and rough weather would soon 

 play havoc with their great broad juicy leaves. 



VARIETIES. There are many different kinds of bananas ; the 

 height of the smallest is about five feet, but large varieties 

 attain a height of twenty feet or more. Musa sapientium is 

 a large kind and Musa Cavendishii a small kind. The former 

 grows in Jamaica, and the latter in the Canary Islands and 

 Barbados, while one known as the claret variety, of a very 

 delicate flavour, grows in Trinidad. 



In the East all bananas are called plantains, but in the West 

 Indies a distinction is made. The plant there known as the 

 plantain produces larger fruits, and the length of bare stalk 

 on a bunch is less than on a bunch of bananas. The fruit is 

 always cooked before it is eaten ; it takes the place of bread 

 or potatoes. The plantain is more valuable than the banana 

 and requires a richer soil to grow in. 



SOURCES OF SUPPLY. We buy over nine million bunches of 

 bananas in a year, and at present nearly eight million of these 

 are bought from foreign countries, chiefly from Costa Rica, 

 the Canary Islands, and Colombia. 



1 W. Fawcett, The Banana : its Cultivation, Distribution, and Commercial 

 Uses. 



