CHAPTER XXXV 



MINOR SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS IN CALIFORNIA 



A number of interesting fruits are now grown in this State which, 

 for one reason or another, have not yet attained any great commercial 

 importance, although some of them are rapidly advancing in popular 

 esteem and likely to gain much higher place in the markets. Others 

 will probably never be grown except for home use and garden orna- 

 ment. 



THE BANANA 



The banana has been a favorite plant for experimental culture for 

 many years, and though good fruit has been grown at various points 

 in the State, the culture is too hazardous to warrant large investment, 

 and if this danger was not present, the abundant supplies available 

 from the islands of the Pacific would probably reduce the profits to a 

 narrow margin. The banana can be trusted only in protected situations 

 and in small numbers which can be given special attention. With these 

 conditions the banana may yield very acceptable fruit for home use and 

 be an ornament to the garden. Its beauty is, however, seriously im- 

 paired by winds, which whip its tender leaves into shreds and give the 

 plant an unkempt appearance. 



The largest number of bananas are seen in Los Angeles and Santa 

 Barbara, and one grower at an elevation near the latter place reports 

 his table supplied daily throughout the year with the fruit of the 

 Cavendish species, which is the most commonly grown sort. The Yel- 

 low Martinique or Yellow Costa Rica, the Orinoco, the Hawaiian Lele, 

 Hart's Choice, and a large-fruited variety known in Los Angeles 

 County as the Baldwin, are also approved by growers. How to grow 

 bananas in the garden, according to the experience of the late S. H. 

 Gerrish, of Sacramento, is as follows : 



By experiment I have found that the banana will live if in a proper soil 

 without injury to the roots, at a temperature as low as sixteen degrees Fahr. ; 

 the stalk will stand a temperature of twenty-five degrees without injury, and 

 the leaves are not wilted until the air is chilled to thirty degrees. My method 

 has been to supply the richest food for this gigantic plant and force it to its 

 extreme growth. Every one has old chip dirt, ashes, boots, shoes, clothes, and 

 manure, which are often a nuisance. Dig a big hole, bury this up, in the center 

 of the mass place a pailful of sand, and plant the fresh bulb. This is to 

 preserve the dormant plant from the wire-worms and insects, which will not 

 attack the growing plant. As the plant grows, give it an abundance of water 

 and all the slops of the house. Any kind of manure, fresh or old, ashes, leaves, 

 and vegetables will soon disappear and be absorbed by this gigantic king of 

 plants. As the rainy season approaches, pile all the leaves and twigs of trees 

 around the plants. It protects the bulbs and makes the soil rich for next season. 

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