88 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



nana and certain semi-wild forms of bananas which bear seed. 

 The species of banana known as Musa acuminata bears fruit 

 in bunches of 4 to 6 large hands of 10 to 12 fingers each. The 

 fruit is short, being not more than 2 to 4 inches in length, is 

 beaked, and contains seed. This species is common in the 

 Malay Archipelago. 



The Chinese, Dwarf, or Canary banana, known to botanists 

 as cavendishii, and also sometimes called Cavendish banana, 

 grows only 4 to 6 feet high and bears 6 to 8 leaves in a close 

 crown. The male flowers are persistent on the tip of the flow- 

 ering stem. The fruit is slightly hexagonal, about 4 to 6 inches 

 long, and with a rather thick skin and excellent flavor. 



The phenomenal rise of the banana industry is one of the 

 most interesting phases of modern commerce. The industry 

 began sometime more than a generation ago with the shipment 

 of a few bunches of bananas to the United States from Jamaica 

 and Panama. In 1878 bananas were imported into the United 

 States to the value of $500,000. By 1900 the value of the 

 banana imports had increased to $6,000,000, and in 1914 to 

 $16,500,000. This industry is concerned almost entirely with 

 one variety of banana, commonly known as the Jamaica ba- 

 nana, but also sometimes called Gros Michel, Martinique, or 

 Bluefields. The Spanish Red or Cuban Red banana is im- 

 ported into the United States in small quantities, and may occa- 

 sionally be seen on the markets of our large cities. The Chi- 

 nese banana is found only on the California markets and in 

 Florida. This banana is grown in Hawaii and has thus far 

 been marketed exclusively in San Francisco. The flavor of 

 the Chinese banana is so well liked that the Hawaiian bananas 

 are all consumed in San Francisco and Oakland. Recently an 

 arrangement has been made for shipping about 15,000 bunches 

 of Chinese bananas per month to Portland, Oregon. The 

 banana industry of Hawaii is a small but slowly increasing 

 one. It began about 1865 and has now reached about 20,000 

 bunches per month. The United States imported in 1914, 48,- 



