BANANA 



567 



ions of the Montana. In spite of the un- 

 certainty as to just which country may 

 claim the fruit as indigenous, all tropical 

 lands assert their right to it. 



The first importation of bananas to the 

 United States occurred in 1804, when the 

 schooner Reynard, on a voyage from 

 Cuba, brought into New York, as a com- 

 mercial venture, a consignment of 30 

 bunches: but the real beginning of the 

 trade dates back to 1866. when Mr. Charles 

 Frank undertook the importation of fruit 

 from Colon to New York. Previous to 

 that venture small cargoes consisting 

 mainly of the red banana had been re- 

 ceived at irregular intervals from Cuba. 

 In 1870, Captain Baker, an owner of a 

 Cape Cod schooner, took a charter to car- 

 ry gold miners and machinery 300 miles 

 up to Orinoco river in Venezuela. After 

 discharging his cargo, Captain Baker ran 

 into Jamaica to secure some cocoanuts 

 as ballast to New York, carrying a few 

 bunches of bananas on the deck as an ex- 

 periment. The result promised a great 

 future for the industry on that island, 

 which has been fulfilled, the exports last 

 year reaching $4,000,000. 



On the American continent, bananas are 

 successfully growni through 50 degrees of 

 latitude, from Tampico, Mexico, 25 degrees 

 north, to Asuncion in Paraguay, in the 

 Tropic of Capricorn, 25 degrees south — a 

 belt over 3,000 miles' in width. Cultiva- 

 tion of the fruit is practically restricted 

 to the eastern coast line, for the banana 

 is one of the thirstiest of plants, and can 

 not be expected to produce its maximum 

 amount of fruit in districts where there 

 are less than 100 inches of annual rain- 

 fall. Unfortunately for humanity, great 

 areas of the land lying within this belt 

 are high, dry, and sterile, while others 

 are sandy or rocky, so only a small frac- 

 tion is so located that banana growing 

 can be made profitable. The altitude 

 must not invite danger of frost, and 

 high temperature is necessary for the 

 growth. The southern coast of the Mexi- 

 can Gulf, the Puerto Barrios section of 

 Gautemala, the Puerto Cortes district of 

 Honduras, the Puerto Limon district of 

 Costa Rica, the Bluefields district of 

 Nicaragua, the Bocas del Torro region of 



Panama, the Colombian province of San- 

 ta Marta, and certain portions of Cuba, 

 .Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, 

 and Dutch Guiana, all combine the favor- 

 ed elements of soil and climate. 



The plant has two natural enemies — 

 the gopher and the wind storm — but 

 against almost all other tropical condi- 

 tions its hardihood is remarkable. It is 

 practicall.y immune from insect pests, and 

 a worm-eaten banana or the stalk of a 

 bunch practically destroyed by any of 

 the boring insects of the tropics is un- 

 known. The damage from high winds 

 can be avoided or minimized either by 

 planting in locations protected from 

 storms or by leaving unfelled strips of 

 native forest as protective screens. Where 

 the gopher interferes, it can be fought by 

 the use of carbon bisulphite. There is. 

 however, a "witch broom" disease which 

 has affected the Gros Michel variety in 

 Dutch Guiana, and a "Panama" sickness 

 which has attacked certain other vari- 

 eties. 



It is a matter of common observation 

 that the banana is absolutely seedless, 

 cultivation through innumerable genera- 

 tions having led to a vegetable method of 

 propagation. Some of the primitive seed- 

 bearing varieties are still said to exist in 

 isolated regions of the Far East. 



riearinpr the Land 



The first step toward cultivation is the 

 clearing of the land. Into the tangle 

 of shrubs and vines and the thick snarl 

 of tropical vegetation the laborer comes 

 with an ax and "machete" and cuts low 

 everything but the giant trees. When 

 all of the small timber and brush has 

 been felled planting is commenced. 



Planting: 



Young shoots are obtained from a 

 plantation already in bearing, and these 

 are placed in rows about 12 feet apart. 

 When the planting is finished, the only 

 labor necessary is to keep down the weeds 

 and carefully clean the ground about the 

 root of each stalk. 



Growth 



The banana plant will grow with won- 

 derful rapidity under favorable circum- 

 stances. In fact, the development from a 



