A LOST FEBRUARY 



— a stalk the size of one's leg and fifteen or twenty 

 feet high, — one bunch of fruit from each stalk or 

 plant. When the fruit is gathered the old stalk is 

 cut away, and a new sprout from the root takes its 

 place. The stalk is composed of the stems of the 

 big long leaves. The bunch of bananas springs di- 

 rectly out of the heart of the plant. There is notliing 

 superficial or fortuitious about it as there is with 

 most fruit. It is the whole show; it is a serious 

 matter ; it sums up the whole plant. One can see 

 where the bud is before it emerges, by the swelling 

 of the stalk, — Hke the bird or frog in the snake's 

 body. 



I doubt if there is any future for Jamaica. It 

 seems to me it is bound to remain pretty much as it 

 now is. Its black population have not the sec^ds of 

 progress. The resources of the island are not great 

 except in the production of fruit, and for tliis there 

 is no free market near at hand. There is no mineral 

 wealth, and no tempting field for capital. For the 

 past ten years its imports have exceeded its exports 

 by a million dollars annually. This difference is 

 probably made good by tourists from this country 

 and from England. American capital and Americ-an 

 enterprise are doing more for the island than arc 

 British. Banana culture, already on a large scale, 

 is increasing, and is mainly the work of the UnitrJ 

 Fruit Company. 



The burden of taxation in the island is excessive/ 



273 



