526 ORDER MUSACE.E, OR BANANA TRIBE. 



that of the latter is nearly insipid. Their other differences, how- 

 ever, are trifling ; and many Botanists consider that, as they are 

 only known in cultivation, they are not unlikely to be varieties 

 of the same species. They are most splendid plants, the stems 

 formed by the cohesion of the leaf-stalks varying from ten to 

 twenty or even thirty feet in height, and the leaves themselves 

 being three, four, or even ten or twelve feet in length. The 

 rapidity of their growth is most extraordinary. They are 

 propagated by the separation of buds or suckers ; eight or nine 

 months after these have been planted, they begin to form their 

 clusters; and the fruit may be collected in the tenth and eleventh 

 months. When a stalk, on which the fruit has ripened, is cut, 

 a sprout is put forth, which again bears fruit in three months. 

 A cluster of Bananas, produced on a single plant, often contains 

 from 160 to 180 fruits, and weighs from 70 to 80 Ibs. A spot 

 of little more than a thousand square feet will contain from thirty 

 to forty Banana plants; and it is reckoned that from this number, 

 in full growth, at least 4000 Ibs. of fruit may be annually 

 obtained. Humboldt has calculated that, from the same extent 

 of ground, only about 33 Ibs. of wheat or 99 Ibs. of potatoes 

 could be raised ; so that the Banana appears to be 133 times 

 more productive than the first, and 44 times more than the 

 second. But this is not altogether true; since, weight for 

 weight, the nutritive matter of the Banana cannot be compared 

 with that of wheat or even of potatoes. Still, a much greater 

 number of individuals may be supported upon the produce of a 

 piece of ground planted with Bananas, compared with a piece of 

 the same size in Europe growing wheat ; Humboldt estimates 

 the proportion as twenty-five to one. 



703. The Banana flowers and bears fruit through the whole 

 year, so that a constant supply is afforded by such a plantation, 

 as that with which the natives of the countries where it flou- 

 rishes surround their habitations. The labour of cultivating this 

 is very slight ; all that is necessary being to cut the stalks that 

 are laden with ripe fruit, and to turn up the earth round the 

 roots about twice a year. When families settle, the first step 



