2-" THE BANANA 



small quantities to the United States from Honduras. 

 They are not much wanted in countries where potatoes 

 are plentiful and much cheaper, and they are more valuable 

 than bananas in the countries where they grow. 



In a paper on " Bananas from a Commercial Point of 

 View," published in the Journal of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society, Mr. Frank Pink makes the following remarks on 

 the kinds of bananas that are sent to Great Britain : 



" That grown in the Canary Islands is the Musa Caven- 

 dishii, which bears large compact bunches of moderately 

 large ' fingers,' and attains a height of about 10 or 12 ft. 

 The plants are fairly hardy, but the fruit is very delicate, 

 and, in spite of its thick skin, is very sensitive to bruising 

 or low temperatures, in consequence of which it is always 

 shipped carefully packed in crates. In flavour it is rich, 

 and is generally preferred to other kinds. This kind is 

 also grown in Barbados, but there it attains greater per- 

 fection, and is of finer flavour and more luscious, probably 

 owing to the soil being richer than that of the Canary 

 Islands. 



" The variety grown in Costa Rica and Jamaica is the 

 4 Gros Michel,' the plants of which attain a height of 18 or 

 20 ft., and bear long straggling bunches of large fingers, 

 which are much coarser in flavour than those of M. Caven- 

 dishii. The plants are less robust than those of the 

 smaller variety, but the fruit is much more hardy, and 

 will stand a lot of knocking about and a moderate amount 

 of cold, for which reason the bunches are always shipped 

 without packing. This is fortunate, for the long bunches 

 require very cumbersome crates to pack them in. 



" Another kind sometimes seen here is the * Claret,' 

 which derives its name from the dusky claret colour of its 

 skin, and which, in my opinion, is the best of all, having 

 a very delicious flavour. The bunches are usually very 

 small, with very few fingers on them ; but these, being 

 very large, are well worth the price charged for them, 

 viz. 2d. each. It is possible that this kind may become 

 better known before long. 



