54 THE BANANA 



PROSPECTS FOR THOSE STARTING CULTIVATION 



A writer in the Times a few years ago gave such excellent 

 and wise advice to those thinking of going to Jamaica to 

 plant bananas, that it is well worth reproduction here for 

 the consideration of emigrants to any tropical country : 

 " Banana growing is undoubtedly a very risky business. 

 Its profits are great when realized, but a violent north 

 wind, such as occasionally blows in Jamaica, may destroy 

 the whole growth of a year in a single night. There is no 

 guarding against these ' blows ' as they are called, and no 

 anticipating them. The planter must take his chance. 

 The wind bloweth when and where it listeth, and it may 

 ruin one planter's crop, and leave that of another un- 

 scathed. On the other hand the profits, when realized, are 

 very great. Good agricultural land may be bought in 

 Jamaica for from 5 to 10 an acre. For agricultural 

 purposes the very best land rarely sells for 20. The 

 future of the fruit trade is now assured, so far as the 

 opening of a new market in Europe can assure it. This 

 being so, the question will naturally be asked, can a young 

 man of energy who commands a moderate capital, say 

 from 500 to 2000, and is prepared to work hard, be re- 

 commended to go to Jamaica and embark his capital in 

 tropical agriculture ? There is only one answer to be 

 given to this question, and it cannot be too widely known. 

 No man should dream of engaging in agriculture in Jamaica 

 on his own account without having first studied the situa- 

 tion carefully and cautiously on the spot. The climate 

 may not suit him, the nature of the occupation may not 

 suit him, in a word he may not for one reason or another 

 be the right man to succeed. That he must determine for 

 himself. Jamaica is no El Dorado, it is no place where a 

 man can plant his capital in the ground and then sit down 

 and wait for it to grow. Tropical agriculture is not a 

 trade to be learnt in a day. It requires an apprenticeship 

 like any other, and the best thing for a young man to do 

 who thinks it may suit him, is to seek a subordinate 



