82 THE BANANA 



be taken to place the manure in a trench made around the 

 stem, avoiding placing it in direct contact with the latter, 

 so as to prevent accidents. 



"This manure costs at the maximum 200 francs per 

 hectare, about l|d. per plant, without counting the 

 nitrogenous manures. It is a very small expense, which 

 will be largely compensated by the regularity of and 

 increased yield in the crops." 



The Director of Agriculture in Jamaica states in his 

 Annual Report for 1909-10, with reference to that colony 

 only, that " some recent experiments with manures have 

 confirmed our former conclusions, that bananas do not 

 require fertilizers, and that humus, lime, and drainage are 

 the chief factors that are of practical importance to the 

 cultivator of this crop in Jamaica. If it be remembered 

 that the drain on an acre of land, by the removal of 300 

 stems of bananas, is less than that of the crops of wheat 

 grown at Rothamsted for sixty years on the same soil 

 without manure, it is not a matter for surprise that the 

 banana should be so little responsive to chemical 

 fertilizers." 



