CHAPTER XXV 



GENERAL REVIEW OF CULTIVATION continued 

 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



BLANCO mentions that there are fifty-seven kinds of 

 bananas and plantains known in the Philippine Islands. 

 The most esteemed is "saba-bisco,"with a fruit 3 in. long by 

 1 in. thick ; another, the " lacatan," has the fruits crowned 

 with the persistent perianth; a third, the " bungulan," 

 is large, with a sweet pulp. 



Fruit. " Cooked, fried, or raw, the fruit of the banana 

 forms a more important part in the diet of the people than 

 any other fruit ; none other figures more prominently in 

 the market at all seasons. It is rather singular that the 

 poorly flavoured and the least desirable varieties are 

 cultivated in preference to the better kinds, though some 

 contend that the reason is that the poorer sorts are hardier. 

 More judicious selection of the varieties grown, together 

 with better cultivation, would greatly increase both the 

 quality and the quantity of the fruit produced. The local 

 markets are well supplied with bananas, but there is 

 ample room for expansion both for the production of fresh 

 fruit for the home market and export, and for the growing 

 of bananas for the manufacture of banana flour, wine, and 

 evaporated fruits." * 



Varieties. Wester and Barrett *j* note the following 

 varieties as more or less common and important in the 

 order of their enumeration : Lacatan, Latundan, Saba, 

 Gloria, Bungulan, Butuan, Matabia, Lacatan Morado, 



* P. J. Wester, Horticulturist, in Philipp. Agric. Rev., v. 356 (1912). 

 t Philipp. Agric. Rev., v. 366, 371 (1912). 



188 



