216 THE BANANA 



taken to build special steamers for the carriage of bananas 

 from Cameroon to Hamburg. 



ALGERIA. In Algeria the cultivation was for long un- 

 successful, but M. Riviere, the Director of the Botanic 

 Garden at Hamma, persevered through numerous diffi- 

 culties, and has at length produced a variety, the " Hamma 

 banana," which yields excellent fruit, ripening perfectly 

 along the littoral zone. The original of the Hamma 

 banana came from Brazil ; many of the first plants died 

 down to the ground from cold ; some were sufficiently hardy 

 to resist cold, but their fruit was abortive. However, by 

 careful selection of bulbs M. Riviere's efforts were crowned 

 with success. The cultivation of the Chinese banana was 

 at first a failure, until it was found that it required shade, 

 and now it is possible to grow this species yielding bunches 

 with 150 to 180 bananas. 



GERMAN EAST AFRICA. According to the reports 

 recently sent to the Committee of German Colonial 

 Agriculture, a number of excellent varieties are cultivated, 

 some specially for flour, some for cooking, and some for 

 fruit. 



ZANZIBAR. Numerous varieties are cultivated, but 

 the chief use of the banana is for shade in plantations of 

 other plants. To ripen the fruit, the natives dig a large 

 hole, make a fire in it to kill all organisms, and then bury 

 the bunch. At the end of five days the fruit is ripe, the 

 process of ripening the bunches hung up in the open air 

 requiring ten or twelve days. 



SEYCHELLES. Special apparatus for drying bananas 

 has been erected in which the fruits are dried in about 

 18 hours at a temperature not exceeding 65 to 70 C. 



MADAGASCAR. Bojer gives a list with descriptions of 

 bananas cultivated in Madagascar. There is no export 

 trade. 



MAURITIUS. Bojer enumerates seventeen species and 

 varieties of banana and plantain cultivated in Mauritius. 

 Home mentions a wild banana, called the " bananier a 

 graines," which produces edible fruit with seeds. He says : 



