248 THE BANANA 



latter; though the body is exactly like that of the horn 

 plantain, the bunch resembles that of the French, but the 

 fruit is somewhat shorter and plumper. 



"The plantain," he says, "requires a good deep soil 

 and a sheltered position. It is propagated by sprouts 

 which are planted 10 ft. apart. From five to seven of 

 the young shoots or suckers spring out of and around the 

 parent stem. The fruit makes its appearance between 

 eight, nine and twelve months. The young shoots then 

 give their fruit in succession, for two, three, or even many 

 years, according to the climate, fertility of the soil, and 

 the care bestowed on them. A plantain walk requires only 

 occasional weeding and pruning." 



Mr. J. Mclnroy reports * on the experiments with the 

 bananas in Trinidad : " The cultivation of Gros Michel 

 had to be abandoned on account of disease, and a start 

 was then made to ship Governors (M. Cavendishii) un- 

 crated on consignment to the British West Indian Fruit 

 Company at Southampton ; this arrangement threw any 

 loss on the shippers, but has been found to work satis- 

 factorily, and with the improved carrying facilities of the 

 Royal Mail steamers will, I think, continue so. If care 

 is taken in the grade of fruit sent, and the fruit carefully 

 handled, the difficulty in shipping the Governor variety 

 may be overcome. This variety has more disease-resisting 

 qualities than the Gros Mfchel, the yield per acre is heavier, 

 and, owing to its short stumpy nature, it does not suffer 

 from wind. 



" The banana disease is still prevalent, but with the steps 

 taken, I am hopeful that it can be successfully combated ; 

 fields that are attacked are partly abandoned, diseased 

 trees cut down and limed, the beds banked up and stumps 

 buried, the field afterwards planted with sweet potatoes, 

 and after two crops of potatoes are reaped, the field is 

 replanted with the Governor variety. Fields treated in 

 this manner are comparatively free of disease. Two fields 

 side by side originally planted in Gros Michel, which had 

 * Bull. Dipt. Agric. Trin. and Tob., ix. 203 (1910). 



