CHAPTER XXXV 

 MINOR SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS IN CALIFORNIA 



A number of interesting fruits are now grown in this State 

 which, for one reason or another, have not yet attained any great 

 commercial importance, although some of them are advancing in 

 popular esteem and likely to gain much higher place in the mar- 

 kets. Others will probably never be grown except for home use 

 and garden ornament. 



THE BANANA 



The banana has been a favorite plant for experimental culture 

 for many years, and though good fruit has been grown at various 

 points in the State, the culture is too hazardous to warrant large 

 investment, and if this danger was not present, the ab*undant sup- 

 plies available from the islands of the Pacific would probably 

 reduce the profits to a narrow margin. The banana can be trusted 

 only in protected situations and in small numbers which can be 

 given special attention. With these conditions the banana may 

 yield very acceptable fruit for home use and be an ornament to 

 the garden. Its beauty is, however, seriously impaired by winds, 

 which whip its tender leaves into shreds, and give the plant an 

 unkempt appearance. 



The largest number of bananas are seen in Los Angeles and 

 Santa Barbara, and one grower at an elevation near the latter place 

 reports his table supplied daily throughout the year with the fruit 

 of the Cavendish species, which is the most commonly grown 

 sort. The Yellow Martinique or Yellow Costa Rica, the Orenoco. 

 the Hawaiian Lele, Hart's Choice, and a large-fruited variety 

 known in Los Angeles county as the Baldwin, are also approved 

 by growers. How to grow bananas in the garden, according to 

 the experience of the late S. H. Gerrish, of Sacramento, is as fol- 

 lows : 



By experiment I have found that the banana will live if in a proper soil 

 without injury to the roots, at a temperature as low as sixteen degrees Fahr. ; 

 the stalk will stand a temperature of twenty-five degrees without injury, and 

 the leaves are not wilted until the air is chilled to thirty degrees. My method 

 has been to supply the richest food for this gigantic plant and force it to its 

 extreme growth. Every one has old chip dirt, ashes, boots, shoes, clothes, and 

 manure, which are often a nuisance. Dig a big hole, bury this up, in the center 

 of the mass place a pailful of sand, and plant the fresh bulb. This is to 

 preserve the dormant plant from the wire-worms and insects, which will not 

 attack the growing plant. As the plant grows, give it an abundance of water 



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