Ifrufts. 61 



Limes and Shaddocks. Lime trees prosper very well in Mexico, 

 bearing large amounts of delicious fruit. I have not seen in the United 

 States any of our limes, at least such as are imported here are not like 

 ours, and I have no doubt that if known our limes would find a good 

 market in this country. The lime should not be planted at an altitude 

 exceeding 1000 feet. We grow also a very large kind of shaddock, 

 which we call " toronja," and which is not imported in this country, 

 but which if known here would find a good demand. It grows very 

 luxuriantly and attains at times a very large size, even eight inches in 

 diameter, having a very thick peel. 



Bananas. The banana thrives anywhere from the sea-level to an 

 elevation of 5000 feet, and is one of the many Mexican fruits which 

 yield to the planter an immense profit. The whole Mexican coast 

 produces the banana spontaneously and in very great abundance. On 

 the lands near the sea, at an elevation of 600 to 700 feet, large planta- 

 tions of bananas can be started at a cost of five cents per plant, in- 

 cluding all expenses. At the end of the first year, the plants begin to 

 bear, and 1000 plants, which have cost $50, will produce $ 1000 as a 

 minimum. The following year the yield is double that amount, and 

 almost without expense. At the end of one year, the plant produces 

 one bunch which is worth in the United States from 75 cents to $i 

 gold, the cost to the farmer being not more than 25 cents per bunch 

 in Mexican currency. After the first year, the sprouts from the old 

 plant grow up and give double the first year's yield. 



There is perhaps no tropical plant easier of cultivation than the 

 banana. The suckers having been planted out at the commencement 

 of the rainy season, they will grow vigorously, and produce fruit in 

 about a year. The land must be kept free from weeds, and an oc- 

 casional turning up of the soil will prove beneficial. Before the plant 

 throws out its flowering stem, suckers will make their appearance above 

 the ground, and these will require careful attention. While the plant 

 is young, all the suckers except one should be cut away, the best plan 

 being to sever them with a sharp spade. Thus all the vigor of the 

 plant is thrown into the fruiting of the first stem, and the growth of 

 the one to supplant it, and, in this way, fine large bunches can be 

 reckoned on. The second stem usually produces a finer bunch of 

 fruit than the first, but, as the land becomes exhausted, the bunches of 

 course decrease in size, and this shows the necessity for manure in 

 some form or other. 



Bananas are used extensively as shade for young coffee and cocoa 

 trees, and in places where an export banana trade has been established, 

 the formation of a cocoa plantation is a very inexpensive matter, as the 

 return in fruit from the bananas will pay for the cultivation of the 

 cocoa until the trees are able to give a small crop. 



