322 



BANANA. 



Extent of 

 cultivation 



Great nntri 

 meut. 



CHAP. XXV. however, only proves the mattention of these travellers 

 to the productions of the soil ; and it is probable that 

 the Musa presented several species indigenous to dif- 

 ferent parts of both continents. The space favourable 

 to the cultivation of this valuable plant in Mexico is 

 more than 50,000 square leagues, and has nearly a 

 million and a half of inhabitants. In the warm and 

 humid valleys of Vera Cruz, at the foot of the cordillera 

 of Orizaba, the fruit occasionally exceeds 11*8 inches in 

 circumference, with a length of seven or eight. A 

 bunch sometimes contains from IGO to 180, and weighs 

 from 66 to 88 lb. avoirdupois. 



Humboldt doubts whether there is any other plant on 

 the globe which, in so small a space of ground, can pro- 

 duce so great a mass of nutriment. Eight or nine 

 months after the sucker has been inserted in the earth 

 the banana begins to form its clusters, and the fruit may 

 be gathered in less than a year. When the stalk is cut, 

 there is always found among the numerous shoots which 

 have put forth roots one that bears three months later. 

 A plantation is perpetuated without any other care than 

 that of cutting the stems on which the fruit has ripened, 

 and giving the earth a slight dressing. A spot of 1076 

 square feet may contain at least from thirty to forty 

 plants, which, in the space of a year, at a very moderate 

 calculation, will yield more than 4410 lb. avoirdupois of 

 nutritive substance. Our author estimates, that the 

 produce of the banana is to that of wheat, as 133 : 1, and 

 to that of potatoes as 44 : 1. 



In America numerous preparations are made of this 

 fruit, both before and after its maturity. When fully 

 ripe it is exposed to the sun, and preserved like our 

 figs ; the skin becoming black, and exhaling a peculiar 

 odour like that of smoked ham. This dry banana 

 {jilatano passado), which is an object of commerce in 

 the province of Mechoacan, has an agreeable taste, and 

 is a very wholesome article of food. Meal or flour is 

 )btained from it, by being cut into slices, dried in the 

 sun, and pounded. 



Ease of 

 cultivation- 



Modes of 

 preparuiion. 



