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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



The banana was long considered an 

 inferior article of food, fit for consump- 

 tion only by the yellow and black races 

 of Asia and Africa, and it was not until 

 Baron Humboldt, following his voyages 

 to New Spain, called attention to the 

 richness in alimentary sustenance of the 

 fruit and the enormous quantities of it 

 produced on small areas that its impor- 

 tance became generally known. 



Of the many forms in which the plan- 

 tain is served in the hotels and homes of 

 Costa Rica, the baked and fried dishes 

 are more agreeable to the taste. A well- 

 flavored green plantain, sprinkled with 

 sugar and baked in the oven until brown, 

 when the syrup of the fruit issues forth, 

 makes an appeal that is not easy to re- 

 sist if you are fond of sweets. Sliced 

 lengthwise and fried they are hardly less 

 palatable, and in this style they are fre- 

 quently served with beefsteak. The vari- 

 ous soups of which they form the base 

 may also be recommended, but the boiled 

 plantain, which is a universal food among 

 all classes wherever the fruit is found, 

 does not meet with the same high favor 

 with most foreigners. An excellent des- 

 sert, somewhat in the form of a preserve, 

 is made by taking the baked plantain, as 

 above, and cutting it into three or four 

 pieces, adding more sugar and stewing. 



A nutritious and easily digestible flour 

 is obtained from the banana after it has 

 been dried in the sun. This flour is said 

 to act as a cure for indigestion and other 

 stomach disorders, and is highly valued 

 by the native women as an infant food. 

 Equal parts of this flour and wheat flour 

 are used in making a bread that is of 

 pleasing taste and nutritious, but worthy 

 of mention more for its digestibility. 

 Artificial heat is also employed in drying 

 the banana to make this flour, and in 

 some countries, notably Jamaica, the in- 

 dustry is of growing importance. 



Besides eating the fruit, the inhabit- 

 ants of the countries where it is grown 

 employ it in a wide variety of ways to 

 supply many of the needs of life. From 

 one species an acceptable quality of vine- 

 gar is made simply by mashing the fruit 

 and placing the mash in an earthenware 

 jar covered with a linen rag, allowing it 



to ferment. The ripe plantain, fer- 

 mented, gives on distillation an extremely 

 strong brandy, not very agreeable to the 

 taste, and the natives, although accus- 

 tomed to strong liquors, usually give 

 preference to milder beverages. With 

 the essence extracted from the guineo 

 plantain, a short, thick variety, an aroma, 

 or bouquet, is given to false cognacs and 

 brandies in Europe which are destined 

 for exportation. For coughs and bron- 

 chial inflammation a pectoral is made by 

 roasting an unpeeled banana in the oven, 

 removing the skin, then thoroughly cook- 

 ing it in a little water, taking the syrup. 

 From the ribs of the leaf, which differ 

 in color according to species, the Fili- 

 pinos weave a remarkably fine cloth, but 

 the most useful service which the leaf 

 renders to the negroes of the banana 

 fields of Costa Rica thus far is protec- 

 tion from the heavy rains, and for this 

 purpose it is better than the finest silk 

 umbrella. 



Remarkable as the development of the 

 banana industry has been since the first 

 bunches were shipped, only three or four 

 decades ago, it may be said to hold fully 

 as great promise for the future. The 

 markets where the fruit is already known 

 are insatiable, and practically unopened 

 fields for it are found in the countries of 

 continental Europe. In England its con- 

 sumption is increasing at a phenomenal 

 pace, as the sterling qualities of the fruit 

 become known and the price cheapened. 

 Where but a few years ago the fruit was 

 obtainable only in the larger cities of that 

 country and each banana was wrapped 

 in tissue paper, commanding a price that 

 only the few could afi^ord to pay, today 

 there is hardly a green-grocer at a coun- 

 try cross-roads who does not sell it. 



In July, 1910, the Costa Rican govern- 

 ment placed an export duty of one cent 

 gold on every bunch of fruit leaving the 

 country, effective until July, 1930, which 

 is the first direct revenue it has derived 

 from the country's most important indus- 

 try. This law is universally regarded as 

 just ; in fact, its effect has been to stimu- 

 late the growing of the fruit, since it 

 gives assurance that the duty will be no 

 higher during that period. 



