26 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



WONDERFUL LEAF STRUCTURE OF THE BANANA 



[I'nim tlu- \\\-st Iii-lia Committfc C'irculai- of Lomlcii, KiiglandJ 



The most striking features about the ba- 

 nana plant are its rapid growth, its early 

 maturity and the enormous amount of 

 food produced in proportion to the area 

 occupied.* These are accounted for by 

 almost the whole plant being composed of 

 leaf structure. 



Compare the leaves with those of the 

 coconut, which are divided into ribbons, 

 offering no resistance to wind, and seem- 

 ing to enjoy the stormy gales of the sea- 

 shore. The undivided leaf of the banana 

 shows very clearly that it was developed 

 under conditions where only gentle breezes 

 lazily move it, and as the structure of the 

 root points to a forest soil as the cradle of 

 the family, so the leaf indicates an open 

 glade sheltered from the rough winds by 

 surrounding woodland. Naturally a windy 

 situation is not the best, if large bunches 

 and good fruit are desired, and the crop 

 becomes more precarious in proportion as 

 the plants get heavier and more top-heavy 

 with ripening bunches. 



The young leaf, before it expands, is so 

 rolled around on itself that not a drop of 

 rain can penetrate to the centre of the 

 cylindrical trunk, where another young leaf 

 or the bunch is forming; when it at length 

 expands, another convolute leaf is there on 

 guard. The last leaf to appear before 

 the flowering stalk is much smaller than the 

 rest, and it hangs over and protects the 

 flowers from the direct sunlight. 



As has been already indicated, the 

 sheathing bases of the leaves act the part 

 of a woody stem in supporting the huge 

 leaf blades and carrying them upwards to- 

 wards the sunlight. They also enclose in 

 their centre and protect the flowering stalk 

 for the few weeks while it is pushing its 

 wav up from the bulb to the top of the 

 trunk. 



The sheaths when cut across, show very 

 large air spaces, and these are connected 

 with minute pores on the lower surfaces 

 o^ t he leaves which admit air, a large 



* Banana, 242,000 lbs. of food per acre- nota- 

 toes. 4.000 lbs.: wbeat, 2,000 lbs. 



quantity of which is necessary for the 

 rapid growth. 



It is interesting to note how the leaves 

 adapt themselves to sunshine and shade. 

 When the rays of the sun are perpendicular 

 and too intense, the sides of the leaf col- 

 lapse and hang together, the under surfaces, 

 on which the vast majority of the minute 

 pores are situated, coming together and 

 preventing too great evaporation. In wet 

 weather, on the other hand, the upper 

 surface of the leaves becomes concave. 



The banana leaf also collects the rain 

 drops of a shower and conducts them along 

 the fluted leaf stalk into the interior of 

 each concentric sheath. Each leaf pro- 

 vides for its own sheath, but the central 

 space, where the young growing leaves or 

 the flowers are pushing their way upwards, 

 is protected. Water supplied in this way, 

 and quite independent of the amount at 

 the roots, is important for the proper 

 "shooting" of the flower stalk; it causes 

 expansion of the trunk and relieves the 

 pressure on the central space. An ob- 

 servant planter noticed that in dry weather 

 a shower of rain seemed to start his plants 

 shooting, and when he found this process 

 hanging fire, he used to spray his bananas 

 with a hose in imitation of the beneficient 

 shower. 



The function of the leaves is to provide 

 food for the requirements of growth in the 

 plant. The energy or motive power neces- 

 sary for the work of manufacturing the 

 food is obtained from the sun's rays by 

 means of the green coloring matter. The 

 water absorbed by the roots, containing 

 nitrogenous and mineral material, is car- 

 ried up the leaves, and a union of these 

 elements with the carbonic acid of the air 

 takes place. The manufactured food is 

 transferred to any part of the plant where 

 growth is taking place, or, if not required 

 for growth, it is stored up in the bulb in 

 the form of starch grains for use later. 

 The green color of the trunk shows that 

 it is also taking part in the manufacture of 

 food. 



PRESIDENT BUYS BLOODED STOCK 



F. C. Giltner. of Eminence, Ky., member 

 of the firm of Giltner Bros., live stock im- 

 porters, recently sold to President Gomez 

 50 cows and 4 bulls, all the finest Holsteins 

 to be found in Kentucky. The cattle are 

 now at the president's farm America, at 

 Calabazar. 



Mr. Giltner will return in Septe»nl3er 

 with other importations of Kentucky live 

 stock. 



Without debate on July 9th the Senate 

 passed the report of the Committee on Mu- 

 nicipal Affairs which authorizes the segre- 

 gation of the borough of La Gloria from 

 the municipality of Camaguey and making 

 it a part of the municipality of Nuevitas. 

 The bill is now before the House for con- 

 sideration. 



Marianao, a suburb of Havana, owes 

 that city $20,000 for water supplied. A 

 suit will be brought to compel payment. 



