JAMAICA, 



BULLETIN 



OF THE 



BOTANICAL DEPARTMENT. 



Vol. IX. SBPTEMBEK, 1902. Part <J. 



THE BANANA INDUSTRY IN JAMAICA. 



By the Editor. 



Prepared for the. Agricultural Conference. Barbados, January, 1902, 

 Reprinted from the West Indian Bulletin, Vol III. No. 2. 



THE BANANA. PLANT. 



The banana plaDt is not propagated by seed, but by young plants 

 which bud from the underground stem or 'bulb,' as it is called, of an 

 older plant. This bud at first gets all its food material from the 

 parent bulb, but very soon forms leaves and roots of its own. Its 

 first leaves are very long and narrow as compared with those developed 

 later. When the young plant is six or eight months old, it is about 

 9 or 10 feet high, and its own bulb is 8 or 10 inches across. This is 

 cut clean away from the parent, and the roots trimmed off. It may 

 be planted as it is, but for convenience of carrying, and to prevent its 

 beino* blown over before its roots anchor it, it is cut down to within 6 

 inches of its bulb. This bulb soon shoots, both from the centre, and 

 from eyes all round. One shoot takes the lead, monopolizing most of 

 the food-material supplied Irom the bulb, and this leading shoot is 

 known henceforth as the plaut — the others are its suckers. 



ROOTS. 



The roots push out in all directions horizontally, and some, from the 

 base of the bulb, vertically downwards. The main roots are fleshy, 

 not forming wood, but of the same thickness throughout like stout 

 cords. They do not branch, but short thread-like roots grow out, 

 and on these are the hairs which do the work of absorbing liquid from 

 the soil. If a heavy wind shakes the stem, the thread-like roots are 

 torn off, and perhaps even the cord-like roots are broken, and the 

 effects are noticed for the following three or four months in the 

 bunches coming small. 



Cutting the ends of the thick roots appears to encourage the growth 

 of the thread-like roots. 



