March, 1910.] 



215 



Edible Products. 



during the cold season, but that iu the 

 hot season the shipments arrived in an 

 over-ripe condition. Hall's system of 

 cold storage was therefore installed in 

 some of the ships of this line, and larger 

 shipments of bananas were made. In 

 19C2, 18 bunches of bananas were shipped; 

 in 1903, 6,691 bunches; in 1904, 15,326 

 bunches ; in 1905, 28,008 bunches were 

 shipped up to October 5th, In July of 

 1905, however, shipments of bananas 

 from Trinidad occupied a considerable 

 portion of the cold storage holds, and 

 the Barbados bananas had to be put in 

 other parts of the vessel, with the result 

 that the 10,439 bunches shipped from 

 October 5th, 1905 to March 31st, 1906 

 netted in England only about 2d. per 

 bunch. This meant a loss to the planters 

 of nearly one shilling per bunch in 

 freight and other expenses alone, and 

 consequently growers discontinued to 

 ship. 



The Barbados bananas when they 

 arrived in England in good condition 

 commanded a ready sale and netted to 

 the planters from 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. per 

 bunch, and as the cost of crates, packing, 

 etc., amounted to about Is. j|3d. per bunch, 

 the net profits on good shipments 

 worked out at about one shilling to Is. 

 3d. per bunch. Without assured space 

 in cold-storage holds it was found impos- 

 sible to ship the dwarf or Chinese variety 

 successfully. 



Jamaica Methods op Cultivation. 



The method of cultivating bananas in 

 Jamaica differs considerably from that 

 practised in this colony, and it is thought 

 that a brief description of the former 

 practice may not be without interest :— 



If forest land is brought under banana 

 cultivation some planters simply cut and 

 burn, leaving the stumps to decay. 

 Others, however, prefer to stump the 

 land as soon as possible, in order that 

 the suckers may be put in regularly and 

 so that ploughing may be carried out 

 much earlier than if the stumps were 

 not removed. Virgin land is not 

 ploughed, however, for the first crop. 

 Old cane land or pasture is thoroughly 

 ploughed to at least nine inches deep. 

 This ploughing is generally done in 

 January. The land is then carefully 

 harrowed. It is allowed to lie fallow 

 until the beginning of March, when it 

 is cross ploughed and harrowed. The 

 fields are then lined ready for planting, 

 which is usually . done in the end of 

 March or the beginning of April. Hill 

 lands cannot be ploughed. They are, 

 therefore, forked before being lined for 

 planting. 



Great care is taken with the drainage 

 and irrigation systems, as it is absolutely 

 essential for a successful banana culti- 

 vation to have good drainage, and the 

 irrigation system must be laid out so 

 that the smaller water channels may be 

 easily changed as occasion arises. 



Planting. 



Planting is generally done in Jamaica 

 from January to April in order to catch 

 the high prices of the American market. 

 Where irrigation is not possible March 

 and April are recognised as the planting 

 months, so that the suckers may be 

 ready to benefit by the rains that com- 

 mence in May. 



The usual distance for planting on the 

 south side of the island is 14 feet x 14 

 feet, while 15 feet x 15 feet is generally 

 recognised as being most suitable on the 

 southern side. The distance in the hills 

 is usually 12 feet x 12 feet. Experi- 

 ments have been tried with planting 

 15 feet x 10 feet or 15 feet x 8 feet, with 

 varied results, while 8 feet x 8 feet and 

 10 feet x 10 feet are not uncommon in 

 some of the very hot flat lands, in order 

 to shade the ground as soon as possible 

 after planting. The general concensus 

 of opinion throughout the island favours 

 the wider planting, as the bunches are 

 of better size and quality. The holes 

 are usually dug from 2 feet to 3 feet 

 square and vary in depth from 1 foot to 

 2J feet. The deeper holes are generally 

 advocated where labour is plentiful. 



Seed-Suckers. 

 The suckers which would be selected 

 for planting are not the same as those 

 that would be chosen in this colony, 

 and the method of treatment is totally 

 different. Suckers for planting purpo- 

 ses are suckers that have not been cut 

 back, or in other words "sword-suckers," 

 — as indicated by their first leaves being 

 very narrow — which have been allowed 

 to grow to about eight or ten feet in 

 height and which have large bulbs at 

 their base. No small suckers, such as 

 we choose in this colony, are taken. 

 In preparing their suckers for planting, 

 the Jamaicans cut down those selected 

 to within about six inches of the ground 

 and then dig out the bulbs. All the 

 old roots are then trimmed off and the 

 bulb is planted so that the eyes are 

 at least three or four inches below the 

 level of the ground. From this bulb, 

 three or four suckers will spring up. 

 The strongest one is selected, and all 

 the others are pruned off until June 

 when one or to suckers are left, and 

 then again all others are pruned off 

 until October when there is again left 

 either one or two, and finally another 



