Edible Products. 



114 



[February, 1912. 



reason that they do not care whether 

 the land becomes exhausted or not. As 

 they only rent the land, a piece is usually 

 roughly cleared, planted with bananas, 

 and as soon as the plants cease to bear 

 profitable crops, the block is abandoned 

 by the Chinese or Asiatic tenant, who 

 moves to a fresh piece of land. 



Other factors, which tend to retard 

 the development of banana cultivation 

 in Australia, are : - 



(1) The fact that black or coloured 

 labour is now prohibited in Australia. 



(2) The recurrence, particularly in the 

 districts best suited for the growth of 

 the banana, of cyclones or hurricanes. 



(3) Transport difficulties. 



(4) The limited nature of the market. 



All bananas produced in Australia 

 must be marketed in that country, of 

 which the total uumber of inhabitants 

 does not yet exceed 5,000,000. 



In spite of these limiting influences, so 

 important is the cultivation of the 

 banana to Queensland (121,075 bunches 

 produced in 1910) that the best means of 

 maintaining the fertility of banana lands 

 has been the subject of careful scientific 

 investigation, and it has been established 

 beyond doubt that banana plantations 

 need not be abandoned, but by suitable 

 cultivation and manuring may be main- 

 tained indefinitely in highly profitable 

 production. 



What is possible in Australia holds 

 good also elsewhere, and the writer hopes 

 that by applying the lessons of the pre- 

 sent article in the West Indies and 

 other banana-producing lands, results of 

 manuring at least as favourable as those 

 obtained in Queensland may there also 

 be achieved. 



Reference has already been made to 

 the very luxuriant growth of the banana. 

 To the practical planter there is no need 

 to emphasise the point, as he is only too 

 familiar with the enormous masses of 

 vegetable matter produced. By the 

 thoughtful, however, valuable con- 

 clusions may be deduced when going 

 through a plantation of any age and 

 viewing the bulky masses. Here one 

 sees the plant in all stages of develop- 

 ment, from the tender sprouting sucker 

 to the stem which, its function fulfilled, 

 i.e., its fruit produced, lies rotting on 

 the ground, apparently useless, yet a 

 veritable museum of cell forms in the 

 study of which no microscope is neces- 

 sary, and which from this view point 

 alone, is worthy the most careful 

 attention. 



But apart from its purely scientific 

 interest, what does all this teach ? 

 Consider for a moment the extraordin- 

 arily rapid growth of the plant, its 

 abundant and enormous leaves, the huge 

 cells so easily visible in the decaying 

 plants, the fact that one may com- 

 mence cutting fruit nine months after 

 the suckers are planted, and that 

 once commenced, fruiting is practically 

 continuous. 



Surely this indicates that the banana 

 is not a plant which can slowly absorb 

 the mineral matter it requires from a 

 reluctant and unkindly soil. Rather 

 must it have its manurial ingredi- 

 ents in abundance, and in an easily 

 available form. And this is completely 

 borne out by the known facts. In 

 the data published by Mr. J. C. 

 Bruennich, Agricultural Chemist to the 

 Government of Queensland, one of the 

 most striking points is that chemical 

 analyses of virgin and worn-out banana 

 lands have shown the so-called exhaus- 

 tion of their available plant food, e.g. — 

 Analyses of Friable Red Loam 

 op Volcanic Origin. 



(a,) In Virgin State. (b) Exhausted by 20 years' 

 cropping. 





Soluble in 



Soluble in 



Soluble in 



Soluble in 



HC1 of S.G. 



1% Citric 



HC1 of S.G. 



1% Citric 







Acid 





Acid 







Solution. 





(■ olution. 



Potash K20 



% 

 •109 



7. 



'U400 



% 

 •167 



% 

 •0035 



Phosphoric 











Acid P205 



•265 



•0U2 



•338 



•C03t 



Lime Cao 



•450 





•180 





Nitrogen N. 



•560 





■292 





From the figures it is seen that in this 

 particular instance the exhausted land 

 contained less than l/10th the available 

 potash, and not quite jth as much avail- 

 able phosphoric acid as the similar 

 virgin soil. Small wonder indeed that 

 the worn out land no longer gave profit- 

 able banana crops. The full significance 

 of these figures can, however, only be 

 grasped by studying them in conjunc- 

 tion with the actual food requirements 

 of che plant, a3 indicated by its chemical 

 composition. The writer is indebted to 

 the same authority for the following 

 figures calculated from his 



Analyses of Banana Plants 

 and Fruits :— 

 Lbs. of Plant Food. (Average of 3 varie- 

 ties, "Lady's Finger." "Cavendish," 

 and " Sugar ") 



(a) In Plants [c] Total 



per Acre. [b] In bunches per acre, 

 per acre. 



Pure Potash K20 193-6 77'88 271-48 



Phosphoric 



Acid P*05 14-0 8"52 22'52 



Lime CaO 99 3*15 102-15 



Nitrogen N 65-8 2874 84'54 



Nothing could well be more striking 

 than the enormous quantity of potash 



