Edible Products. 



20 



[July, 1911. 



fill into small pits. Humus and its 

 formation have received much attention 

 in recent years, since the growth of 

 nitrogen-gathering legumes was sug- 

 gested, and Crotalaria is perhaps the 

 most popular of all leguminous plants. 

 One drawback with the cultivation of 

 large leguminous plants is that the 

 whole surface of the soil does not get 

 the benefit of the humus, only the pits 

 where they are buried. Cannot the 

 Agricultural Society introduce some 

 species of small plants, like vetches or 

 lupines, which can be readily turned 

 into the soil in the process of ploughing 

 or tilling ? 



These notes were strung together 

 hastily during intervals of leisure, and 

 have occupied many days. I trust they 

 will prove of use to my brother planters. 



A. W. Bevbn. 



June 20, 1911. 



THE BANANA, AND ITS CULTURE 

 IN JAMAICA. 



By the Editor. 



(Prom the Bulletin of the Department of 

 Agriculture, Jamaica, Vol. I., No. 4.) 



Preface. — In the Bulletin of the Botan- 

 ical Department for September 1902, 

 appeared a reprint of the paper pre- 

 sented to the Agricultural Conference 

 at Barbados in 1902 by Mr. W. Fawcett, 

 B.Sc, F.L.S., then Director of Public 

 Gardens and Plantations, entitled " The 

 Banana Industry in Jamaica." 



So great have been the demands for 

 this publication that the entire edition 

 has been exhausted, and it appears im- 

 perative for the present Editor to pre- 

 pare a new edition of a Bulletin dealing 

 with the chief commercial staple of the 

 Island in which the chief points of the 

 cultivation of the banana, as carried on 

 by our leading planters, may be briefly 

 described. 



Like all progressive industries, that of 

 banana cultivation is subject to change 

 and methods of planting, draining, prun- 

 ing and general cultivation are modified 

 from time to time and from place to 

 place as our progressive planters find 

 better and more efficient methods of 

 achieving commercial success in the 

 culture of this crop under the strikingly 

 varied conditions of soil and climate in 

 which bananas are now grown in 

 Jamaica. 



fe, Since 1902, marked progress has been 

 achieved in the culture of bananas in 

 Jamaica on stiff clay soils by bold drain- 

 age and thorough surface tillage, and 



again in dry districts by the adoption of 

 the mulching system for the preserva- 

 tion of moisture. An increase of at least 

 one-third in the productive output of 

 bananas in Jamaica has arisen since 1902, 

 and it would appear that, with the im- 

 provement in means of transport and 

 the opening up of interior lands the 

 export of bananas from Jamaica will 

 before very long reach the large amount 

 of twenty million stems per annum. 

 The Banana Plant, 

 Musas.— The banana is the most im- 

 portant member ot the Musa family 

 belonging to the Natural Order Scita- 

 minece, which includes such economic 

 plants as arrowroot, caidamoms, ginger, 

 and cannas, while the native ' wild 

 plantain ' of Jamaica (Heliconia) and the 

 graceful ' Traveller's Palm, of Mada- 

 gascar are other members of the order. 



Musas are the largest of the tree-like 

 herbs, often attaining an extreme height 

 of 25 to 10 feet, and have been compared, 

 not inappropriately, to "gigautic leeks." 



There are said to be about forty diffe- 

 rent species of Musa known in various 

 parts of the world, Some of these pro- 

 duce leathery and inedible fruits, others 

 ornamental spikes of flowers, while the 

 bananas of commerce are practically 

 restricted to the two species Musa Sapi- 

 entum (of which the Jamaica banana is 

 a variety), and Musa Cavendishii, the 

 dwarf or Chinese banana as grown in 

 the Canaries and Barbados. 



Structure.— The banana plant may 

 conveniently be considered under the 

 four heads of (i) The Roots, (ii) The 

 Stem, (iii) The Leaves, (iv) The Fruiting 

 System, 



The Root System.— ( Fig 61. ) The ba- 

 nana is a plant with a relatively large 

 and extensive root system, and many of 

 the problems of its cultivation are bound 

 up with the conditions which affect the 

 free and healthy development of the 

 roots in the soil, When conditions are 

 favourable, the roots of a banana plant 

 will penetrate far and deep. If a 

 healthy plant growing on a free, well- 

 drained soil in a good tilth be carefully 

 dug up, it will be noticed that theie are 

 two kinds of roots. 



The surface roots are tough, cordlike 

 structures that run parallel to the sur- 

 face of the soil in all directions at 

 a depth of about a foot. (Fig. 62. ) 

 These roots are of uniform thickness 

 and do not branch like the roots of an 

 ordinary tree, but persist as long, 

 continuous cords. Delicate thread-like 

 feeding rootlets project from the sides of 

 these main root-cords, and thus enable 



