72 
PLANTS AND INSECTS 
power; but is lacking in other essentials to make it as healthful a form 
of food. There is a popular belief that a little salt eaten with nuts aids 
in the digestion, but no investigations have found this to be true. 
When we know of the various ways in which our common nuts are 
used, we are made to appreciate more the goodness of God in giving 
them to mankind. —Eshell L. Blore. 
BANANAS IN TRINIDAD 
HEN Americans who have just come to Trinidad hear a woman 
carrying something on her head cry out, “Get your figs, ladies— 
figs, figs, figs,” they at once think they will get some figs. But when 
they go out to buy, they find that what the peddler called figs are bana¬ 
nas. I do not know how it ever came 
about that the people here should call 
bananas figs, but that is what they call 
them. 
The banana ranks first among the 
tropical fruits. It bears fruit the year 
round; that is, at any time you can go to 
a banana-plantation and gather ripe 
fruit. This is not so with many other 
fruits. The banana-plant has a peren¬ 
nial root, that is, the root lives for 
years; but the sprouts are short-lived. 
Young plants are obtained by cutting 
sprouts loose from the parent root when 
they have grown to the height of three 
feet. These are set in rows from eight 
to twelve feet apart. 
The banana begins to bloom in one 
and a half or two years after it has been 
established. Each stalk bears a bunch 
of from fifty to one hundred and fifty bananas. A stalk bears only once. 
After bringing its fruit to maturity it dies down and is replaced by new 
sprouts from the root. 
Bananas are very nutritious, and, in general, they have no bad 
effects on the system. Most varieties can be eaten at any time of the 
