The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1879-09-03

The Decca plantain is y lnc9eS
long; in Madagascar the plant@Ins
are as large as mans forearm. IL
the mountains of the PhllipplIes
single fruit or two is said to be aloao
for a man. All the large ones re-
ouire like potatoes, to be, roasted:
Twelve months after planting ~
pounds Of fruit are often obtained
from single plant. The south Of
Spain is the only part of Europe IN
which the banana is cultivated in the
open air.*
There are $4,000 acres under plan
tain gardens in the Madras Presl-
dency, chiefly in Tinnevelly.
The name of plantain and banana
is very Unfortunately applied IN
many countries where they are grown,
but, properly speaking, the term
plantain is restricted to the larger
plants, the fruits of which are usually
eaten cooked, while those Of the ba-
mana, when ripe, being more saccha-
rine, can be eaten raw as fruit. The
French call the plantain "banane,"
and the bananas "bacoves" or flg ha-
nanas Generally the pulp contains
no seeds, but in Akyab and the Ar
racan coast there exists a species
which is full Of seed. These are large,
black, and not unlike the cotton seed.
The flavor, also, is very inferior.
The Poyat, or Martinique banana,
grows to a very large size in some
districts, and would possibly yield
more fibre than the common plantain.
l noticed in a recent Trinidad pa.
per the fact stated, that in former
years y million plantains were an
nuallY imported from the Spanish
Main to supply the Capital, 9 millions
being required in Port Of Spain
alone, Although the foreign imports
are now less, yet the increased extern
sion OF the cultivation is recon-
mended.
The establishment of plantain
walks Tor the annual production Of 8
or 10 millions fruit will necessarily
be a work of time, as plants for any
great number Of stools require time
and outlay to collect and carry. A
thousand plantain suckers take some
gathering, and are not as easily car
ried as tobacco seed, OF which one
can put as much as will SOW several
acres in an envelope. Unjust take
years to establish any extensive plan
tain cultivation - bunch Of plan,
tains of the kind commonest here and
on the Main commonly called horse
plantain) does not consist of more
than 20 to rs fruit, and as it might
not be safe to reckon on more than 3
punches fit to gather from the stool
in year generally stated at 4 dur
ing the II months), one cannot reckon
on an acre, with the stools planted at
10 feet apart, producing more than
10000 to 10000 plantains per annum,
as az such distance the acre will hold
but 430 to 440 stools
1t will be seen that it would not
require more than 900 acres to yield
the Z million plantains wanted, nor
more than 80 acres in full yield, to
give the 10 millions that could be
disposed of for ordinary consump-
ton. We say ordinary consumption,
because there are other applications
of the plantain, by which it could be
converted into an article of commerce
commanding a sale abroad, the
amount Of which is entirely uncer
tain, but might easily exceed the To-
cal demand for the raw article if it
fell III with the popular taste in
Northern countries. These applica-
lions have not yet been tested, so far
as we are aware, on a commercial
scale, but they undoubtedly open a
great possible future for what old
Dampier called the King OF Fruit.
Longs Plants Of Bengal
{To he oOo, tsa,aio/J\