National Republican., 1886-04-03
BANANAS FROM NEW YORK.

Tropical Fruit Successfully Raised in
the Empire State--A Remarkable Tree
and Bunch of Fruit.
There hangs In the basement Of the resi-
dence OF Hon. Robert s. II. Stevens, who
represented the thiriy.first New York dis
trict in the last Congress, on Iowa circle,
bunch OF bananas, the result Of probably
the most successful horticultural expert
ment ever made in this country. Aside
from being unusually large and extremely
tempting, the bunch is the first ever sue
cessfully grown In the north. 1t was raised
In the palm house Of Mr.. Stevens at Attica,
and its history is described by Mr.. Stevens
and j. j. Copsey, his gardner, in this way:
A very small side shoot was taken from a
very old tree in twelve.inch pot,
and planted Nov. "a, 1884. Its develop
ment under tender care was rapid, and
the first sign OF II fruiting was on August
"a, 1885, not quite year from the time II
was planted. The tree is now twelve feet
six inches high, with fifteen leaves, the
longest one being seven feet five inches
long and three feet wide. The foliage from
tip to tip is thirteen feet. At the base the
trunk OF the tree measures two feet nine
inches, and jut five feet eight inches from
the ground the luscious bunch Of fruit
hung until last Monday. This bunch Is five
feet seven inches long, and, upon II, In the
peculiar circles In which the fruit grows,
are 237 bananas, four of which were
weighed yesterday and tipped the scales at
one pound. The bunch itself weighs 105
pounds.
When the horticulturlsts of this city
heard Mr.. Stevens describe his banana
tree, little over a week ago, they
were inclined TO regard IL as joke, as such
tree rs Mr.. Stevens has, 1t was said, would
not produce such results, even with the
most careful nursing, in the north. To
show them that he did have the finest ba-
mana tree in the country, however, Mr..
Stevens telegrnphed Mr.. Copsey to cut the
bunch and bring IL TO Washington. IL ar
rived last Tuesday, and nearly all the lead
ing hOlticulturists in the city have seen II
and pronounced 1t a remarkably fine bunch,
as good, In fact, as those raised In the
tropics. The fruit on the bunch is of that
rich, golden tint, and, when pared, presents
q solid, creamy mass of pulp, with none of
the blOtches often seen in that sold on the
streets. II is very sweet and luscious to
the taste, say the favored few who have
partaken Of II.
Mr.. Stevens method OF cultlvatlng the
fruit is simple one. His covered houses
at Attica are kept at desired tempera-
| tufe by the use Of hot water. His palm
house, where he also has some fine speci-
mems Of orchids, was kept at an average
temperature Of 600 during the develop
ment Of the tree. Only the natural ferti-
| lizers were used, and It was not until the
tree had shown signs of more than ordinary
development that any particular care was
| given II.
There was in this city few years ago IN
| the botanical gardens banana tree which
was taller than Mr.. Stevens's tree, but the
fruit was not so plentiful aud rich. Mr..
Stevens is justly proud Of his tree, and as II
has set the experts talking about the future
possibilities sofhorticultqre, has perpetuated
the tree and its rare burden by having II
photographed. Mr.. Copsey, the gardener,
TO whose care the success Of the experiment
is due, spent this week here looking at
some Of the gardens,