St. Landry democrat., 1891-10-10
ALL ABOUT BANANAS.
The Fruit Possesses All the Essen
tials TO Sustain Human Life.

The banana goes back to the earliest
! days. AleXander's soldiers, as Plin7
! says, joined the sages of India seated in
! its shades and partaking of the delicious
fruits. Hence the name ''sapientum'
given the plant, which likewise bears
! the name of Jupiter's fair daughter,
| Nlusa. Now it has been shown that the
banana is of Malayan origin. How did
! it get to India and to South America and
to Mexico2 The feet of birds have borne
seed full 10, 600 miles, while the cocoa
nut tioated we'll nigh the world around
in the great ocean currents.
But the banana has no seeds, nor has
it a casing like the globular cocoanut to
float it around over the waters Then it
! must have been carried by man. 1t is
significant that the Aztecs had traditions
of visits by people from over the seas,
while there was, to confirm it, an ad-
mixture of religion of the Brahmins in
their own theology. Would you think
that the despised banana would actually
step forward to prove that before Column
bus was or Lief Ericsson even had an ex-
istence, some swarthy denizens of the
Old World had migrated across the
waters?
Manila rope Is made in the Philippine
Islands Of the stem of the banana. This
stalk, which usually grows to be six
inches in diameter and from fifteen to
twenty feet high, has a very valuable
fibre, from which are woven beautiful
textile fabrics. Many of the finest India
shawis and wrappers worn by ladies of
fashion are manufactured from this
fabric.
So, too, an excellent article Of paper
is made from it. But are no varieties of
bananas wild? Yes, some have been
found in Ceylon, Cochin China, and the
Philippines. These, of course, have
seeds, but they are inferior to the long,
cultivated varieties. The banana is cul-
tivated by suckers, and it is in this way
that the literal plant perpetuates itself
indefinitely. In Central Africa you may
find thousands and thousands Of plants
that literally have in them the germ and
life Of 10, 600 years duration.
The banana belongs to the lily family,
and is developed tropical lily, from
which, by ages OF cultivation, the seeds
have been eliminated and the fruit for
which it was cultivated greatly cx-
panded. In relation to the bearing
qualities of this fruit, Humboldt, who
early saw the wonders Of the plant, said
the ground that would grow 90 pounds
of potatoes would also grow 80 pounds
Of wheat, but that the same ground
would grow 1900 pounds of bananas,
to that of wheat is 1873 to /
and to that of potatoes Al to /. The
banana possesses all of the essentials to
the sustcnance of life. The savage of
the sea isles and the jungle owes what
he has of phs steal strength to this food.
Wheat alone, paper alone, will not do
this. When taken as steady diet it is
cookcd-haAel dry in the green state,
pulpei and boiled in water as soup, or
cut IN slices and fried. do not know
whose beauty [ admire the most, the |
majestic cocoa palm, with its heavy
;rown Of great Iringed leaves, or the |
graceful banana, with It's great leaves,
which are six feet long and two feet
vide.
The leaves of the banana are tender,
md the strong winds of the tropics
he hurricanes-s0on tear the leaves in
trips, THEREBY adding to their grace and
beauty. The banana is fruit that beast
md bird, as well as man, are fond Of.
md the owner. when he lives in a
parse.y settled country, must need pro-
ect his plantation by fence of some
horn plant. - LLGoldthwaite's Magazine.