The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-08-16

for mankind. Having lost its seif-pro- ducing powers. it must be propagated
 by suckers, and this feature also has developed in the plant. There Is no difficulty in this respect with the pa-
 mana. although there is with many oth- CT plants As Is well known. this mode of propagation is calculated 10 perpetu- ate what hortieulturists call "sports'- peculiarities of individual shoots-and thus no less than forty-fye dinerent
 varieties have been recorded, varying | in size from fifteen inches 10 one inch
 long. and from the delicate "dominico'
 of Mexico to the coarse fibrous red ba- mana.
 A point we'll worthy Of notice Is that
 although in plants thus artihcially sub
 dued and diverted from their natural
 course. there is tendency to revsrslon and degeneration, the banana appears
 to be capable of resisting the tendency. In this case it is superior to many dom- | esticated plants which, in spite of all the efforts of the culturists, obey the tendency. A notable instance Is that Of
 the potato. which. although 1t has been S"'sA Nai'iNahioh ohiJ pohS sN" s'ef' dred years. has become SO enfeebled
 that 1t cannot resist peronspora-the | potato-disease fungus-the Colorado beetle and other enemies. The vine of | the older continent also succumbs to phylloxera, even when introduced here. | and the American grape-grower must look to the native vines for his fungus | resisting stock. The banana. however. seems to be impervious to the weak ness attendant on domestication and
 bears persistent cultivation with re-
 markable vitality.
 It would appear that some animals and plants are especially adapted to the environment of man, supplying him on the one hand with benefits. on the other hand cursing him with pests. In
 the first of these we have fruits such as the banana. the apple, the peach, etc..
 and animals. such as the dog. COW.
 horse, etc., all of which enjoy Qf we
 may use the word) the beneficial re- suits of domestication, while man en-
 joys in them the fruit of his labor In
 the second order we find weeds of culti-
 vation, insect plaques, birds such as
 the domestic sparrow, mice, rats, etc..
 which would probably disappear in their present forms if removed from the environments of men, just as those of the first order would revert or de- generate if man removed his care from them. So far as the banana Is oon- cerned. man is not likely to remove His culture, for what wheat is to some races and rice to others. the banana is again to others-the staff of life. And right. ly SO, for Humbolt places the value of the flour made from the unripe dried fruit as staple of nutriment, when compared with the potato, as A. to l, when compared with wheat as 1S3 to l. A thousand square feet will grow forty or fifty plants, while an acre of ground will support fifty men. Take patch of land. cultivate 1t with wheat. and 1t shall neurish its tiller; plant 1t with bananas and it shall maintain half a company of soldiers!" Nor is the fruit all; decoction of it yields a pleasant beverage; you may boil the top Of tho stalk and find an excellent vegetable: the South Sea Islanders matches his hut with the leaves makes the fibre into cloth and cordage, and the Hindu renders the fibre so soft and silky that he weaves it into the favorite Indian shawl.
 To what land must we look for it's origin? The ancient Hebrews and Egyptians did not know it, although now it is cultivated in Egypt. In the native languages of Peru, Mexico and Brazil, no name for 1t has been found. The Greeks. LatiDs and Arabs have mentioned 1t as an Indian fruit. Pliny, as already stated, relates the story of Alexander the Great meeting with it in India, and he gives it the name of
 'pala," which still exists on the Mala- bar coast as "baia," or "palan." "Ba- mana" is probably of West Indian orl- gin. As the fruit is practically seedless, it is not probable that the domesticated plants will furnish wild seedlings The discovery of wild bananas will, there fore, have a value in settling the ques- tion of its native home higher than any which can be givento any other fruit. It has been found wild in Hindustan, in Cochin China, in the center of Ceylon, on an island off the southern extremity of Siam and in the Philippine Islands. In tn western world it has been found wild nowhere but in Barbadoes, and there 1t does not ripen as fruit, Every. thing, therefore, points to the conti- nent of Asia as its native place, and 1t was probably in that part called the Malayan Archipelago that it first fell under cultivation. .
 When was 1t brought to America? |? It has been stated that banana leaves have been found in the ancient tombs in Peru. Prescott saw ancient histories which said that the inhabitants of Tum- beg brought bananas from Pizarro. If these statements are true. then we have . probable proof that the banana dis- covered in America before the celebrat- ed A. D. 14s2. There is, however, a rec- ord of its introduction on the eastern side of the continent. Oviedo relates that Father Thomas. in 15l6 broueht the banana from the Canary Islands to San Domingo. It Is true that other Spanish historians say that tt formed a staple article of food before the dis covery by Colombus, but linguistic ar. guments are used against their state. ments, I question whether the nattsr will ever be settled; but 1t h quite certain that in the tropical regions of this continent 1t has found a con- genial home, and has become not only an important article of commerce, but a substantial source of food:
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