The Portland daily press., 1896-04-11
GREAT is, THE BANANA.
If Necessary All the People of the
Earth Could Rive On 1t Alone.
(ffom the Youths Companion

=
The banana, which alone of fruits pos
sesses all the essentials to the sustenance
of human life, is worth more than all
the Others, and is thus the most valuable
fruit in the wcrld. Even with us 1t al
ready holds its own when compared
with any other fruit. white in some
countries-Afrioa, for inst6nce-its po-
sition is as important as that of wheat
In the United tSates, or rices in China.
Over the larger part of the Dark CONT
nent the banana is the staple article of
native food, and every African village
has It's banana fields, as we have fields
of potatoes or corn.
The banana belongs to the great Musa
family which, with its score of species
and innumerabIe varieties, encircies the
world Between the tropics Of Cancer and
Capricorn even extending it's limits a
few degrees to the north and south of
them. The plaintnin. of which we read
so much in all books describing travel in
the tropics, is but larger and coarser
variety Of the banana; while MANILA
hemp comes from another branch of the
banana family, the great Musa textilis
of the Philippine Islands.
Although some varieties of the banana
attain the size of small trees, it is an
herbaceous plant, and the kinds most
generally cultivated for their fruit are
the dwarfs, which grow to a height of
but four or five feet The smallest of
these produce the delicate fig bananas.
unknown to Northern markets, but al
countries where the banana is grown.
While the little fig banana is alwa va
classed as a fruit plaintains, which are
the largest of the family, are invariably
fried Or baked and regarded as vege-
ables. Ordinary bananas, taken before
they are quite ripe, may be aoceptably
prepared In the same way. For cooking
or drying they are out into strips length
wise, while for serving in their natural
state they are sliced crosswise.
A number of delicious desserts may be
prepared by cutting ripe bananas into
thin slices and serving with ousuaEd.
with lime juice and sugar, with lemon
juice and desiocated oocoanut, or in
other ways that will readily suggest
themselves. Bananas can be dried as
easily as apples or peaches. In this con-
dition they will keep for g. long time,
and may be eaten by themselves or used
in the making of pies, cakes or puddings.
This banana is extremely sensitive to
GOLD, and will not Withstand touch of
frost. 1t has no seeds, but is propagated
from suckers or roots having eyes like
potatoes. Each eye produces plant,
and from the largest OF these. at the end
of twelvemonth will appear a huge
purple blossom: It depends from
shiok stem, is big and round at the base,
tapers to point, is a foot or eighteen
inches long, and is composed Of many
compact rows Of great overlapping
petals.
Beginning at the base Of the blossom,
these petals curl upward, disclosing the
tiny" hands" of bananas, each having
from eight to ten fingers" as the in
dividual fruits are termed by the grow
er. In this manner the successive hands
are gradually brought TO view by the
unfolding and dropping Of pc tails on al
ternate sides Of the stem, until the
bunch is complete. Then after soma
weeks of life the shrunken blossom,
which still olings to its lower extremity
curl their outer end upward as they
grow, and not downward, as is supposed
by most persons who have only seen the
lunches hanging upside down in fruit
stalls.
After the fruit is formed it takes about
three months to "fill" or attain its full
size. Then, although 1t is still green,
place tosrlpen, for bananas, like pears,
ripen best after being gathered. Thus.
unlike most tropical fruits. the banana
of Northern markets is fully equal in
favor and nutrition TO that consumed
whore grown.
Having borne its single bunch of fruit
| the life-work Of the plant is ended, and
| 1T quickly dies, or as Is always the cass
where it Is cultivated, is at once cut
down. When thus treated the severed
trunk yields copious flow of juice that
is in itself an indelible ink, the stain of
which cannot be removed from linen or
cotton. The place of the defunot ''tree"
is immediately taken by the sturdiest of
the cluster of shoots that havs sprung
up in its shadow, and thus from single
sucker the supply of bearing plants is
continued Indefinitely.
Bananas require a damp, rich soil !;
| but that being given, they repay the
labor of planting and such slight cultiva-
ton as is required to keep them free
! from other growths, with a yield so
great as to be out of all proportion to the
KS
while, too, the plants aid in their own
cultivation by SO covering the ground
about them with their own refuse
leaves as effectually to prevent any other
growth In their Immediate vicinity.
So generous is the fruitage Of this e1-
traordinary plant that It's food product
was estimated by Baron Won Humboldt
to be one hundred and thirty-three times
| greater than that OF wheat, and forty
four times greater than that OF potatoes
In other words, il certain area OF
ground would produce thirty three
pounds of wheat or ninety nine of pota-
toes, AN equal area of banana land
would yield four thousand pounds of
fruit, containing all the DEMONSTRATING,
properties of both wheat and potatoes.
| Won Humoldt also asserted that the ara
bic lands of Central America alone can
produce enough bananas to feed the
| world.
| 1t Is now generally admitted that the
| banana is indigenous only to the Malay
an peninsula, and that. as it has neither
seeds to be scattered by birds nor q
| buoyant husk, like that of the cocoanut,
1