Daily camera., 1897-12-28
BANANA GROWING.
The Native Of Central America De-
ponds on 1t for His Living.
But He Has to Work But a Fort
night to Secure Food for n
Whole Year-Iow the Fruit
Is Crown

The headquarters of the banana trade
in Nicaragua is Bluefields, until recent
y the capital Of the Mosquito reserva-
ton, whence about 100000 punches
are, or were, annually exported to the
United States.
But for the banana and the p.antaln
the natives of Central America would
have to live by the sweat of their brows;
possessing the banana and plantain,
they may toll or not, as they please.
There sis no necessity. a fortnight's
intermittent labor will supply a man
and his family with food for a year.
During the II months and two weeks re-
naming they may swing in their ham
mocks if they think fit. Their dinner
will always be within arms reach, so to
say. One of the motions of that much
misunderstood and unfortunate reform
er Col Walker, the "filibuster," was to
destroy every banana and plantain tree
in Nicaragua. 1t would have been Il
task for Hercules. Whether he was in
sober earnest, or merely expressing a
wish, is Of no consequence; he was right
in his conclusions. Only by doing SO
and making replanting penal offensc
could he hope to overcome the innate in
dolence of the people and compel them
to be industrious and happy.
For the planter with small means
that is with capital of $1,000 upward
i know Of no occupation so certain to
realize decent income as growing
bananas, provided that the plantation is
within easy reach of the sea, and there
are steamers to cary his produce to
New Orleans, y ew York or London. That
is CT prime Importance. For the rest,
he may tickle the soil and it will laugh
with harvest. He need not take any
risk. He may sell his produce to the
captain of fruit steamer for 20 cents
Il bunch, pocket the money and have
done with it. And this plan has many
advantages.
The banana IS cultivated from suckers
springing from the roots of an existing
tree, generally known as the "stool."
These suckers are detached and planted.
They strike and shoot up SO fast that it
is no great exaggeration to say that you
can see them grow. In year or less the
planter harvests the first crop.
The banana has no trunk, but soft,
fibrous, so-called stem, composed of the
leaf stalks rolled one over the other,
which grows to from ten to twenty feet
in height, and withers after the fruit
has ripened. The tree is seldom known
to seed. The roots, however, furnish
shoots or suckers year after year, until
the stool is exhausted. The purple
flower blossoms on long spikes spring
ing from the cluster Of leaves which ap-
pear to open out from the stem. The
flower spikes are often four feet long.
and the bunch of fruit which succeeds
the blossom comprises from eight to
twelve dozen bananas, weighing from
80 to pounds. The leaves are from six
to ten feet long and frc;n one to two
feet wide. When the leaves are newly
opened the tree has most graceful ap- +,
pcarance.
For successful cultivation cool, rich !
and moist soil is required, the alluviai
deposits Of the river bottoms, or the
higher land where rain is abundant Or
water plentiful. Bananas grown on
high ground are said to be finer than
those Of the valleys.
In preparing plantation the trees
and brushwood should be cut down,
and after lying a month to dry, burned
and the ashes spread over the land. The
suckers, which, being very abundant,
may be purchased at a low price, are
then planted at a distance of from IL to
II feet apart, or say 200 to the acre. In
Mexico, as will be seen presently, they
are often planted much more closely,
1000 trees to the acre being common.
After the first crop. is harvested the
stems should be cut down, chopped into
short lengths and heaped around the
roots. whence spring the new suckers.
Philadelphia Press.