The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1898-01-13
Banana-G Growing in Costa RIGA.
.nre Crops and Big Profits for the Planter.
The Risk Mostly to the Shippers and In



saI Few people who hear the street
aaders' melodious cry, Buy da banan,"
with the accent strong on the nan
now anything about how the fruit grows
ii whence it comes. beyond vague idea
hat it hourishes wild in the tropics.
,fnce the creation of the world the ba-
ANA, or adams fig" as it is known in
lie East, has played an important part in
IMPLYING the needs of man. Nothwith-
1anding all scientific research, it is still
ID open question just how many years ago
vas when Adam and Eve walked in the
arden of Eden, dressed in the airy fashion
Il those days; but it has been decided be-
uad doubling that the material from
.ldch their costumes were made was not
letig-leaf proper, but the musa paradisia-
d Qi the botanists. Considering that
angle banana leaf is from to Is feet long
ta ar 1 feet wide, our early ancestors
1 Jat have been so very scantily clothed
H. at pictures would lead us to believe.
I 1t is no other plant with such ancient
NJ iuorable lineage, whose reputation
cached our own times without under
any visible change, either in flower,
9E growth; only the radius of its Gull
l- n has expanded far beyond Para
Us, M the Orient. The first roots were
.ll TO the Western Hemisphere in the
- SIS, by monk; since which time
t. tiyati0n has spread all over the
Z and seml-tropics of America, and
ia-aa1 the banana forms one of the chief
j. rs VI expectation.
rhe way, the popular notion that the
s usuana is the staple article of food of
!. la5itants of warm countries, is an
! sr arcor. On the contrary, they warn
/ E1ers against the danger of indulging
k RELY in this species of fruit which
leY seldom eat themselves, except cook
u while yet green. 1t is the plantain
shilI throughout the West Indies and
D. main land of Central and South
=rica takes the place of bread and
}, 4tres. 1t belongs to the same family
j. he banana, but cannot be eaten raw.
ae potatoes, it must be baked, boiled or
ITeo indeed, it is not many years since
D fl Pile who live where bananas flour
nsiIeTed the fruit unfit for man to
H. was allowed to go to waste, or fed
1 pigs and cattle. The plant itself,
lope0.i was considered valuable for
/ n- young coffee trees, its broad.
y ing leaves protecting the berries
y "U sun and wind. And then there
! iperstition which barred it from
h liud table. In the heart of the
= may trace resemblance to the
n e sections OF cross; aud they
DC hat Adam, after his fall, fore
"a ~tery of the redemption and
70 a Of 10 upon the banana, max
u. SUDDEN fruit. But within the last
70 surprising change has come
y unit If their dreams, and to-
h .-e giant is one of their greatest
& sui pI0tt The first cargo of ba-
Il ut from Costa Rica to the United
y -.l Limon iu February Of 1880,
u sisted nj only 800 lunches, which
u liSiug planter picked from the
u wing between the rows Of his
70 45s. Tle experiment succeeded
% aJ Ae concluded to let the coffee
g k to banana culture exclusive
y wears later there were $50 banana
ssi 9sta RIGA, fruit companies had
pc l1IShed, steamers fitted out eX-
pr lie trade, and the annual out
pr aFeraging 500, 900 lunches. Now
"a arcely hamlet in the United
ot N.7fe bananas may not be found
Dc SEASONS of the year, most of which
70 f0 entral An erica and the West
lns DeIe has been a great deal of
lg ~ as TO the comparative advan-
sae fhe banana crop to other food
~ early in the present century
~ asserted that the same area
d -1 hat produced l 1000 pounds of
po' 1-..- would produce A, 900 pounds
% bahtuaS. others have given estimates
eq' startling, and all agree that as a
100 74J, bananas produce more to the
sqo inch of land than any other A
W. .'e If bananas yields on an average
tos 'Ha' Les, weighing 60 pounds each,
Ssf teai-a total of 46, $50 pounds !;
VI tn acre Of wheat, averaging is
w ~ at 10 pounds, is only $50 pounds.
AAe i- IT seems clear that bananas pro-
IVY t.'lt 4S times as much as wheat
~ l"9 when the plants are set at the
~ distance of Is feet apart Naturally,
WI mes lead people to investigating
~ hulty of making money in banana
~ if he United States is not an avail
"f tsid fer 1t, because it needs a very
~ moist atmosphere, one that is we'll
~ ed both by rains and streams. 1t
se s'Irich alluvial soil, mixed with
81 se- vegetable matter and salt. On
y Atlantic side of Costa Riea, and
Y ' .n the Matina valley, these con-
" 7e found at their best. On the
III ia5es the trees are planted from
81 f apart, in cuadros, or squares,
& a- extent. They usually attain