The National tribune., 1909-09-30
BANANA CULTURE.
The Splendid Fruit Grows Naturally in
F1orida-HOw to Cultivate.

FIorida-How to Cultivate.
Perhaps it can hardly be said that the
banana is one of the great fruits
grown in Florida, but is is certainly ap-
preaching that. The banana au1 the
plantain are often confused, but they
are alike only in outside appearance.
The banana is much sweeter and more
pleasing to the taste uncooked. Ihe
banana is the fruit of the banana tree,
and its specific name is Musa sapien-
tium. which signifies muse of the
wise" These attributes are probably
intended to convey an allusion to
statement by TheophrastuS concerning
a fruit which served as food for the
wise men of India, and which, from his
description, is supposed to have been
the plantain or banana, and very likely
much of this confusion of the plantain
and banana, terms somewhat vaguely
used, have become synonymous in the
minds of a great many people. They
are both of Indian origin. The banana
| is a tropical fruit with very beautiful
| foliage, fiber valuable in manufactur-
ling and a fruit that is OF world-wldc
fame, and immensely valuable as a food
product. 1t is a large, hcrbaceouS plant
with a perennial root, from which the
plant is perpetuated by sprouts or suck
| ers. The young plants may be trans
| planted after attaining n hight of three
| feet by cutting them loose with spade.
Such plants should be set deeply in
rows from eight to IL feet apart, so
that the broad leaves will shade the
ground. 1t can be increased by root
cuttings planted shallow and covered
with peat or peaty compost. Young
plants of this sort must be transplanted
| to full light, and be given ample room
as soon as two or three leaves have
| formed. In a year and half or two
years after the forming of the first
leaves the banana will begin to bloom.
The flower bud is an odd-looking thing,
a large, heart-shaped formation which,
on developing, exposes a true flower
under each of its scales. There are
from so to $50 OF these true flowers de-
| Iveloped in a single bud, and each one
of these true flowers will develop into a
banana. The banana plant grows from
10 to 40 feet in hight, and has bunch
of broad ornamental leaves at the top
| of the stalk. The stalk bears but once,
then it dies down and is replaced 10y
sprouts, of which two or three only are
allowed to bear.
1t is somewhat remarkable that the
species of banana grown for its fiber, as
well as that grown for ornamentation,
produce seed, while the edible banana
of commerce is seedless. You can note
| this by cutting banana open, and you
will see the half-formed seeds which
Inever germinate. Those bananas which
bear the seeds are usually propagated
by seed, as it is more economical.
There is dwarf sort of banana plant
which is used for ornamental and land
Escape planting.
| There are great many varieties of
the banana, but that most commonly
grown and which we see carted about
the streets by the thousands is the Mar
| Unique, a large, yellow fruit growing in
dense clusters. The red banana, known
as the Red Jamaica, is now but very
little grown compared with the yellow
variety. The consumption in the United
| States alone has developed from a few
| hundred punches in 1870 to over &c.
100000 worth now. The fruit that we
see upon the streets of our large cities
comes chiefly from the West Indies and
Central America. Banana flour is rap
| idly becoming staple article of COM
merce. The propagation of the banana
| in the United States has been tried in
California and Louisiana, but it seems
| to have more natural habitat in Flor
| ida.
The Shakers in their pretty little
settlement have given considerable at
tention to banana raising. and they
| find that 1t is fruit which offers fair
returns for the labor and expense in
volved. The experiment was started by
| planting about one-Guarter of an acre
of muck land, in which about ITO plants
were set eight feet apart each way. As
the plant in this latitude is hardy, the
| plants, of course, commenced growing
right away, and in little less than a
year the first flowers appeared and then
the bananas. 1t is stated that the
plants in this first experiment had, in
that brief IL months, attained a growth
of stalk and foliage of nearly 20 feet,
and having five and six giant plants IN
each hill. In January of that year there
was a slight frost, and nearly all these
| large leaves were killed, but it was not
| long until new leaves began unfolding
| from the center stalk, and in less than
| two months the plants were just as big
as ever. In year and half from the
time of setting out the first plants fine
| punches of fruit were harvested, and
| these banana plants have been yielding
ever since. The Shakers think that the
| ''Hart's Choice" or Lady Finger
banana is the variety best suited for
this section of Florida, as 1t is very
hardy and the fruit is OF superior flavor
1t is a dwarf variety. and does not pro-
| duce so much fruit to the bunch as the
Martinique, for instance, but it is
| thought that the quantity is abundantly
compensated for in quality. To the rea
banana lover there is no comparison tC