American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1911-12-28

uOlot III Iuo aIuIMaLlV0. IN MS Ok
plorations Of the Orinoco' basin hs
found q variety of the banana extern
sively cultivated by the Indians. Gar
cilasco de Ia Vega tells US they form
ed the staple food Of the natives in
the warmer zones when the Incas
reigned. Curiously enough. with all
this worldwide growth. the plant ia
very rarely found In the wild state
This Is due to the fact that bananas
are seedless. being propagated by
means OF shoots or suckers" The
cultivation of this fruit IL not difficult,
coming from heavy winds. pernicious
activity OF gophers, and sometimes
caterpillars. Recently a disease, the
cause of which Is uncertain. has at
tackled the bananas of Dutch Guiana
and Panama. The net profit per acre
of a banana crop is put at $50, al
though much higher claims are made
by land companies.
AS a food the banana deserves wild
er recognition by the people of tenn
perate climes, for 1t contains a very
high proportion Of nutriment, closely
approximating the potato in its chem
ical composition.
1t is the basic food supply of mil
lions In the tropics. and there Is no
good a why 1t should not find a
permanent place in the daily lei
OF the Inhabitants Of temperate coun-
tries. Bananas a be appetizingly
cooked In various ways, while in these
days Of costly living their compare
tive c%heapness should recommend
them to the thrifty housewife. who
seeks to curtail grocers' bills.
The by-products Of the banana are
few: still, in Santo Domingo a deli
cious sweetmeat is made from thor
oughly ripe fruit. The skins are re-
moved and the banana cut into slices
about a quarter Of an inch In thick
ness. These pieces are sprinkled with
fine or powdered sugar and placed In
sun. laid out on clean boards or shall
low trays. AS the fruit dries out 1t is
turned over several times and each
time again busted with sugar. 1t dries
within a few days and the result is a
c~rystallized conserve most delightful
to the taste.
Banana -four is a by-product that in
time may prove to be OF commercial
value, for It Is very nutritious INT not
inferior to corn meal. 1t Is made by a
simple process. Unripe bananas are
cut and dried. Their ground and sifted,
and the fruit treated in this way yields
twenty to twenty-five per cent. -four.
The chief difficulty encountered in
-four making Is preserving the yellow
used must be either of aluminium or
silver. for iron turns the -four black.
Small quantities are now exported to
Great Britain. Another by-product is
fiber. from which n coarse cloth is
woven. while banana vinegar, sugar,
OF treating the fruit. In Mexico the
fiber Is also used In the manufacture
of hammocks. The question of the
by.product Is a very important one in
this commercial & of ultimate profit.
so he who discovers a practical use
for the understood punches and waste
of a banana plantation will remove
one cement of chance that operates
most disadvantageously against the
planter. The nutritive value of The
banana is very high, as has already
been inferred. The chemical analysis
of the United States department OF
agriculture gives the fruit a fun value
per pound of 400 calorles. which Is
more than three times that OF cabbage.
Too much publicity cannot be given
this fact. for 1t may have a direct
bearing in the future on the alimenta-
ton of the poorer people.
There are some forty-four varieties
OF the banana. of which number the
plantain tmusa paradisiaca) and the
abaoa (musa textilis) deserve further
special mention. The former Is the
platano OF Latin America. the daily
food OF millions. and the latter the
plant from which manila hemp IL
The musa IL cultivated in every
OF Pan America. save only the
States. Uruguay. Chile and Ar
g~entina, hut the countries bordering
the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico
lead In the amount OF exports.
Despite marvellous growth In the last
decade the banana business IL In ~
and the next twenty years
VIII see an extension Of this industry
thaz will mako II q Of the most I'm.
phases Of economical Asvelop