The Ordway new era., 1922-01-27

Il
M of mind might put 1t this
0 way: God created the
banana 10 give the world cheap,
nourishing and healthful food.
a skeptlcal Chicagoan might say, of
course. that it was not until the be-
ginning of this century thut Chicago
knew anything about the banana as
something 10 eat True enough, but
Chicago now eats bananas by the mill
lion, just as does nearly every other
large city iu the world. The fact that
banana is a tropical fruit and has to
he carried to the colder regions of
earth adds rather than detracts from
its value as an Object-lesson. when
taken in connection with other facts
which may be summarized thus:
The banana has been cultivated for
food from the earliest historical times
II is indigenous to Asia and Africa;
IT may be indigenous to America or it
may have been brought here from
Spain in the Sixteenth century. 1t is
now grown in most tropical and many
subtropiCal countries. In a generation
the business Of distributing it over the
world has grown into an industry of
tremendous economic Importance.
Nature makes the banana a contin-
uous crop. A banana plantation is set
In virgin soil, from which the forest
has been cut. The plant is herba-
ceouS perennial which contains about
So per cent water. The main stem is
under ground and Is a large fieshy
rootstock. called rhizome, which has
large eyes after the fashion of q
potato. The trunk" of the tree" is
compact sheaf of leaf sheaths; some
times it reaches :. height of 40 feet
with a diameter of feet and leaves
u feet long and . feet wide Each
tree" bears one junch and is cut
down in harvesting the fruit. A plan
tation comes into bearing in about
fifteen months. Young trees" coming
up from the parent rootstOck replace
those cut; plantations sometimes pro-
duce for twenty years from a single
planting.
It is stated that the banana, grown
on an equal acreage. will support a
larger number Of persons than will
wheat In food value 1t heads all the
raw fruits. 1t surposses many of the
vegetables in energy value and In tis-
sue-building elements. In fact, some
of the diet experts go SO far as to say
that the banana gives more food for
the same cost than any other fresh
fruit Or vegetable or fish, meat, milk
or eggs.
The hauona te 80 ,cr.+t.,..-.l -,
tire that 1t is one Of the few fruits
which reach the perfection in food
value when harvested green. 1t was
created to be harvested green. 1t is
always harvested green, even when
eaten in the tropics where it grows.
Harvested green, 1t is, until fully ripe,
practically living organism drawing
sustenance from its stalk, with sap
flowing and tissues changing. 1t gen
crates heat within itself for the ripen-
ing process.
Ihe banana is sealed by nature in
a sern-proof package; its glove-Hke
s.ln protects it from contamination of
all kinds.
The banana is so packed by nature
that it is transported from plantation
TO consumer without box, crate or
wrapping of any kind.
In the Bulletin of the Pan-American
Union for December there is an Illus
trated article on the banana, especially
dealing with its cultivation In Central
America and its transportation TO the
United States, compiled and edited bv
Philip X. Reynolds Of the United Fruit
company. In this article the following
points are made, among others: