Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1922-02-02

" Il factory object-Iesson IN tn
W banana. Old-fashioned PEG
HN n pie Of an unscientifc turI
zNI Of mind might put 1t thi
49, way God created III,
hanana To give The world a cheap
hourishing and healthful food.
\ skeptical Chicagoan might say, of
course. that II was not until the be-
ginning of this centuryAthat Chicago
knew anything about the banana as
something 10 at. True enough, but
Chicago now eats bananas by the mill
lion, just as does nearly every other
large city In the world. The fact that
banana is a tropical fruit and has to
be carried TO the colder regions of
IFS value as an object-lesson. when
taken in connection with other facts
which may be summarized thus
The banana has beer cultivated for
food from h earliest historical times.
IL is Indigenous 10 Asia and Africa (;
II may be Indigenous e-AmeHiea- or 1t
may have been brought here from
Spain In the Sixteenth century. Ii is
now grown In most tropical and many
~subtr0pical countries. In a generation
the business OF distributing IL over the
world has grown into an industry of
tremendous economic Importance.
Nature makes the banana a contin-
nous or. a banana plantation is set
in virgin soil, from which the forest
has been cut. The plant is a herba-
ceous perennial which contains about
80 per cent water. The main stem is
under ground and is a large feshy
ro%otstock, called rhizome, which has
large eyes after the fashion of a
potato. The trunk" Of the tree, Is
a compact sheaf of leaf sheaths some
times IL reaches+.-heigh 40 feet
with a diameter of 2 feet and leaves
-l24feet long and . feet wide Each
tree bears one lunch 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.
1t is stated that the banana. grown
on an equal acreage, will support a
larger number of persons than will
wheat. In food value it heads all the
raw fruits. 1t surpasses many of the
vegetables in energy value and In It's
sue-buiiding elements. In fact. some
of the diet experts 90 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 banana is so constituted by ma
ture that IL is one of the few fruits.
which reach the perfection In food
value when harvested green. II was
created to be harvested green. 1t is
always harvested green, even when
In the tropics where IL grows.
Harvested green. II is, until fully ripe,
practically a living organism drawing
sustenance from It's stalk, with sap
and issues changing. IL gen.
heat within itself for the ripen-
ing process.
The banana is sealed by nature in
"A germ-proof package; Its glovelike
protects II from contamination of
all kinds.
The banana Ia so packed by nature
that IL is Transported from plantation
10 consumer without box. crate or
wrapping of any kind.
In the Bulletin of the Pan-American
Union for December there is an Illus
rated article on the banana. especially
iealing with It's cultivation In Central
America and its transportation 10 the
United States. compiled and edited by
'hIlIp X. Reynolds of the United Fruit
company. In this ,rtieIe the following
POINTS are made, tInong others: