| Show the growth of bananas there Is a vast amount of agnor ance prevailing among intelligent people of the north concerning the crowth production and marketing of bananas hany people imagine that the natives in tropical climes step out of their huts in the early morning and pluck and eat bananas fresh from the plant the same as they would oranges and other fruits bananas ripened on the plant are not suitable for food and would be much the same as the pith which Is found in the northern cornstalk or elder bananas sold in the united states even after traveling miles in a green state are every bit as good as babaras ripened under a tropical sun this Is probably true of no other export fruit the plant of which bananas are the fruit Is not a tree nor Is it a bush or vine it Is simply a gigantic plant growing to a height of from fifteen to twenty feet about eighteen feet from the ground the leaves eight jeet long come out in a sort of cluster from the center of which springs a bunch of bananas these do not grow with the bananas pointing upward naturally and it the stem grew straight they would hang exactly as seen in the fruit stores and grocers windows this however is not the case the stem bends under the weight of the fruit and this brings it into directly the opposite position with the large ends of the up and the fringes pointing toward tha sun A word of explanation concerning some banana terms each banana la called a finger and each of these little clusters of fingers surrounding a stalk is called a hand the qua ity and value ot each bunch depend on the number of hands it has some may wonder bow the fruit Is cut from the top of a plant fifteen feet above the ground the native laborers cut the stalk part way up its height the weight of the fruit causes the stalk to slowly bend over until the bunch of bananas first nicely reaches the ground then the bunch Is cut with the ever ready machete and carried to the river or railroad tor shipment the plant at the same time la cut close to the ground the banana Is a very prolific reproducer of itself and at every cleaning of the land it Is necessary to cut down many of the oung plants or suckers as they are termed in order that they may not become overcrowded up to a tain limit the less suckers on a given area the larger the fruit they will produce |
