Propagation and growth.
The banana is entirely seedless, and propagation is accomplished by planting the suckers or sprouts that arise from the base of old plants. These are of two kinds, known as "broad leaf" and "sword" suckers. The former arise from short, thick, sessile bulbs borne at the surface of the ground around the parent plant, the latter from stalked bulbs that arise lower down. Sword suckers are usually considered the more desirable. For plant ing, these are removed when about six feet high and the bulbs four or five inches in diameter. As soon as they are taken up they are cut back to about one foot in length, and in this condition they can be kept for a month or more before planting.
The banana is very exacting with respect to soil. To do well the land must be very rich in humus, moist, but very well drained. In poor situations the plants may do well at first, but will run out in a few years and need to be replanted, whereas on good land they will continue to produce fine crops for fifteen or twenty years.
The plants are usually spaced fourteen to twenty feet each way, except in parts of Costa Rica, where a system of block planting, originated by Mr. John Keith, is practiced. This system, which has shown an increased yield wherever tried, is to plant in blocks of four plants each, the individual plants being about four feet apart, in the form of a square ; the blocks are 25 x 25 feet. This pro vides a better shade for the base of the plant during the early stages of its growth, and thus prevents excessive suckering.
The plants usually require about twelve months to produce a mature bunch. Before the bunch appears, suckers will start from the base which will take the place of the old plant or trunk, when it is cut down in harvesting the bunch. Only enough suckers are allowed to develop to keep up the sue cession of plants, and it requires some experience to judge of the proper time to allow suckers to grow so that there will be large cuttings in the season when the highest prices prevail. Until the plants are large enough to shade the ground, it is neces sary to keep down the growth of grass and weeds.
Some planters have found it profitable to sow cowpeas at the time of planting, which occupy the ground and reduce the number of cleanings that it is necessary to make. One of the worst enemies of the banana-grower is grass. Its appear ance in a plantation may be taken as a sign that the plantation will soon cease to be productive. It is not clear whether the grass is merely an indi cation that the soil is in some way depleted, or whether it is itself the real cause of the dete rioration.
Diseases.
The banana is attacked by comparatively few diseases. The only one causing serious damage in any of the centers of production here considered appeared in the Bocas del Toro region of Panama. This disease has been made the subject of a special investigation and found to be of bacterial origin. The same disease has been reported in Costa Rica, but it seldom attacks vigorous plants growing in suitable situations.
Production.
The chief centers of banana production in America are Costa Rica and Jamaica. The imports for the year 1905, by countries, were as follows : Jamaica $3,245,536 Costa Rica 1 888 939 Cuba 1,437,952 Honduras 1,430,580 Colombia 585,489 Panama 415,495 Nicaragua 391,142 Santo Domingo 283,950 British Honduras 112,605 Guatemala 97,688 Other countries 8,445 There are marked differences between the cul tures of Costa Rica and Jamaica, and also in the methods of handling the fruit. In Costa Rica the plants grow to a much larger size and produce, on the average, larger bunches. In Jamaica the mini mum bunch that is accepted is that of five hands, while in Costa Rica nothing smaller than seven hands will be received. In Costa Rica the culture is less intensive than in Jamaica. In the latter place, especially on the south side of the island where the plantations are irrigated, they present a very regular appearance. The ground is kept clean and the rows in good alignment. In Costa Rica, many of the large plantations receive little attention aside from the removing of superfluous suckers.