The plant is tall and the fruit at least twice as long as that of the ordinary banana of commerce. It is not as prolific as other varieties, seldom bearing more than 30 or 40 to the stem, but it is found on every farm on the Island and is relied on as a source of food, even more than is the potato. The bunches under normal conditions command in the market prices varying from 20¢ to 60¢, dependent upon the number of “hands” or bananas to the stalk. The banana plant reaches a height of twelve or fifteen feet and is reproduced from the sucker or offshoot of the original bulb. About 400 hills are set out to the acre. In twelve months the first comes to maturity, producing a single bunch of fruit, whose price, dependent on variety and size, varied from 20¢ to $1. Each main stalk during the year sends up six or eight suckers, that are used to increase the acreage as desired. Bananas for export are grown profitably only on or near the edge of deep water harbors, where transportation to northern markets is assured. A description of all of the many varieties of the banana grown in Cuba would be perhaps superfluous. The most commonly cultivated for the table, and eaten without cooking, is known as the Manzana or Apple Banana. Its flavor may suggest the apple, although the choice of name is probably accidental. The bunch is rather small, and the fruit is bright yellow, only about one-half the length of the banana of commerce, and stands out more or less horizontally from the stem on which it grows. The average price of these when found in the market is about 35¢ per bunch. Some three or four varieties of the red banana are grown in Cuba, and while quite hardy and easily cultivated they are not prized in the Indies as in the United States. The dwarf banana, or Platano Enano, has a very pleasant flavor, not unlike that of the Johnson, or banana of commerce, and may be found in almost every garden in the Island. The plant reaches a height of only five or six feet, and the bunches of fruit are long and heavy, filled almost to the tip, and often supported by a forked stock, caught under the neck of the stalk so that the weight of the fruit will not break or pull over the plant itself. Another very choice banana is called the “Platano Datil,” or date banana. The stalks are relatively small and hold but little fruit in comparison with other varieties, seldom having more than two or three hands to the bunch. The fruit itself is from two and a half to three inches in length, round and plump, with a thin skin that can be slipped off, like a glove, but with a flavor that is probably the most delicate and delicious of the whole Musa family. Approximately 125,000,000 pounds of bananas are exported from the Island each year, valued under normal conditions at a little over a million dollars. The great bulk of bananas grown in Cuba are for domestic consumption.