This is a story from my own hometown ("Humpty Doo" IS in fact a real place down the road from where I live). We had some wild bananas growing in our back yard,

This is a story from my own hometown ("Humpty Doo" IS in fact a real place down the road from where I live). We had some wild bananas growing in our back yard, and I remember the day that the 'Banana Inspector' turned up at my door step and announced that they would be destroying every single one of the banana trees in the neighbourhood. (To prevent the spread of Banana Freckle disease). Not much I could do in the face of bureaucracy, official forms and red ID badges, so I let them go ahead. I'll never forget when they finished, he poked his head in the door again to say "We've destroyed the plants and salted the earth to prevent them coming back". The only other time I had seen the phrase 'salted the earth' was when I read stories of Genghis Khan wiping out entire villages and salting the earth for miles around so that any survivors couldn't plant crops to survive! Probably a bit much to compare a Banana Freckle Inspector to someone who reputedly conquered the world in ancient times, but I bet the power went to his head more than once. :) A year later, I got a call from a much nicer chap who offered government assistance to plant some new (non infected) banana trees in my yard, but that also required a slew of government forms and waiting period, so I never went ahead.