April 30, 1668. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



321 



MUSA CAVENDISIIII CULTIVATION. 



t. F prolific fruit-bcarinf; were tlie test of merit 

 in a plant there would be no question as to 

 this being the king of fruits, whilst in state- 

 liness of growth it admits few superiors, al- 

 though its brother M sapientura is taller, 

 and JI. sapientum vittata has a coat of more 

 than one colour, but the garb of Jlusa Ca- 

 vendisliii is of the " purple." In point of 

 size and quality of fruit the plant exceeds all 

 its relations, giving an immense weight of 

 fruit in a short time, more so than any other plant with 

 whicli I am acquainted. 



Slusa Cavendishii cannot be called a plant suited to both 

 peer and peasant, for it is solely aristocratic. It will not 

 thrive in a cool greenhouse ; it is hopeless to strive to grow 

 it on a window shelf, or to coax it in a frame in a warm 

 sheltered comer. If it is not in every garden, it is in many 

 where it cannot well be grown. I have seen it in a green- 

 house, in a vinery, and in many houses that, were all the 

 plants removed, would not afford space for the growth of 

 a good specimen. I may be told it has been grown in a 

 vinery, and fruited in a gi-eenhouse. I know tliis. I have 

 seen it done — have done it myself; but it does not follow 

 because the celebrated Mr. Ivnight grew Pine Apples in a 

 house without bottom heat, and because they have been 

 fruited in the open air, that that is the most successful 

 practice. It is not a proof of the mode of cultivation being 

 good, but of the plant's endm-ance of cold. Although the 

 iVIusa is annually bedded-out at Battersea Park, there can- 

 not be any hope of so cultivating it as a fi'uit, and it is as a 

 fruit that I now propose to treat of Musa Cavendishii. 



To grow well it requires a light airy house, which should 

 not be less than 10 feet in height, and need not exceed 

 12 feet. The roof should not be shaded by climbers, and 

 the plant ought to have plenty of room laterally for its 

 magnificent foliage, not cramping it, nor phicing it so near 

 the paths that the leaves are in danger of being broken at 

 the ends or otherwise damaged. 



Presuming the grower now to have a young plant or 

 sucker well rooted in a small pot. shift [it at once into an 

 11-inch pot, draining the pot well, and using a compost of 

 turf fi-om an old pasture, where the soil is a moderately 

 strong, yellow loam, pared oft' lA or 2 inches tliick, and 

 chopped into pieces 1 or 2 inches square ; to this may bo 

 added one-third of leaf mould. Pot rather lightly, though 

 making the soil compact, give a gentle watering at once, 

 and plunge in a bottom heat of from 7")' to ho". Be 

 ratlier sparing of water until the plant begins to grow 

 well, then water freely, keepmg the atmosphere moist by 

 frequently sprinkling the paths, walls, and every available 

 surface with water of the same temperature as the house. 

 The temperature may be that of a stove, or between 0.5° 

 and 7(1° at night. 75° on dull days, from S0° to H.")° on cloudy 

 days but with clear intervals, and from i^5° to 'Mf, or more, 

 with sun and an abundance of air. 



In six weeks the plant will be a fine one, and should bo 

 potted forthwith in its fruiting pot or tub, and if it is to bo 



No. S70.— Vol. Xrv^ New Series. 



grown without bottom heat, then by degrees withdraw the 

 pot from the hotbed, but all'ording bottom heat is the best 

 mode of growing all our more choice tropical fruits. The 

 compost lor the fruiting pot or tub should be slightly 

 ditierent fi-ora that previously employed, but tiu-f must form 

 two-thirds of the soil, and the remaining third may be a 

 mixture of lumps of charcoal from the size of a hen's egg 

 to that of a hazel nut. crushed bones, pieces of grit or sand- 

 stone of all shapes from the size of a marble to that of a 

 cricket ball, and fresh horse droppings. If these materials 

 are all brought under cover a month before they are 

 wanted, and thrown in a heap they can be turned over, 

 chopped, and otherwise well mixed. The pot must be 

 large, :> feet in diameter at top is not too large, and it may 

 be 2 feet II inches deep, but the width is a far greater con- 

 sideration than the depth. 



Drain tlie pot well, making'the holes larger if small, and 

 if a tub be used bore at least three 2 -inch holes in the 

 bottom. To make sure of the drainage actmg, invert over 

 each hole a perforated flower pot— a shallow one, such as 

 is sometimes used for growing Orchids, and fill to about 

 an inch above these pots with rough charcoal, bruised 

 bones, and lumps of grit, and then put in about :> inches 

 of the roughest parts of the compost. Place the plant 

 in the centre, and fill round the ball with the com- 

 post chopped roughly, pressing it lightly. Give a good 

 watering, and if there are evaporating troughs, fill them, 

 and keep them full until October, with guano water made 

 by dissolving 1 lb. in 20 gallons of water, and sprinkle 

 the floors twice a-day with the same liquid, and the walls 

 and other sm-faces -n-ith water at least as often. Do not 

 water very freely for a few days, but when the plant is 

 gi-owing finely, and showing how well it likes liberal treat- 

 ment, give it a 3-gallon watering canful of water every 

 day, except on two days in the week, when, instead of 

 water only, let it have":! gallons of liquid manure, either 

 the same as that used in the evaporating troughs, which 

 feeds the plant by its leaves, and stifles all insects that are 

 fond of the shelter which the foliage affords, or one formed 

 by pom-ing ;30 gallons of water over a peck of sheep's 

 cb-oppings and afterwards stirring well. This watering 

 should be continued until the last week in September, or 

 it may be longer, just as the plant keeps on growing : but 

 when the temperature falls then the plant wiU grow less, 

 and must have less water and less moisture. 



Tliis prince of tho tropics is a great eater as well as 

 drinker, and surface-dressings are indispensable. Give 

 a coating an inch tliick all over the surface of the soil and 

 to the rim. dishing it there so as to hold water, using for 

 tliis purpose fi-esh cow dung. The first of these dressings 

 may be ailbrded a month after potting, and the dressing 

 may be repeated every month, until the supply of water is 

 diminished. If the roots come tlirough sooner, give the- 

 top-dressing oftener. 



As to an-. Musa Cavendishii likes an abundance, but 

 avoid a cool dry atmosphere. Open the lights early in the 

 morning, and admit the sim's rays, and shut up early, so 

 as to take advantage of the heat 'thus obtained before the 

 sun has begun to sink low, or in clear days about 4 p.m., 

 No. 1022.- Vol, XXXIX, Old Series. 



