QUESTION DRAWER. 



209 



The insect which deposits the eg-g- referred 

 to is the Raspberry Cane Borer (Oberea hi 

 maculata). The perfect insect is a long- 

 horned beetle which flies during- the month 

 of June, and in oviposition the female girdles 

 the cane both above and below the place, 

 and the part of the stem above soon droops 

 and withers. The young- larva burrows 

 down the centre of the stem, and in the 

 autumn changes into pupa form, remaining- 

 in the stem during- the winter and escaping- 

 the following June. It is not usually suffi- 

 ciently numerous to effect much mischief, 

 and should be easily kept in check by cut- 

 ting- off and burning- all infested canes. 



Fig. 1819. Banana. 



The Banana 



1 149. Give me what information you can about 

 gprowing the Banana plant. 



Orangeville. Subscriber. 



There are several varieties of the Musa or 

 Banana family. The varieties that are 

 probably best known to horticulturists for 

 greenhouse culture are Musa Cavendishii, of 

 Chinese origin, and Musa ensete from .Aby- 

 sinnia; the latter variety g-rows readily from 

 seed and makes a nice decorative plant. .All 

 of the Musa family require a g-reenhouse to 

 grow them successfully ; they like a rich, 



lig-ht soil, plenty of heat and moisture in 

 summer, and plenty of root room to grow 

 in. In winter they require much less water, 

 but the temperature should never be lower 

 than 55 deg-rees, even at night, to be suc- 

 cesful with them. 



Musa Cavendishii fruits readily when three 

 or four years old when g-rown under favora- 

 ble conditions. It is g-enerally propag-ated 

 from offsets or suckers that g-row up around 

 the old stem, these suckers can be taken off 

 when repotting, and g-rown on in pots for a 

 year or more, when in spring- the}* can be 

 put into a larg-e tub two feet or more in di- 

 ameter, and proportionately deep, and if 

 grown in rich soil and g^ven plenty of heat, 

 shade and moisture in summer, with less 

 heat and water in winter, will probably fruit 

 in two or three years. Shortly after fruiting^ 

 the old stem dies down, so it is necessar^■ to 

 secure young plants as before described. A 

 good specimen will g-row from six to eig-ht 

 feet in height, and when well g-rown has a 

 beautiful tropical appearance. 



The Musa are not desirable plants for 

 lawn decoration in summer, unless thev can 

 be given a well sheltered and shaded posi- 

 tion, as the foliag^e is light in texture and 

 liable to be torn and broken by storms. 

 The Musa ensete is probably the best variety 

 to stand outside in summer for decorative 

 purposes. 



Hamilton. W. Hunt. 



Areca Lutescens. 

 1150. Sir, — I should be glad if j'ou could tell 

 me in an early number what is the reason that a 

 palm does not open its leaves and sends up a plain 

 straight spike I have a number of palms which 

 are all right, but I have one '* Areca Lutescens" 

 which has acquired this habit. 



John A. Robertson. 

 Chateaquay Basin, Que. 



The habit of the palm, Areca lutescens, as 

 described in above question, is perfectly 

 natural ; in fact there are but comparatively 

 few varieties, common to greenhouse culture, 

 that develop their foliage otherwise than by 

 means of this leaf blade or spike. .Among 



