THE BANANA. ] 429 



sary, as the fruit never or very rarely contains any seeds. 

 The number of fruit clusters in each bunch is in propor- 

 tion to the vigour of the plant, but they rarely exceed 

 nine or ten, although the bunch continues to expand its 

 bracts and small clusters of abortive flowers for an 

 indefinite period. However, there are certain varieties 

 in Ceylon, Malacca and the Malayan Arcipelago, such 

 as ''King of Thousands" and "Elephant's Trunk," the 

 bunch of which goes on producing clusters of small but 

 perfect fruits, so that the bunch becomes very long, and 

 ultimately often reaches the ground. 



This indefinite formation of bracts and sterile flowers 

 may be detrimental to the full development of the fruit, 

 and therefore it is often recommended to remove this 

 terminal cabbage or head of bracts. This removal should 

 be done with care in order not to provoke a prolonged 

 flow of vital sap which may exhaust the bunch worse 

 than the useless formation of sterile flowers. The termi- 

 nal head should therefore be allowed to remain until 

 there is an interval of about 10 c.m. between it and the 

 last "hand" of the bunch ; the stalk is then tied tightly 

 just over the bracts so as to obstruct the flow ot the 

 lymph, and the head of bracts is sharply twisted round 

 and cut off. The result of this operation is to retard the 

 ripening of the fruit, and to improve its size. When 

 the flowering period is over the remains of the perianth 

 or flower will dry, and unless they are removed will keep 

 sticking to the end of the growing fruit, and in wet or 

 moist weather will rot and may cause the tender fruit to 

 rot wholly or in part. These remains should not be 

 removed before they are well dry, and then they are 

 easily picked off by hand without causing any injury to 

 the fruit. The bunches which are formed late in summer 

 or in autumn are exposed to injury from hail which 

 usually accompanies the stormy weather of autumn. The 

 small hailstones will produce whitish or greyish spots oi) 



