THE BANANA. ] 433 



and until the soil is well soaked by the rains of autumn. 

 Should the weather again become too dry in November 

 it may be necessary to resume watering. It is ; held 

 generally that a banana plantation requires on an average 

 at least four cubic metres of water for each plant or clump 

 during the dry season, and therefore area for area, a 

 banana plantation requires for irrigation at least twice as 

 much water as an orange grove. 



Very brackish water is injurious to the banana, but 

 the plant thrives well on water containing a moderate 

 percentage of chloride of sodium which would be 

 decidedly injurious or fatal for other plants such as 

 strawberries and rosaceous plants generally. It is also 

 known that the banana cultivated in the yards of rural 

 dwellings seems to thrive all the better if watered 

 occasionally with the soap suds of the household, which 

 of course contain an excess of soda salts. Hard water 

 containing an excess of carbonate of lime in solution is 

 injurious to the banana as well as to most other trees 

 and plants. Such temporarily hard water is ordinarily 

 pumped from the deep strata of calcareous rocks, and 

 should be allowed to rest for a day or two in open tanks 

 to deposit the excess of lime and to become properly 

 aerated, before it is made use of for irrigation. 



The plant of the banana or rather its rootstock, if 

 properly cultivated, will continue to yield good returns 

 for many years, but in the meantime the suckers will 

 have spread all round, so that the plantation will assume 

 an irregular aspect, and cultivation becomes difficult. 

 Moreover after the third or fourth year the formation 

 of suckers does not proceed with regularity, and the 

 production of bunches cannot be timed properly for the 

 purpose of exportation. Therefore the grower will find 

 it convenient to renew the plantation after a period of 

 five to seven years. When this course is decided upon 

 the land is sown thickly with a crop of some leguminose 



28 



