568 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



newly-planted sucker to the plant in full 

 bearing is simply short of marvelous. 

 Within a space of six or seven weeks the 

 2 or 3 foot plant has more than doubled 

 in size, and a month or so later the 

 leaves cease to unfold and a spike ap- 

 pears out of the center of the crown. 

 This is the future stalk of the bunch and 

 carries a huge red blossom at the end. It 

 develops rapidly, continually bending 

 more and more until in a short time it 

 has turned completely upon itself, so that 

 the bananas grow end up or in a position 

 the reverse of which they are usually 

 hung. From 7 to 12 months after the 

 blossom appears the fruit is ready for the 

 gatherer. At irregular intervals along the 

 entire stalk, and only extending part of 

 the way round at any one place, the 

 bracts break forth tiny ridges of flow- 

 ers — which are almost immediately re- 

 placed by 9 to 12 embryo bananas. These 

 are the future "hands" of the bunch, so 

 called on account of their resemblance to 

 those members when held in a certain 

 position. 



It is by means of these hands that the 

 fruit is classified for shipping. A bunch 

 of 9 hands or over (the average being 

 10 to 12) constitute a "first;" between 

 7 and 9, a "second." Anything under 

 this minimum is discarded by an in- 

 spector at the wharf. Bunches of 17 

 hands are exceptional, and those of this 

 abnormal size are usually not shipped, 

 owing to the inconvenience of storing in 

 the steamer's hold. 



PropaKatiou 



The banana has a curious and prodigal 

 method of propagation, for before the 

 parent stalk and fruit have matured new 

 ones spring up. These are offshoots that 

 grow from the root of the original plant- 

 ing, resembling the sprouts from the 

 "eyes" of a potato, and each in turn be- 

 comes a parent stalk with its fruit. It 

 follows that unless most of the continual- 

 ly appearing new plants are cut out 

 (which is the practice) the first stalk in 

 a few years will become the center of a 

 miniature jungle. The plants grow to a 

 height of from 15 to 35 feet, spreading in 

 all directions, until the soil is overbur- 

 dened with an enormous mass of stalk 



and leaf growth, and stunted fruit is pro- 

 duced. 



In cultivation, four suckers (which is 

 another name for the shoots) are usually 

 allowed to grow In one hill, and their 

 graduation is so arranged that while the 

 oldest is bearing fruit the next is in blos- 

 som, the third is half grown, and the 

 last is just coming forth from the ground. 

 The banana plantation yields a contin- 

 uous harvest for years without replant- 

 ing. Some that are fifty years old are 

 yielding today as prolifically as in their 

 third or fourth year, but these are located 

 in exceptionally fertile districts. The ro- 

 tation of crops is unknown, and unless 

 the land is subject to overflow it can 

 hardly be profitable after ten years' work- 

 ing. 



Planting 



In planting for the market about 200 

 hills are allowed to the acre. Sometimes 

 the number can be safely increased to 

 225, in which case there will be 900 stalks. 

 However, after one year all of these stalks 

 do not produce a marketable bunch of 

 bananas, and the average yield is not 

 over 300 full bunches to the acre per an- 

 num. Fr.\nklin Ad.\m.s. 

 Pan-American Union 



Banana Flour 



During the past two or three years 

 many popular statements have appeared 

 concerning banana flour or meal. Little 

 reliable information, however, has ap- 

 parently been available on this subject. 

 Banana flour is prepared by cutting the 

 fruit into suitable pieces, drying, and 

 grinding. Several years ago the Royal 

 Gardens, Kew (England), published a 

 somewhat extended discussion of the food 

 value of bananas and banana flour and 

 stated that the latter article, acconling 

 to the testimony of travelers, had been 

 prepared by native inhabitants of tropi- 

 cal countries since early times. The Con- 

 necticut State Station recently published 

 analyses of banana flour made from three 

 sorts of bananas. In the following table 

 the composition of these samples is 

 shown. For purposes of comparison, the 

 composition of fresh bananas, wheat flour, 

 rice, and fresh and dried apples is also 

 included. 



