176 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



around each plant is an excellent fertilizer ; but the ashes 

 must be mixed well with the soil, not put against the 

 plant. For most varieties; 3 meters apart in each direc- 

 tion is a good distance in planting. 



The surface of the ground must always be kept loose, 

 and free of weeds until the shade of the bananas can 

 keep them down. The ground cannot be cultivated 

 deeply without injuring the roots. If all the suckers 

 which spring from the base of a plant are allowed to live, 

 the plant will produce little and poor fruit, or none at all. 

 As a general rule only one sucker at- a time should be 

 allowed to grow, but there may be two if the soil is 

 rich and the plants are far enough apart. 



Time of Ripening. The time between planting and 

 maturity varies from nine months to three years, depend- 

 ing on the variety of banana and on the conditions of 

 growth. 



When fully ripe, the banana is rich in sugar. Just 

 before ripeness, this substance is mostly in the form of 

 starch, and a very nourishing meal can be made by dry- 

 ing bananas at this time and crushing them. The cook- 

 ing bananas are commonly used before most of the starch 

 turns to sugar. 



PAPAYA 



Description and Uses. This plant, whose name is 

 Carica papaya, is another strictly tropical, quick-growing 

 plant, whose stem is hardly woody enough to justify call- 

 ing it a tree. 



