THE PLANT 11 



in the bulb to provide for the active growth of the flowering 

 system. The actual length of time which is necessary 

 from the first planting of the bulb until the period arrives 

 when the plant commences flower formation will vary 

 according as the conditions for growth have been favour- 

 able or otherwise. But probably the time may be safely 

 put down as somewhere between seven and nine months. 

 The period of flower formation may be considered, from 

 the planter's point of view, as the critical point in the life- 

 history of the plant ; for it is at this period that the 

 number of hands in the future bunch is irrevocably 

 determined. If the store of food in the bulb is ample, 

 the bunch will be a large one ; if meagre, the bunch will 

 be small. No amount of manuring or irrigation, applied 

 after this period, can possibly affect the number of 

 bunches, although such assistance may be necessary for 

 the welfare of the plant and its bunch, and for the size 

 of the fruit. 



It is difficult to determine the length of time that elapses 

 between the first definite formation of flowers at the base 

 of the trunk and its appearance on emerging the " shoot- 

 ing " from the top. Doubtless the time varies con- 

 siderably under different conditions, and may possibly 

 be as short as one month or as long as two months. 

 Probably an ample provision of water, both at the roots 

 and into the trunk from above, will considerably hasten 

 the shooting. 



The usual time for the banana to shoot may be put 

 down as ten months from the planting of the six to eight 

 months old sucker. 



The extreme end of a bunch of bananas, as it hangs 

 from the plant (Fig. 4, w), consists of a large number of 

 flowers, tightly enclosed by large, claret-coloured bracts. 

 There are several flowers together in a small cluster under 

 each bract. All the bracts, except the uppermost, are 

 very firmly closed over the flowers, overlapping one 

 another. The uppermost bract (Fig. 4, 6), like the upper 

 shell of an oyster, rises on its hinges. The cluster of 



