34 THE BANANA 



planters about ploughing. Some who have planted in 

 light, loamy soils have been reaping excellent crops for 

 some years without any ploughing. Others, with heavy 

 soil, plough every eight weeks with a 6 in. plough, alter- 

 nately one way and across. Others, again, plough only 

 once a year. With heavy soil in wet districts forking has 

 now become the custom instead of ploughing. 



A friend who established a cacao walk with bananas, 

 before planting, ploughed, cross -ploughed, harrowed, and, 

 when necessary, trenched ; afterwards he ploughed with 

 a small plough (with moon coulter attached) three to six 

 times a year. On banana lines, where a plough cannot 

 work, he forks occasionally and hoes frequently. He says 

 that the plough is far more effectual in breaking up the 

 soil than any other implement he has tried, and it keeps 

 the land clean much longer. The plough works from 

 4 to 6 in. deep, and the cultivator 2 to 3 in. Another 

 planter forks once a year, and uses the cultivator to keep 

 the weeds down. When the grass is too high for the 

 cultivator he uses hoes, and only substitutes the plough 

 for the hoe or cultivator when labour is scarce. Both 

 plough and cultivator are kept to 2 in. in depth in order to 

 avoid destroying roots. 



A judicious pruning of the roots by the plough is of 

 great value, if done at the proper time ; for as the roots 

 do not naturally branch, but grow straight out to great 

 distances, pruning the roots induces branching at the 

 severed ends and a further production of roots from the 

 bulb. 



A planter, for whose judgment I have the greatest 

 respect, writes as follows : " I do not think that ploughing 

 close to the banana and cutting through the roots does 

 any harm. On the contrary, I am certain it does good, 

 principally, I think, because the cutting gives fresh impetus 

 to the roots, and this activity increases the growth of the 

 plant. Take, say, potatoes or turnips, which are usually 

 grown in drills 27 in. wide ; so long as a horse hoe can 

 work in these rows, it is good cultivation to keep working, 



