38 THE BANANA 



the smaller will be the number of hands in the bunch for the 

 mother plant, and the longer it will take for the suckers to 

 fruit. 



Method. Care should be taken when cutting away the 

 suckers to apply the cutlass, so that it does not point 

 towards the plant, otherwise it is very easy to injure it. 

 If the sucker is not cut away quite down to the white, hard 

 part, it will soon spring again, and therefore time and 

 labour are saved by doing it thoroughly at first. 



Choosing and Timing. Suckers shoot from the newly 

 planted bulb from eyes all round, and sometimes from the 

 centre. Some planters cut away the central sucker ; 

 others leave it, as it gives a fair bunch if the bulb is 

 vigorous. On the south side, in irrigated land, two or 

 three suckers may be left at equal distances round the 

 bulb. It is well to take those that start from eyes placed 

 low down, so that the roots have a good hold on the 

 ground. One sucker takes the lead, as a rule, and becomes 

 the plant, fruiting in ten to fourteen months ; another 

 comes in as a second sucker, giving a finer bunch four or 

 five months later. Occasionally all the suckers will bear 

 at the same time, when the bunches will not be so fine. 

 It is the practice with some planters on the north side, 

 after planting in March and April for fruit in February or 

 March, to prune off all suckers till June, then to leave one 

 just coming out of the ground which will fruit in the 

 following April ; in October another is left on the opposite 

 side of the stem, and in February another which will 

 fruit in fifteen or sixteen months. On the south side two 

 suckers would be left instead of one in June, October, and 

 February. 



Plants vary, according to soil, situation, tillage, &c., in 

 the time they take to produce fruit ; the usual time is ten 

 months to shoot (from time of planting), but often longer, 

 and two and a half to four months more to ripen. 

 Ratoons (i.e. suckers which take the place of the parent 

 plant after fruiting) usually bear in fifteen to seventeen 

 months. Judging from experience of his own estate, the 



