VII THE BANANA i6l 



should be the composition of the best soil for plantains 

 and bananas : — 



Clay 40 parts. 



Lime 

 Humus 



Sand 52 



100 



On referring to the table of classification of soils in the 

 first part of this book, it will be seen that such a soil may be 

 accurately described as a rich loam with lime. 



Climate. — The banana is essentially a tropical plant, and 

 thus it will not bear a cold climate, but many varieties do 

 extremely well at moderate elevations in the mountains, pro- Hot climates 

 vided they are protected from the withering blasts of high "*'''^^^'""y- 

 winds. The banana will bear a cooler climate than the plan- 

 tain, but both do best, and fruit earlier, near to the sea coast, 

 an atmosphere impregnated with salt having no deleterious 

 influence on the plants. 



Propagation.— The underground stem of the banana Suckers, 

 sends off a number of side shoots, or suckers, which if left to 

 themselves will grow up into a variety of stems, and in badly 

 cultivated plantain walks it is not unusual to see a clump 

 of a dozen or more stems growing from the same root stock. 

 The banana seeds only in very exceptional instances, indeed gged. 

 so few people have seen the seed that it is believed by most 

 persons not to occur at all. Fortunately, however, the plant Cutting the 

 is easily propagated by the suckers which are detached from suckers. 

 the stem by means of a cutlass or a sharp spade, the 

 earth being first of all removed carefully so as to expose the 

 junction of the off-shoot with the parent plant. The best size of the 

 size of the sucker for planting is about two feet over all, ^"^'^^'■''• 



M 



