654 '''HE BANANA. 



after which it dies and is replaced by the numerous sprouts 

 from the base. To obtain the largest bunches these offsets 

 should be chopped out as they appear, and only three or four 

 stalks of different ages, so as to keep up a succession, allowed 

 to remain in one place. Ashes or strong stable manure 

 are good fertilizers. In the tropics, bunches of 200 fruit and 

 upward are common, but near the northern limit from 75 

 to 125 are all that can be expected. From long cultivation 

 and propagation by offsets, seed has almost entirely disap- 

 peared from the fruit. Sometimes, but rarely, a few are 

 found, and from these new varieties may be obtained. There 

 are several ornamental sorts which produce seeds and do not 

 sucker. 



Bananas are generally ripened in the house, the bunch being- 

 cut when its stem curves over to the stem after the fruit is 

 fully developed, though still green. It should then be hung 

 in a dark place to color and ripen. There is no difficulty in 

 raising and fruiting it in hothouses. 



