IN PRAISE OF THE PAPAW xg3 



instruments of Christ's sufferings and death. And it is 

 said to have received its generic name on account of its 

 foliage somewhat resembling that of the common fig. A 

 great authority on the botany of India suggested that it 

 was originally introduced from the district of Papaya, in 

 Peru, and that " papaw " is merely a corruption of that 

 name. The tree is, as a rule, unbranched, and somewhat 

 palm-like in form. Its great leaves, often a foot and a half 

 long, borne on smooth, cylindrical stalks, are curiously cut 

 into seven lobes, and the stem is hollow and transversely 

 partitioned with thin membranes. 



One of the most remarkable characteristics of the papaw 

 is that it is polygamous — that is to say, there may be male 

 and female and even hermaphrodite flowers on the same 

 plant. Commonly the plants are classed as male and 

 female. The males largely predominate. Many horti- 

 culturists have sought by the selection of seeds and 

 by artificial fertilisation to control the sex of the plant so 

 that the fruit-bearing females shall be the more numerous, 

 but in vain. Some, on the theory that the female generally 

 obtains a more vigorous initial start in life, and in very 

 infancy presents a more robust appearance, heroically weed 

 out weak and spindly seedlings with occasionally happy 

 results. The mild Hindoo, however, who has cultivated 

 the papaw (or papai to adopt the Anglo-Indian title) for 

 centuries, and likewise wishes to avoid the cultivation of 

 unprofitable male plants, seeks by ceremonies to counteract 

 the bias of the plant in favour of masculine attributes. 

 Without the instigation or knowledge of man or boy, a 

 maiden, pure and undefiled, takes a ripe fruit from a tree at 

 a certain phase of the moon, and plants the seed in 

 accordance with more or less elaborate ritual. The belief 

 prevails that these observances procure an overwhelming 

 majority of the female element. The problem of sex, 

 which bewilders the faithless European, is solved 

 satisfactorily to the Hindoo by a virgin prayerful and 

 pure. 



On plants which have hitherto displayed only masculine 



