98 

 mature, "but quite green in oolor. Ripening is affected dur- 

 ing shipment in warm weather, and by storing in dark, artifi- 

 cially heated rooms during cold weather. Banana flour is 

 a valuable product of ripe bananas prepared among the planta- 

 tions in the tropics. It is nutritious, and has an increasing 

 demand aad use as hitman food, 



Papaw, Carle a Papaya 

 Origin 



West Indi,es, Central America, Cultivated before the 

 discovery of America, without showing signs of a great anti- 

 quity of culture. 



The papaw is commonly cultivated, and is more or less 

 natur'alized in various parts of India, 



Description 



Small trees, mostly with unbranched trunks, the juice 

 milky, Leaves near the top of the trunk, alternate, large and 

 variously lobed, soft, long stalked, plant usually dioecious ; 

 flowers in racemes from the leaf axils, the starainate.rf^innel 

 shaped, and bearing 10 anthers on the throat, the pistillate 

 larger and with 5 distinct petals and 1 pistil with 5-rayed 

 stigma. There are about twenty species of Carica in tropical 

 America. They have somevrhat the aspect of palms. Under 

 glass in frosty countries, the common C, papya is frequent, 

 and is grown for its foliage and interesting habit. In frost- 

 less countries this species is grown for its fruit, which is 



