52 



a high temperature all the year round. At Kew, Sion House, Chats- 

 worth, and many other establishments with spacious " palm " houses, 

 plants of large size are grown, and under these circumstances they fruit 

 freely. 



M. Ensete and M. Basjoo form very striking plants at Kew in the 

 Temperate House. M. Ensete, according to Sir Joseph Hooker (in 

 Gard. Chron. 1860, p. 1105) ripened a few seeds in the Palm House in 

 that year. The female flowers were specially fertilised with pollen 

 taken from the scarcely opened male flowers. The Palm House affords 

 the most suitable conditions for the tropical species. Some fine 

 specimens of Musa sapientum attain a height of 18 feet to 20 feet. 

 Their large, emerald green leaves remain unbroken, in marked contrast 

 to their usual condition in the tropics, until they begin to fade. The 

 most esteemed sorts for fruit purposes are selected from time to time for 

 distribution to botanical institutions in the Colonies. Of these the 

 " champa" and "ram kela " (or rubra), two choice Indian sorts 

 described by Firminger, have been distributed from Kew during the 

 year 1893. A Malayan sort, " pisang medji " (Jf. mensaria, Rumph), 

 with a sub-globose fruit, as large as an apple, and soft yellow flesh is 

 very palatable. Another Malayan sort "pisang raja" (M. regia, 

 Rumph) with a fruit as long as a man's finger, an inch thick, is very 

 sweet and delicate in taste. To these may be added a sort from 

 Madras called " rustali," generally sold as a table plantain in that 

 Presidency, though by some it is not thought of such good quality as 

 the "guindy." 



A bunch of the Chinese banana grown by Sir Henry Peek, exhibited 

 at a meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1877, weighed 

 98 pounds, "a result," according to the Garden, XL, p. 345, "which 

 proves that we may enjoy this, and possibly other tropical fruits, 

 fresh from our own garden, if we desire to do so." 



Graham (Bot. Mag., t. 3849) refers to the success which had 

 attended the cultivation of many forms of bananas, at Edinburgh in 

 1840, under the management of Mr. McNab, and he specially mentions 

 the immense quantity of high-flavoured fruit which had been produced. 



At Parkfield, near Worcester, according to the Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 1894 [1], p. 340, two plants of Musa Gavendishii "were carrying 

 clusters of fruit weighing between 80 and 100 pounds each. 



Mr. W. Watson, the Assistant Curator, gives a brief account of the 

 treatment of bananas at Kew as follows : — 



"A selection of edible-fruited Musas is cultivated in the Palm 

 House at Kew, in addition to the collection of species, of which 20 

 of those recognised in this paper are represented in the various 

 houses. With scarcely an exception they are all easy to cultivate ; they 

 like rich soil, a fair allowance of root-room, plenty of sunlight, and 

 liberal supplies of water. The deciduous species, represented by 

 M. superba, are kept quite dry during winter. M. Gavendishii does not 

 fruit as well in the Palm House as it does at Sion House and in other 

 gardens, but all the forms of M. sapientum fruit well at Kew. They 

 are planted either in large tubs or in a border on the son th- east side of 

 the house in a compost of rich loam and cow manure. Suckers about 

 6 feet high, when planted singly, fruit in from two to three years. 

 The bunches are cut as soon as the fruit shows signs of changing from 

 green to yellow and hung in a warm room to ripen. This they do in 

 about a fortnight after cutting. Fruit ripened on the plants is not nearly 

 so rich in flavour as when it is cut and ripened in a room ; it also 

 ripens much more slowly if left on the plants. As soon as a bunch is 



