SEED-VESSELS WE EAT 237 



pull a ripe one from the tree, is not unlike the 

 milky latex which hardens into rubber. 



BANANAS 



Thirty years ago few people outside the large 

 cities had ever seen a banana* — fewer by far were 

 those who knew and liked the taste of the fruit. 

 Surprising changes have been brought about by 

 the growth of commerce between this country and 

 the West Indies. The poorest family in the small- 

 est inland village can afford to eat this tropical 

 fruit, for it is everywhere, and usually it is the 

 cheapest to be had. 



To see banana plants growing we may have to 

 go no farther than the city park, even if we live 

 in the region of cold winters. Started in green- 

 houses, they make an interesting tropical feature 

 of the mass-planting in the border, or the high 

 centre of a round flower bed. Such plants remind 

 one of huge corn stalks, though the leaves are 

 broad sheets of green that are soon slit into strings 

 down to the strong midrib by flapping in the wind. 



In the southern states the season is so long that 

 these plants blossom. The single huge bud turns 

 down, and begins blossoming by lifting the purple 

 bract that sheathes the oldest and uppermost 



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