131 



In an allied plant, the 'travellers tree' (Ravenala), it is well known 

 that it is possible to get a drink of water by piercing the hollow leaf- 

 stalk ; and a banana in a similar way collects the rain drops of a 

 shower, and conducts them along the fluted leaf-stalk into the interior 

 of the ' stem' which is nothing more than the sheathing bases of the 

 leaves themselves. Water supplied in this way, and quite independent 

 of the amount at the roots, is important for the proper shooting of the 

 flower stalk. 



The sheathing bases of the leaves act the part of a woody stem in 

 supporting the huge leaf blades and carrying them upwards towards 

 the sun-light. They also enclose in their centre, and protect, the 

 flowering stalk for the six weeks or so while it is pushing its way up 

 from the underground bulb to the top of the stem. Immediately 

 before the flowering stalk appears a small leaf is developed which 

 hangs over and protects it on its birth from the direct sun-light. 



The sheaths when cut across, show very large air-spaces, and these 

 are connected with minute pores on the leaves which admit air, a large 

 quantity of which is necessary. 



FLOWERS. 



If the flowering stalk is examined in the embryo condition in the 

 stem, it will be found that the flowers are arranged in clusters disposed 

 spirally round the axis. The clusters at the base of the stalk become 

 the 'hands' of the fruiting bunch. It will also b> found that the 

 flowers in different regions of the stalk vary in the proportion of the 

 length of the ovary to that of the rest of the flower. In those clusters 

 which*eventually become ' hands,' the ovary is two-thirds the length of 

 the whole flower; higher up on the stalk are clusters in which the 

 ovary is about one half the length of the flower; and still higher, 

 there is another series in which the ovary is about one-third of the 

 flower. These three sets of flowers clearly distinguishable by the 

 different proportionate length of the ovary are physiologically very 

 different ; those with the long ovary are female flowers and become 

 the fruit, those with the short ovary are male flowers ; and those with 

 the ovary about half the length of the flower are hermaphrodite and 

 form short, useless fingers in the bunch. The problem of increasing 

 the number of hands in the bunch must be attacked at a stage earlier 

 than its appearance in the embryonic condition described. 



VARIETIES OF THE BA.NA.NA. 

 There are several varieties of banana known in Jamaica but the only 

 one cultivated and exported on a commercial scale, is that known 

 formerly as the Martinique or Pouyat banana from the place of its 

 introduction and the person who brought it over some time in the 

 early thirties of the last century. The Director of Kew Gardens has 

 from time to time sent varieties to Jamaica, and we have received 

 some also from the Commissioner of the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture, from Dominica which came originally from Kew. Many 

 of these are spoken of in very high terms in the East, but so far, we 

 have not found any that, for export purposes, rival the common Ja- 

 maican, although that known as 1 Guindy' from Madras is considered 



& ood * 



The red banana gets a high price in America, but merely as a 



