Edible Products. 



22 



[July, 1911. 



The resulting: store in the 'bulb' will 

 in the end appear as a large bunch of 

 fine fruit. 



Should, however, the process of manu- 

 facture and storage be checked by poor 

 tilth, inadequate drainage, sourness of 

 soil, lack of moisture, injudicious maim- 

 ing of roots by deep cultivation or by 

 injury to the plant by storm, the re- 

 sultant bunch will be in accordance 

 therewith. When a bunch is cut, the 

 stem and leaves decay while the food 

 material therein passes down into the 

 bulb. 



Experience in Jamaica indicates that 

 it is preferable to cut down the old stem 

 and chop it up to form humus on the 

 surface of the soil rather than to leave 

 a tall stem slowly to decay, with a view 

 to the maximum reinforcement of the 

 bulb thereby. 



The original bulb forms a reservoir of 

 material for many successive suckers, 

 and it is important that suckers should 

 be rigidly pruned to a limited number 

 capable of assuring good results, so as 

 to avoid an unnecessary depletion of the 

 store in the mother bulb by the produc- 

 tion of superfluous and unproductive 

 growths. 



The Leaves. — The long elliptical leaves 

 with the prominent mid-rib are so 

 familiar to all in the tropics that it is 

 hardly necessary to attempt a detailed 

 description of the foliage of the banana. 



The sheathing bases of the leaves act 

 the part of a woody stem in supporting 

 the huge leaf blades and carrying them 

 up the sunlight. The leaves are fragile 

 and easily torn and tattered by a storm 

 of wind. It is surprising, however, how 

 they will appear to perform their func- 

 tion as leaves, although the blades may 

 be split into many fluttering sections 

 as the result of a high wind. 



After the birth of the bunch a small 

 leaf is developed, which is specially pro- 

 vided for hauging over and shading the 

 fruit from the strong light. 



The fluted leaf-stalk of the banana 

 acts as a conduit for the transference of 

 water into the interior of the stem. 

 This water has an important function 

 in facilitating the delivery of the bunch 

 at the apex of the plant. 



During a period of drought the arti- 

 ficial spraying of water into the heart 

 of the leafy stems has been found effec- 

 tive in enabling a stem to shoot its 

 bunch. 



The Fruiting System. — If a banana 

 plant a few weeks before the time for 

 shooting its bunch be cut down and 

 dissected, the flowering stalk will be 



found in its embryonic condition in the 

 stem. On examination of this structure 

 it will be found that the flowers are 

 arranged in clusters dispersed spirally 

 round the axis. 



It will be noticed that there are three 

 sets of flowers clearly distinguishable 

 by the length of the ovary ; those with 

 the long ovary at the base of the stalk 

 become the 'hands' of the fruiting bunch 

 and are female flowers. 



At the other end of the stalk are 

 flowers with very short ovaries, which 

 are the male flowers, while intervening 

 between the two are flowers with an 

 intermediate length of ovary or abortive 

 fruiting organs. (Fig 63), 



The number of hands in the bunch is 

 determined as soon as the three types of 

 flowers on the stalk have been formed, 

 and it is therefore evident that the grade 

 of fruit is settled at a comparatively 

 early period in the life of a sucker. The 

 size of the individual fingers may be 

 modified by subsequent circumstances, 

 but the number of hands thao a bunch 

 shall contain is incapable of increase in 

 the later stages of growth. 



An examination of such a stalk would 

 indicate that the number of hands in a 

 bunch might be doubled if enough sti- 

 mulus had been given to the plant to 

 develop the abortive flowers into clusters 

 of fruiting ' hands.' Commercially in 

 Jamaica, a standard of nine hands regu- 

 lates the maximum number which it is 

 profitable to obtain, and skilful cultiva- 

 tion is directed towards the maintenance 

 of this standard. 



Experiments have been carried out to 

 test the rate of passage of the bunch 

 from the base of the plant to its delivery 

 at the apex. 



By passing coloured threads through 

 the stems of plants in different stages it 

 has been shown that it takes the bunch 

 from three to six weeks to make this 

 passage. 



Varieties of the Banana. 

 The Jamaica Banana.— This is the 

 standard commercial banana and is 

 known also by the names ' Gros Michel, 

 and ' Martinique.' It was introduced 

 into Jamaica about 1836 by John Fran- 

 cois Pouyat, a French Botanist and 

 Chemist who settled in Jamaica in 1820. 

 He possessed coffee property " Belle 

 Air" in St. Andrew, and on his return 

 from a visit to Martinique planted this 

 banana on his estate. At first known as 

 the " Bauana-Pouyat ' it gradually be- 

 came known as the Martinique Banana, 



