140. 



FLORIDA FRUITS. 



muck and manure, or commercial fertilizers, placed in the bot- 

 tom of the hole, and the rest mixed with the soil that is packed 

 around the roots. 



A mistake our Florida planters usually make is, in not set- 

 ting the banana deep enough in the ground. The hole, as we 

 have said, should be tw^o feet deep, and if the plant to be set 

 should not be large enough to permit this depth to be filled in 

 around it at once, then the earth should be packed in as far as 

 possible, and the rest filled in gradually, as the banana grows 

 upward. In other words, the banana plant, to do its best, must 

 be set at least two feet below the surface of the ground. "When 

 fifteen months old, the banana, if it has no drawbacks, will put 

 forth, from the center of the stem, at the top, a curious-shaped 

 bloom, that just appears, pointing upwards from amidst the 

 broad leaves, and then droops outward and downward at the 

 end of a stout stalk. The bloom looks much like a fat ear of 

 corn with red husks. These latter lift slowly up, one after 

 the other, as though hinged at the top, revealing the strange, 

 odd-looking *' fingers " of bananas, ranged symmetrically beneath 

 them. Each leaf of the husk drops off after it has done its duty in 

 protecting the young fruit from the sun for a day or two, and then 

 the next in order of descent raises the lid from its row of fruit. 



The same red husks, brighter inside than out, are just 

 the shape of the popular, long, shell-shaped pickle dishes, and 

 retain their stiffness for days, and holding a cup full of water, 

 they make really beautiful bouquet-holders, that the eye cannot 

 tell from the finest Japanese red lacquer ware. 



The number of fingers in a cluster of bananas varies greatly, 

 according to the variety of the plant and richness of the soil. 



The Horse, or Orinsca banana, which is most commonly cul- 

 tivated in Florida, bears from twenty to sixty bananas, in fingers 

 or rows of eight to ten. They are usually large, and when suf- 

 fered to remain on the plant till nearly ripe, are as fine in flavor 

 as one need wish, but when cut green, are apt to be insipid. 



Another banana, Hart's Choice, or the Golden Early, is 

 superior to the Horse banana in every respect. Both of these 

 varieties will stand a greater degree of cold than any others of 



