lantation the young shoots
are generally made use of, which sprout so abundantly from the roots
that each individual one soon becomes a perfect plant. In favorable
ground the custom is to allow a distance of about ten feet between
each plant; in poor ground six feet. The only care necessary is
the extermination of the weeds, and clearing away the undergrowth
during the first season; later on, the plants grow so luxuriantly
and strongly that they entirely prevent the growth of anything
else in their vicinity. The protection afforded by the shade of the
trees at this period is no longer required, the young buds finding
sufficient protection against the sun's rays under cover of the
fan-like leaves. Only in exceptional cases, contrary to the usual
practice, are the plants raised from seed. The fruit, when ready,
is cut off and dried, though care must be taken that it is not over
ripe; otherwise the kernels will not germinate. These latter are about
the size of peppercorns; and the extraction of them in the edible
species almost always brings about decay. Two days before sowing,
the kernels are taken out of the fruit, and steeped overnight in
water; on the following day they are dried in a shady place; and on
the third day they are sown in holes an inch deep in fresh, unbroken,
and well-shaded forest ground, allowing six inches distance between
each plant and row. After a year the seedlings, which are then about
two feet high, are planted out, and tended in the same way as the
suckers. [Differences with abaca.] While many of the edible bananas
bear fruit after one year, and a few varieties even after six months,
the abaca plant requires on an average three years to produce its
fiber in a proper condition; when raised from suckers four years;
and raised from year-old seedlings, even under the most favorable
conditions, two years.

[Cutting.] On the first crop, only one stalk is cut from each bush;
but later on the new branches grow so quickly that they can be cut
every two months. [221] After a few years the plants become so strong
and dense that it is scarcely possible to push through them. Bast is
in its best condition at the time of blossoming; but, when the price
of the fiber happens to stand high in the market, this particular
time is not always waited for.

[Prejudice against cutting after blossoming.] Plants which have
blossomed cease to be profitable in any way, by reason of the fiber
becoming too weak--a matter o