One of the most remarkable characteristics of the papaw is that it is
polygamous--that is to say, there may be male and female and even
hermaphrodite flowers on the same plant. Commonly the plants are classed
as male and female. The males largely predominate. Many horticulturists
have sought by the selection of seeds and by artificial fertilisation to
control the sex of the plant so that the fruit-bearing females shall be
the more numerous, but in vain. Some, on the theory that the female
generally obtains a more vigorous initial start in life, and in very
infancy presents a more robust appearance, heroically weed out weak and
spindly seedlings with occasionally happy results. The mild Hindoo,
however, who has cultivated the papaw (or papai to adopt the Anglo-Indian
title) for centuries, and likewise wishes to avoid the cultivation of
unprofitable male plants, seeks by ceremonies to counteract the bias of
the plant in favour of masculine attributes. Without the instigation or
knowledge of man or boy, a maiden, pure and undefiled, takes a ripe
fruit from a tree at a certain phase of the moon, and plants the seed in
accordance with more or less elaborate ritual.
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