Vol. XVII. No. 420. 



THE AGRICULTUEAL 5EWS. 



171 



but for patriotii; reasons they should help England to win 

 the war by endeavouring to make the island self-supporting 

 in regard to food supplies, thereby releasing such food 

 as may be available for use elsewhere, Srst of all for feeding 

 the army, which is fighting for the liberty of the world, 

 and then to feed the women and children of the Allied 

 countries, who now. are receiving only barely what is 

 t5ufficieut to keep them alive. 



'His Excellency desires to ])oint out that there is no 

 finality in the proposals which are now being put forward, 

 but that these are men-ly a commencement of endeavours 

 which should result in general development as time goes on, 

 and possibly in the establishment of an industry which will 

 be of general benefit to the island, in so far as much of the 

 foodstuffs now imported into the island could be produced 

 locally, to the advantage of those who could produce them.' 



BANANA BREAD IN JAMAICA. 



The United Fruit Company have recently issued in 

 Jamaica a circular, pointing out that the employment of 

 a large proportion of boiled bananas in bread will be an easy 

 way of helping to meet the threatened shortage in flour. 

 The following is the recipe in the circular: — 



'If you will substitute for the precious grain, the fruit 

 that you have known from childhood, the green banana, in 

 proportions of -iO per cent, of this fruit and 70 per cent, of 

 flour, boiling the absolute green bananas in salted water, and 

 mashing the bananas, adding to the dough 30 per cent, of 

 its weight of the mashed boiled bananas, you will produce 

 a bread which is both palatable, and hard to distinguish from 

 all-wheat bread, though darker in colour.' 



At the same time that the company issued this circular 

 they sent out samples of bread made in the manner recom- 

 mended It is reported in the Jamaici Gleaner, April 22, that 

 the loaves turned out were excellent in flavour, and as palat- 

 able as any wheaten bread. Sir Francis Watts having 

 tried this bread gives his opinion that it was of good 

 ' flavour, and liad no unusual taste, so that the pres- 

 ence of the bananas was not noticeable. The bread had 

 however a somewhat dark, bluish grey colour, which may be 

 thought objectionable by some people. He thinks that this 

 colour is due to changes brought about by enzymes, and that 

 it might be avoided by throwing tiie green bananas into 

 hoilini^ water immediately the skins are removed, and that in 

 this way a still more acceptable bread would result. It 

 might be tried in other ol these West Indian islands. 



The question is one of considerable importance to 

 .Jamaica, where immense quantities of bananas are available, 

 in connexion with the export of which there may be some 

 difficulty in finding shipping. Large quantities of bananas 

 might thus be used locally, and a great saving be eft'ected 

 in connexion with the importation of tiour. 



In order to introduce the bread, the I'nited Fruit 

 Company have oti'ered to furnish, free of cost to responsible 

 bakers, a reasonable supply of green bananas for experimental 

 purposes. 



The proportions of bananas to liour advised in the 

 circular quoted above may perhaps be more readily grasped 

 it it is stated that 3 lb. of boiled, mashed, green bananas 

 should be mixed with 7 Bb. of dough made from wheaten 

 flour, the whole being worked up into lo ff). of dough to be 

 made int<j loaves for baking. 



Probably the recipes for preparing, potato bread already 

 given in frirmer issues of the .h^rieiiltiiral Xeirs would suit 

 for the preparation of this banana bread. 



THE CABBAGE PALM FRUIT AS A FOOD 

 FOR HOGS. 



It has long appeared to the writer of this n'>te that the 

 fruit of the cabbage palm {Oreodoxa n'gui) might be utilized 

 as a food for animals, especially hogs, in those of the West 

 •Indian islands where the palm is abundant. In the Revista 

 ■Je Agricn/tiira, Comeieio y Tral'ajo, March 1918, the official 

 publication of the Department of Agriculture, Cuba, an 

 interesting article appears on this subject written by 

 Dr. E. Moreno, Chief of the Chemical Department of the 

 Agronomic Kxperiment Station in that island. 



Dr. Moreno has undertaken careful analyses of the 

 fruit of the cabbage palm in order to ascertain its food value, 

 and the possibility ot its employment for feeding hogs, or 

 for other industrial uses. 



The analyses show that the quantity of oil contained 

 in the fruit varies within large limits — between 12 and 32 

 per cent. Although this oil content does not allow the 

 cabbage palm to be placed in the first rank of oleaginous 

 nuts, it is interesting, nevertheless, as showing in a con- 

 clusive manner the value of the fruit for feeding and 

 fattening hogs. 



After detailed analyses of the rind, the pulp, and the 

 nut separately, as well as of the complete fruit. Dr. Mcreno 

 comes to the conclusion that the best results are obtained 

 from the perfectly ripe fruit, when it has acquired a dark 

 purple colour, and that as a foodstufl' for hogs, the complete 

 fruit in its fresh state is superior to the dried article, 

 whether sun-dried or dried by artificial means. 



The reasons for this judgment he gives as follows. 

 Although the greatest part of oil is contained in the kernel 

 yet there exists in the mesocarp (the pulp) a consid- 

 erable quantity of oil, along with watery juices; the 

 rind also, although very poor in oil content, is relatively 

 rich in protein. In the rind there has been proved to exist 

 also the presence of a stimulating principle of a slightly acid 

 and fermentable nature, analogous to that contained in 

 mustard and other piquant seeds, which without doubt acts 

 as an enzyme or ferment, stimulating, and assisting the 

 digestibility ot the cabbage palm nuts. Therefore the con- 

 clusion is arrived at that the cabbage palm nuts should 

 be fed entire to hogs without stripping them of their 

 rind, and preferably fresh, or at least air-dried, because 

 further desiccation tends to get rid of the stimulating 

 princiole, which has been mentioned. 



The following table gives the average composition of 

 the fruit: — 



The following table is given as representing the com- 

 parative food value, expressed in Calories, of cabbage palm 

 fruit, alfalfa hay, cowpea hay, and maize: — 



Cabbage palm fruit 34824 Calories 



Alfalfa hay 22386 



Cowpea hay 180-01 „ 



Maize 374-10 



The above .shows that the cabbage palm fruit compares 

 favourably with many >ther foodstuffs wliich possess 

 considerable reputation. 



