September i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



217 



writer in the Englishman refers to tlie leaves of the 

 plantain trees as well as the stems, as fibre-yielders. 

 There is certainly plenty of green material, but the 

 proportion of water is enormous, as any one who 

 cuts a large stem or leaf can see. This large pro- 

 portion of water has been the great tlifliciilty in 

 former experiments, and perhaps the difficulty could 

 be obviated by the use of a small machine to ex- 

 press the moisture from the stems and leaves before 

 they are carried to the separating machine. Indeed 

 the E/ifflisAman states that for half stufT for paper it 

 is only necessary to split and cut the stems into 

 lengths and pass them through rollers. If, as is 

 asserted, the Bombay experiment, regarding which 

 detailed figures are given, was so satisfactory and 

 profitable as is alleged, the question naturally arises 

 why was it abandoned, as it appears to have been ? 

 We suspect it is a mistake to say that plantains 

 will grow on the poorest soil. Unless manured they 

 exhaust even good soil. Still, if the experiment suc- 

 ceeded in Bombay, it cei-taiuly ought to succeed in 

 Ceylon, and we trust it will be fully tried. 



lu this connection we may notice the suggestion 

 made by a coriespondent of a contemporary that paper 

 pulp, the raw form of papier nulchd, should be used 

 as a covering for scraped cinchona trees. The idea 

 is worthy of attention. It is given in the following 

 form : — 



I would utilize paper but in a modified form. In 

 every town there is an enormous wastage of paper 

 cuttings and soiled paper of all sizes and kinds, burnt 

 or destroyed daily, all of which might be turned to 

 account for cinchona covering. Nothing is simpler or 

 easier than reducing cuttings of paper to a state of 

 pulp by the addition of water. Paper soaked and 

 then squeezed or mashed up by hand or any other 

 meanc, takes tl)e form of a pulp, the foundation in 

 fact of papier mache, and in that state could easily 

 be placed in a thin coating round the trees : it 

 would at once adhere the only proviso being that it 

 should not be applied during heavy rain, but ouce 

 dried on it will be found eapaUe of resisting all Imt 

 the heaviest rain, and if it remains on the stem for 

 one month its purpose will have been served. The 

 supply of paper cuttings and pieces must be very large 

 in Colombo and Kaudy. 



Dried leaves of plantain trees ought to be useful 

 aa a covering, but they would be bulky to carry and 

 in seasons of drought would be apt to take fire. 

 The paper pulp could probably be pressed free of 

 moisture at Colombo and again moistened on the 

 estate before being applied 1 If pressed into then 

 sheets, we fear it would not be sufficiently pliable 

 for use. 



(From the Calcutta " Englishman." ) 



Few persons can long reside in any part of India 

 without being struck by the number of jjlantsi, such 

 as aloes, plantains, pineapples, &c., which form a 

 characteristic feature in every landscape. 



The Btranger from northern latitudes, should ha 

 happen to be of an observant and enquiring turn of 

 mind, will reflect on the value of these plants and the 

 various uses to which ihey could be applied, and he 

 will soon see that they are productive sources of he 

 most valuable fibres of every degree fo strenglh .and 

 fineness, audsuiiable for working into the most delic- 

 ate fabric*, as well as for cordage and cables of the 

 greatest strength. The couch upon which he reclines 

 is covered with cloth made from o'nia'echal as fine as 

 silk, anti he will lie astonished to le.arn rithat it has 

 been obtained from the le.aves of the wild pineapple, 

 which occasionally forms tho hedgerowe of enclosures 

 and is thickly scattered throughout the juugle. He 

 will notice the native craft rigged with superior 

 28 



cordage, and will be informed that it has been 

 twisted from the leaves of the aloe, patches of which 

 from their fleshy leaves he has seen growing around 

 in every direction. Oi- he will choose from the box 

 of an ordinary pedlar, should ho desire to send home 

 a souvnir of his wanderings, a scarf of texture almost 

 as fine as that which the spider weaves, made from 

 the leaves of the common pineapple and known in 

 India as pma. On seeing a fallen planfiiin tree of 

 the ordinary kind, he will notice the end of strong 

 white fibres protruding from the broken part, and 

 will be struck by their resemblance to hemp or' flax, 

 but on closer examination he will find them to be 

 very similar to the celebrated Manilla hemp, the in- 

 creasing demand for which- in Europe and America 

 he will probably have heard of. And to any one at 

 all informed as to the growing and insatiable wants 

 of the mauufaoturer, it is a matter of no sujall sur- 

 prize that the well-known and acknowledged de- 

 ficiency in the supply of fibrous materials has not been 

 made up from the numerous sources which in India 

 one sees flourishing everywhere around him. Why is 

 it that countless thousands of plantain trees in India,- 

 which are cut down after having yielded their fruit,- 

 are allowed to rot where they fall, instead of being 

 utilized for the excellent fibres with which they 

 abound ; and why are tho numerous species of aloe 

 and_ wild pineapple plants which flourish on un- 

 cultivated and otherwise barren land, and invade every 

 abandoned piece of ground, suffered to send out theu' 

 fibre-stocked leaves only to flourish and decay,- while 

 the demand for fibrous materials in all parts of the 

 world increases every day ? 



The idantain In India is considered as valuable on 

 accouut of its fruit alone, Imt both the stems and 

 leaves abound in fibre useful for textile and cordage 

 pusrpose, while the tow which is separated in preparing 

 the fibres forms an excellent material for tlie finest 

 or the toughest paper. Nor is the process involved 

 in extracting the fibres in any way laborious or expens- 

 ive. Early in the year 18S0 the attention of two 

 gentlemen in Bombay was dii-ected to the fibre-produc- 

 ing capabilities of the common plantain suitable for 

 paper making, and after makmg several satisfactory 

 experiments with machinery of tiieir own invention, 

 they commenced operations on a moderate scale ut 

 Bassein, distant about 30 miles from Bombay; giviin' 

 employment to about 40 day labourers for ' a period 

 of above one year. The result of these works was 

 all that could be desix-ed, the outturn - of fibre,- wastft, 

 and paper stuft' produced at the rate of two' tods 'p^r 

 diem by the simplest conceivable machinery arid at 

 comparatively trifling coat, readily commanding lh6 fol- 

 lowing prices, on 9th December 1880, in the -Liverpool 

 markets: — 



riautain fibre -£20 per ton. 

 „ waste £10 „ . „ 

 tow £lp .„ 



From 800 trees, which was tlie average daily quant- 

 ity manipulated by by Messrs. Price & Lacey, the 

 yield was as follows: — 



Clean fibre ... ... 1 ton 



Waste ... ... L 



Tow J „ 



while the cost of production was aa given below: 



RAP 



800stems.it R2 



Cartage for above ... 



40 cooIi<_"i, for cutting, splitting, wasWng, 



tli-yin^, packing, &c.. 

 Fuel for eugine 

 Sundries 



Total ES...52 



To which may be added cost of carriage by boat from 



