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Going back, however, to Germany and her potatoes, our own 

 people overseas could do the same, but instead of the potato they 

 can use the banana. In his book on this fruit, ^Ir. Fawcett discuss- 

 es the question of making banana flour from the fruit, and also 

 spirit from the rejected fruit and from the stems, and now the 

 Colonial Journal also takes up the (|uestion of banana flour. "We 

 hear of potatoes being used in Germany," they tell us, "in the 

 production of bread, and they are not a bad addition to wheat 

 flour, \\hich is generally treated in such a way as tO[ become 

 rather indigestible, but a much better addition would be banana 

 flour. This is cheaper than wheat flour at an}- time, and under 

 present circumstances may be much more so, and as a foodstufl: 

 it is excellent. \\'hen dried and ground, a bunch weighing 65 lb. 

 yields 8 lb. flour. Prepared bananas, known as 'banana figs,' a 

 great favorite in Germany, are very good for children, and serve 

 both as a sweetmeat and food. To utilize surplus or waste bana- 

 nas needs, however, cooperation between the growers, for they 

 can only be worked up tO' pay when the huge cjuantities available 

 are all pressed into the service, and to do that all must help. Out- 

 side our London contemporary, the Philippine Agriculturist and 

 Forester, being the organ of the College of Agriculture, Los Ba- 

 ncs, P. L, very appropriately ran its No. 6 issue for last year as a 

 Sweet Potato Number, and gives us thirt)- pages, without illus- 

 trations, crammed fiill of information on the subject. This 

 shows how these "camotes." as they are called in this case, are 

 free yielders and a staple food for man and beast, as well as raw 

 material for starch and spirit factories. They are specially rec- 

 ommended for use as starch, according tci the practical tests re- 

 ported, whilst there are important factories for making alcohol 

 from sweet potatoes in the .Vzores. Then we come to tanias, 

 known also as yautias, or. in the Ignited States, as "dasheens," 

 supposed to be a corruption of "de la Chine" or "da Chine," 

 which seem making a great stir in America. It was these that 

 the friend, Mr. Swamp, of bdorida (whom we mentioned as call- 

 ing on us when we wrote the leader last August), claimed can 

 be turned into many kinds of nourishing foods. They are the 

 sul)ject of two bulletins issued l)y our .Xmerican cousins, that 

 tend to show that you can have the equivalent of flour, potatoes, 

 as])aragus. and .spinach from them, whilst whole they can be 

 baked, stufl^ed, ,scallo])ed, boiled, mashed, candied, or turned into 

 soup, i^ies, and puddings. With such a selection to choose from 

 this one tuber, without troubling about many others, what man 

 or nation worthy of the name can sit u]) and starve in the PritisU 

 trojiics — or out of them — so long as our ships i)low the main? — 

 Tropical Life. 



