VEGETABLE FIBERS. 541 



l)urpose for which rope is emj)loyed. A considerable amount of cordage 

 is exported. 



Musaparadisiaca, Musa sapientum. — The edible Plantain and Banana. — 

 These plants, like the Manila plantain, abound in fiber, coarse and strong 

 in the outer and fine and silky in the inner layers, and much of it is 

 well adapted for cordage. Roj^le, in regarding the first-named species, 

 says there is no doubt that the large cultivated plaintain of India con- 

 tains a considerable quantity of strong fiber, in the same way " that the 

 yellow plantain does in Jamaica," and it seems worthy of inquiry whether 

 tlie wild and useless i>laintain growing at the foot of the Himalayas 

 " may not yield a stro7iger fiber flian any of the cultivated kinds.''' If the 

 plantain is considered such a sujierior fiber-producing i)lant in the Old 

 World, why should it not be equally as valuable in tropical America ? It 

 is grown in the West Indies,* or, rather, fiber in quantity is prepared 

 from it. 



The extraction of plantain fiber is accomplished in two ways, the first 

 by machine-crushing and the second by fermentation. The tree is cut by 

 a single stroke of a hatchet or cutlass, six inches above the surface of 

 the ground ; the tree is then divided longitudinally into four parts and 

 the heart taken out, which is always left tor manure. One man can cut 

 and split 800 trees in a day. If fermentation is decided upon, the trees 

 are left upon the ground until the juice and sap are separated from the 

 fiber, when considerable weight will have been lost, and the labor of 

 transportation much reduced. On the other hand, if the tree is not sub- 

 jected to this process, it must be carried to the mill at once, and passed 

 through the rollers, which are a foot in diameter, and about three feet 

 long. In crushing, the tender layers are separated from those which 

 are harder and riper, and the diiierent kinds passed through the mill 

 lengthwise, the rollers being placed horizontally. The produce is about 

 4 pounds of fiber to each tree. " The stalks of the branches give the 

 best fiber, and a larger quantity, as compared with the body of the tree." 

 Oue hundred pounds of stalk will give about 15 pounds of fiber, net 

 weight, and when a. whole tree furnishes 4 pounds of fiber, one-fourth of 

 the quantity is derived from the stalks. One hundred plantain trees can 

 be crushed in twenty minutes, with oue horse, allowing five minutes for 

 rest. 



After crushing, the fiber is boiled to separate the gluten and coloring 

 matter, carbonate of soda and quicklime being used as chemical agents. 



To make three tons of fiber a day, it is necessary to have four boilers 

 of 800 gallons each, and give five boilings in a day, which amounts to 

 1,650 pounds of net fiber for each boiler, or 6,650 pounds for the four 

 boilers. They require about 300 pounds of soda, and a proportionate 

 amount of quicklime. As the diflerent grades of fiber are pressed sep- 

 arately, they should also be kept separate in the process of boiling, the 

 lighter fibers requiring about six hours to bleach, while the darkest re- 

 quire fully eighteen. Levers are arranged to lift the mass from the kettles 

 or tanks when sufficiently boiled, allowing it to drain into the boiler before 

 it is carried away to be washed. The washing should be thorough, that no 

 extraneous matter may be left upon the fiber, and the work is done by ma- 

 chinery, such as is used by paper-makers, or the arrowroot-uiakers in the 

 West Indies. After a thorough washing it is hung up to dry, and when 

 thoroughly dried is ready for baling, hydraulic pressure being used for the 

 purpose. It is estimated that a capital of $25,000 is required for carrying 

 on the cultivation of the plantain on an extensive scale, and 18 tons of 



•;}£ 2 . 



* A very full and complete account of this industry is given in ''Simmonda' Com- 

 mercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom," by a correspondent in Jamaica. 



