96 



Under cultivation the fruit seldom pro- 

 duces perfect seeds, but if developed in 

 a state of nature it is said that they will 

 mature and that many varieties are pro- 

 duced. 



The banana is frequently used in cofifee 

 plantations to make the necessary shade 

 for the young coffee plants and at the 

 same time it yields an income while the 

 planter is waiting for the production of 

 the coffee berry. 



Natives of the tropics have found the 

 leaves a cool and useful thatching for the 

 roofs of their huts. 



The unripe fruits contain a large per- 

 centage of starch and the pulp, when 

 dried and reduced to a powder, makes 

 an excellent and nutritious flour or meal. 

 The ripe fruit contains about twenty 

 per cent of starch, the remainder having 

 been changed into sugar during the 

 process of ripening. Even intoxicating 

 drinks are made by the Africans from the 

 juice, known as "banana beer" and "ba- 

 nana wine." It is not the fruit alone 

 that is used as food, as also the pith, the 

 top of the flower cluster and the young 

 and tender shoots delight the taste and 

 nourish the body. 



The economic value of the fibers of 

 some of the species was known to the 

 Chinese and Japanese from remote times. 

 The fiber obtained from the leaves of 

 both the banana and the plantain are val- 

 uable in the manufacture of paper and 

 fabrics of various kinds. 



One of the most interesting and valua- 

 ble of the species of Musa is the Wild 

 Plantain (Musa textilis) of the Philip- 



pine Islands. The fiber obtained from 

 this plant is the Manila or Cebu hemp 

 of commerce, which is used, in this coun- 

 try, mainly for the manufacture of bind- 

 ing twines, cordage and mats. In France 

 the finer fibers are quite extensively used 

 for the manufacture of fine veils, crapes, 

 hats, delicate underclothing and many 

 other articles of apparel. The natives of 

 the Philippines call this fiber Abaca. It 

 is called Manila because most of the fiber 

 is exported from the seaport of that 

 name. We are told that "Manila hemp 

 began to be used extensively in this 

 country, in Salem and Boston, in 1824 

 to 1827." 



Probably the most peculiar of all the 

 species is the Chinese banana (Musa Cav- 

 endishii), which is extensively cultivated 

 in China and throughout the South Sea 

 Islands. It is a dwarf, the plant seldom 

 attaining a height of more than six feet. 

 It is robust and yields a great harvest 

 of fruit, a single bunch bearing from two 

 hundred to three hundred bananas, the 

 flavor of which is excellent. 



The opposite of the Chinese form is 

 the Abyssinian (Musa ensete), which may 

 be called the giant plantain. It attains 

 a height of thirty or more feet and the 

 leaves are sometimes twenty feet long 

 by three feet wide. The fruit is pulpless 

 and dry, but the inner part of the stalk 

 and the young stalks are boiled and used 

 for food. It is without doubt the most 

 handsome species of this wonderfully use- 

 ful and beautiful group of plants. 



William Kerr Higley. 



