752 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



eighty pounds. Many of the large, handsome leaves usually torn 

 to fringes by the trade winds measure ten feet in length by two 



BANANA TREE. 



feet in breadth, their uppermost crests waving twenty feet above 

 the ground. 



From the fibrous petioles or leaf stalks is manufactured a fine, 

 white flax, which is woven into delicate muslins, or, when in a 

 half-finished state, is used for tinder or wadding ; while one vari- 

 ety in the Philippine Islands furnishes the well-known Manilla 

 hemp. 



Green bananas are sometimes dried and ground into meal or 



