BANANA TREE. 5S 



about a foot long, and an inch and a half or two inches diameter: 

 it is at first green, but when ripe pale yellow. The skin is tough ; 

 and within is a soft pulp of a luscious sweet flavour. The spikes of 

 the fruit are often so large as to weigh upwards of 40lb. The 

 fruit of this sort is generally cut before it is ripe. The green skin 

 is pulled off, and the heart is roasted in a clear fire for a few mi- 

 nutes, and frequently turned : it is then scraped, and served up as 

 bread. Boiled plantains are not so palatable. 



. This tree is cultivated on a very extensive scale in Jamaica, with- 

 out the fruit of which, Dr. Wright says, the island would scarce be 

 habitable, as no species of provision could supply their place. Even 

 flour or bread itself would be less agreeable, and less able to sup- 

 port the laborious negro, so as to enable him to do his business, or 

 to keep in health. Plantains also fatten horses, cattle, swine, dogs, 

 fowls, and other domestic animals. The leaves, being smooth and 

 soft, are employed as dressings after blisters. The water from off 

 the trunk is astringent, and employed by some to check diarrhoeas. 

 Every other part of the tree is useful in different parts of rural'eco- 

 nomy. The leaves are used for napkins and table-cloths, and are 

 food for hogs. 



2. Banana Tree, 

 Musa Sapientum, Linn. 

 This species differs from the preceding in having its stalks 

 marked with dark purple stripes and spots. The fruit is shorter, 

 straighter, and rounder ; the pulp is softer, and of a more luscious 

 taste. It is never eaten green ; but when ripe it is very agreeable, 

 either eaten raw or fried in slices as fritters ; and is relished by all 

 ranks of people in the West Indies. Both these plants were carried to 

 the West Indies from the Canary Islands, whither, it is believed, 

 they had been brought from Guinea, where they grow naturally. 

 They are also cultivated in Egypt, and in most other hot countries, 

 where they grow to perfection in about ten months from their first 

 planting to the ripening of their fruit. When their stalks are cut 

 down, several suckers come up from the roots, which in six or eight 

 months produce fruit ; so that by cutting down the stalks at differ- 

 ent times, there is a constant succession of fruit all the year. In 

 Europe some of these plants are raised by gentlemen who have hot- 

 houses capacious enough for their reception, in many of which they 



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