MUSACE^E PLANTAIN. 253 



plant is of a dark violet colour, as also the nerves of the leaves ; 

 the fruit is smaller than that of the former, but the bunch is sup- 

 plied with a much greater number of plantain-fingers, averaging 

 about sixty and eighty, but sometimes from one hundred to one 

 hundred and thirty. This species is regarded as more delicate 

 than the others, particularly when ripe. Dominica plantain : this 

 is a variety of the latter ; though the body is exactly like that of 

 the Horn plantain, the bunch, however, resembles that of the 

 French ; but the fruit is somewhat shorter and plumper. The 

 plantain is extensively used in Trinidad, and on the neighbouring 

 continent : it is a cheap, wholesome, and nutritious diet, and per- 

 haps the most productive of all alimentary plants in fact, field 

 labourers contend that it is better suited to the support of their 

 strength, in manual labour, than bread at any rate, it forms the 

 staff of life to the generality of Creoles. Its nutritive value has 

 not yet been ascertained, but Boussingault considers it superior to 

 that of potatoes ; it is also superior, in general opinion, to that of 

 cassava and rice : it may rank as a farinaceous aliment, containing 

 albumen and gum. The plantain is used either in the ripe or green 

 state : in the former it is eaten either as a fruit, or prepared in 

 various ways with sugar and spices, as confectionary. When 

 green, it is either roasted, dressed with meat, or simply boiled, 

 and afterwards crushed in a mortar so as to form a thick paste, 

 which is used instead of bread. Plantain may be regarded 

 as the most productive of all alimentary plants ; the yielding 

 per acre is, according to Humboldt, 155,000 pounds; and 

 125,000 pounds, according to Boussingault. The plantain re- 

 quires a good deep soil and a sheltered position, being easily 

 prostrated by strong winds. It is propagated by sprouts (impro- 

 perly called slips) which are planted at ten feet apart. From five 

 to seven of these young shoots or suckers spring out of and around 

 the parent stem. The fruit, or rather the bunch of fruits, makes 

 its appearance between eight, nine, and twelve months. /The 

 young shoots then give their fruit in succession, for two, three, or 

 even many years, according to the climate, fertility of the soil, and 

 the care bestowed on them. A plaintain walk requires only 

 occasional weeding and pruning. We import from Venezuela 

 about 7,000,000 plantains annually value, 53,000 dollars. 



Bread-fruit (Artocarpus incisa) Artocarpacece. The bread- 

 fruit, so invaluable to the inhabitants of the Polynesian Islands, 



