132 THE BANANA 



yield may be estimated at 4J litres (about one gallon) per 

 bunch of bananas. A memorandum of expenses made for 

 a plant capable of producing 150 casks of whisky daily 

 aggregated 827,500 francs ; this included buildings, 

 machinery and apparatus, fuel, labour, administration, 

 general expenses for two years, cases and bottles for the 

 preparations of one year, and raw material for manufacture 

 for two years (270,000 bunches at 75 centimes each). 



The manufacture of banana wine has lately been under- 

 taken by MM. Guerin and d'Heerille in Saigon, Cochin 

 China. The bananas are crushed, mixed with a small 

 amount of water, and then, upon the addition of yeast, 

 allowed to ferment until the starch and sugar are changed 

 to alcohol. The wine, " besides being much cheaper than 

 ordinary spirits, is said to have a delicious perfume." 



Bananas in Brewing. In 1894, experiments * on a larger 

 scale were carried out by Herr Kahlke, at his Manufactory 

 of Yeast and Alcohol at Konigsburg, on the use of banana 

 meal in brewing, and an account of them was published in 

 the weekly paper Alcohol. Herr Kahlke wrote as follows : 

 " Banana flour without doubt, from its richness in starch 

 and its good flavour, is particularly suitable for the 

 manufacture of yeast. This flour is easily rendered 

 saccharine. The yeast obtained by adding banana flour 

 to the other ingredients has a good colour, all the requisite 

 properties of an excellent class of yeast, and moreover 

 keeps well. The alcohol obtained from it leaves nothing 

 to be desired, so that this flour may be introduced as an 

 article of commerce, and employed without any special 

 preparation." Satisfactory experiments have also been 

 made in some breweries, where 20 per cent, of malt has 

 been replaced by the flakes and flour of bananas. The 

 flavour of beer was not altered, and the quantity of liquid 

 was increased, and the malt was replaced by a less ex- 

 pensive substance. One of the great Belgian brewers 

 wrote : " These flakes were macerated in the vat with the 

 malt, and the result was much superior to that of maize. . . . 

 * Bull Bot. Dept., Jamaica, New Series, i. 115 (1894). 



