152 THE BANANA 



ordinary stem as cut. This fibre is described by experts 

 as being " very weak, poor colour, and woody," and as 

 being " only fit for paper worth about 7 or 8 per ton." 

 To obtain one ton of fibre it would therefore be necessary 

 to handle nearly 100 tons of fresh stems, which must be 

 dealt with as soon as cut, and on the spot. This no doubt 

 could be managed if it were worth while, but as the 

 local prices would probably not exceed Id. per Ib. it is 

 scarcely likely that any serious attempt will be made to 

 extract it. 



If it is considered also that the value, as manure, of the 

 chopped stem is perhaps two or three times the value of 

 the fibre, no reasonable person would wish to export fibre 

 to the detriment of his land. 



No doubt better fibre, as good as that submitted to 

 the Imperial Institute from Africa and Burma, could be 

 obtained if the trunk were cut at the emergence of the 

 flowering stalk from the top of the plant ; but the banana 

 and plantain are grown primarily for the fruit, and not 

 for fibre. 



In 1905, when the subject was under discussion, Sir 

 D. Morris sent the following communication to the Jamaica 

 Agricultural Society : * 



44 1 enclose a summary of the facts obtained as the 

 result of experiments during the last twenty years. They 

 are as follows : A banana stem just after fruiting, if cut, as 

 usual with the country people, about two feet above 

 ground, and denuded of its foliage, weighed 108 Ibs. ; this, 

 being divided into three lengths of 2J ft. each, and split 

 longitudinally into several pieces, was prepared by beating 

 and washing by hand, and yielded 25 oz. of clean market- 

 able fibre, which is at the rate of 1-44 per cent, of the 

 gross weight. The fibre of the lower portion of the stem, 

 as also the fibre in the petioles of the leaves, was not 

 extracted. 



" A smaller banana, cut under similar circumstances, 

 that is, two feet from the ground, and denuded of its 

 * Jowrn. Jam. Agric. Soc., x. 2 (1906). 



