190 THE BANANA 



is distributed throughout most of the islands, and is most 

 successful in those with a heavy and evenly distributed 

 rainfall, between 6 and 15 N., and 121 and 126 E. ; 

 it may be cultivated up to about 4000 ft. above sea-level. 

 It is cultivated in a rude sort of way, solely as a source of 

 fibre. The plants are put out at a distance of from 10 

 to 12 ft. from one another, and receive little attention 

 except an occasional weeding. Most plantations are pro- 

 vided with trees for the purpose of shading the young 

 plants and protecting them from the violence of the wind. 

 The plant may be propagated by means of seed, but it is 

 usually grown from suckers or bulbs. The plant when 

 mature consists of a stool of twelve to thirty stalks. These 

 stalks are in all stages of development, but usually two 

 to four only can be harvested at the same time. The fibre 

 has attained its highest tensile strength at the period when 

 the flower-bud has just made its appearance at the summit 

 of the plant, which is at the age of two to three years. 

 The trunks are usually then 12 to 14 ft. in height and 

 10 to 12 in. in diameter at the base, and are two or three 

 years from the time of planting the sucker, or half a year 

 longer from seed. When the flowers mature and the seed 

 begins to ripen, the fibre is dark in colour and inferior in 

 quality. 



The trunk is cut up into small strips, which, while fresh, 

 are drawn between a knife-edged instrument and a hard 

 wooden block to which it is fixed. By repeated scraping 

 in this way the soft cellular matter is removed, and the 

 fibre has only to be hung up to dry in the open air, when it 

 is ready for use. Each trunk yields on an average a little 

 under 1 Ib. of fibre ; and two natives cutting down plants 

 and separating the fibre will not prepare more than 25 Ibs. 

 per day. The yield varies according to the locality in 

 which the plant is grown. In districts which have a 

 heavy and continuous rainfall the yield amounts to 687 

 to 967 Ibs. per acre, but in provinces in which the climate 

 is less humid it may not exceed half this quantity. 



A number of machines have been introduced for the 



