672 



larger and coarser than that of the " Canary Banana/" It is 



individual 



fitted for the purpose with cold storage; each bunch is stood' 

 on the stout cut end as closely as possible without crushing in 

 the holds, whence they are loaded and unloaded singly oft 

 revolving hoists, being conveyed to and from these by hand. 



yield 



A.pril 1887^ 



5-8; 1894, pp. 289-293), but it is of Httle or no importance 



commercially in competition with that of "Manila Hemp 

 (Musa textilis). The stems have been used for paper-making" 

 in India (Kew Bull. April 1887, p. 7). Banana fibre for paper- 

 making has been discussed by Clayton Beadle and Stevens 

 (Chem. News & Journ. Phys. Sc. cxii. Nov. 12th, 1915, p. 235> 

 and they conclude that fibre of this class would have to undergo- 

 some mechanical process of treatment on the field or at some 

 convenient collecting centre very near to the gathering, in order 

 that the chemical treatment could be effected in an economical 

 manner. In their table " summarizing field trials on yield of 

 fibre on green stem and approximate amount of green stem 

 required to produce 1 ton of paper," they estimate (on figures 

 in Kew Bull. Add. Ser. ii. Veg. Fibres, pp. 97, 98, 103) an average- 

 of 132-4 tons of green weight per ton of paper. The fibre has- 

 been suggested for making bags to carry raw sugar in the Hawaiiaa 

 Islands, where some uncertainty has arisen in the supply o£ 

 Calcutta Jute bags, for which, so far as the investigation has- 

 gone, the Banana fibre bags would "make a good substitute 

 (Agric. News, Barbados, Nov. 17th, 1917, p. 361, from Chamber- 

 of Commerce Journ. Oct. 1917). Cloth is made of the stem of 

 " Tundoc " {M. paradisiaca, var. magna, Blanco) as from the- 

 " Abaca " {M. textilis)- hat it is not so good— in the PhiKppines. 

 (Teodoro, Phihppine Journ. Sc. I.e. p. 413). 



The leaves — of an introduced African banana — before they 



Madeira 



as 



be very superior to the rushes formerly imported from TJsbon for 

 the heading of wine casks (Bowdich, Madeira, p. 119). The 

 flowers of " Saba " {M. sapientum var. compressa^ Blanco) 

 are cooked as a vegetable in the Philipi)ines (I.e. p. 415). 



The fruit that is unfit for eating has been suggested 

 source of alcohol, the yield having been estimated at 4| htres 

 from each bunch of bananas in Guatemala (Kew Bull. 1912, p. 1 15> 

 and 100 kilograms of meal from peeled unripe bananas have been 

 found to yield 47 • 8 htres of alcohol (Bull. Imp. Inst. 1912, p. 490 ; 

 Journ. Soc. Chem. Ind. 1912, p. 453) and banana skins and stalk& 

 have been recommended as a source — as rich as Kainit — of 

 potash (Pharm. Journ. [4] xhii. 1916, p. 7; ElUs, Journ, Soc- 



Chem. Ind. 1916, p. 521). 



•briefly, propagation is 



The cultiv 



division of the root-stock, planted 6-1 



accordin 



deep soS well-drained — and a good rainfall being essential. 



