86 PROBABLE COST OF FIBRE IN ENGLAND. 
for paper-making!” “The total wages for the preparation of 
20 to 30 lb.” of suitable material, “would amount to sevenpence- 
halfpenny.” Mr. Henley adds, that “in the event of employing 
such fibres as the Plantain leaf-stalk, a small pair of hard wood 
grooved rollers, such as they employ for squeezing sugar-cane, 
would be very useful. Their cost is two shillings.” 
Having, in my Lecture before the Society of Arts, recom- 
mended the Plantain as likely to yield an abundant supply 
of material for paper-making, Mr. Henley observes: “ From 
extensive cultivation of the Banana or Plantain, which 
surrounds almost every house, it is probable this material 
would form one of the first objects of attention by paper- 
material collectors ; but from its coarse, stringy nature, it would 
be cheaper in the state of fibre than as half-stuff. This plant 
offers great advantages for our views generally, for it is truly 
in the position of refuse, inasmuch as it has already paid the 
charges of its cultivation by its products in fruit. The interior 
of the plant, or true flower-stem, is eaten as a vegetable by the 
natives; the lower part being perfectly mild, whilst the upper 
extremity, near the bunch of fruit, pours out, on cutting it 
across, a limpid fluid, which is very acrid and deleterious, and 
is a true substantive olive dye on cotton cloth, as indelible as 
marking ink, for which it may be substituted.” With regard 
to the price at which such materials could be obtained, Mr. 
Henley says: “I am of opinion that contracts could be made, 
according to the ordinary usages of the country, at the rate of 
from one rupee eight annas, or three shillings, to two rupees 
eight annas, or five shillings, per maund of 82 lb., deliverable 
at any central depét within a radius of twenty miles. These 
prices are equal to from about £4 4s. to £7 a ton; and that, 
of these, the lowest-priced material could be’ landed in London, 
paying all charges, for £13 4s., and the more expensive, which 
would include articles equal to linen rags, at £16 5s.” 
Having already noticed the facility with which the species 
of Plantain may be cultivated in suitable climates, we may 
mention that we have lately tasted some excellent fruit of Musa 
Cavendishii, grown in a Fernery on Putney Heath. We have 
chiefly to warn cultivators against planting the Plantain too 
close together ; for though this may produce fineness of fibre, 
