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or dispose of them to a factory. The Director has, however, been 

 making enquiries in London, and has had an interview with a Dutch 

 engineer, Mr. Hartogh, who has invented machinery for the conversion 

 of Bananas into various products. The specimens seen of these 

 products were of excellent quality, and it is interesting to note that 

 the peel can be used in certain cases for manufacture, as well as the 

 pulp of the fruit. The prospects of this new industry are now more 

 hopeful, and it seems probable that the factories will be started in 

 Jamaica for the utilisation of Bananas that are now wasted. 



Mr. Hartogh, after seeing the references to Bananas in Stanley's 

 book, visited Dutch Guiana in 1892 with the object of studying the 

 preparation of Bananas so as to utilise the large proportion of starch 

 contained in them for food, and for other industrial purposes. He 

 invented various machines, and has prepared different products from the 

 Banana, which have been submitted for analysis and test to specialists 

 in all the industries in which starch products are employed. 



Whether his special methods are of such a nature as to be profitable 

 both to the planter and to the manufacturer, the results of the tests 

 to which the products have been submitted will be interesting to all 

 growers of Bananas. They have been published in connection with an 

 exhibit in the Antwerp Exhibition of this year, made by the "Stanley 

 Syndicate," which has been founded by Mr. Hartogh, and by Mr. 

 Asser, Civil Engineer at the Hague, who acts as Secretary. An experi- 

 mental factory has for some time been at work in Dutch Guiana. 



Among others, experiments on a large scale have been carried out 

 in Mr. Kahlke's manufactory of yeast and alcohol Tit Konigsberg, and at 

 his request in a laboratory at Berlin. An account of these experiments 

 was published in the weekly paper " Alcohol " in its numbers 10, 11, 

 12, and 15. The use of Banana flour is regarded in this periodical as 

 opening a perfectly new prospect for the industry in question. It is 

 affirmed that the richness of banana flour in starch is in a special state 

 which facilitates in a most remarkable manner the production of yeast 

 without diminishing the quantity of alcohol. The latter has a fine 

 aromatic flavour. 



Mr. Kahlke, one of the best-known manufacturers of yeast in 

 Germany, writes in this connection : — 



" 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 the beer was not altered and the 

 quantity of liquid was increased, and the malt was replaced by a less 

 expensive substance. 



