61 



Amongst the specimens shown in the Kew Museum are the leaves of 

 Musa Fehi dried for use as a packing material. The texture of these 

 leaves is stouter than in the ordinary banana. Neat little cups woven 

 from plantain leaves, as well as a native rope from the same material, 

 are shown from Madras. Siamese " burees," or cigarettes, sold in Bang- 

 kok at 8s. -id. per 1,000, with wrappers made from banana leaves, were 

 received from Mr. F. W. Burbidge. Banana chutney, prepared at 

 Natal, was shown at the Col.-Ind. Exhibition, 1886, while a sample of 

 banana vinegar was received from Fiji at the same Exhibition. 



Plantain and Banana Fibre. 



The fibre produced by the stems of various sorts of Musa has 

 received attention from the earliest times. Dampier noticed that at 

 Mindanao, in 1886, " the ordinary sort of people wear cloth made of 

 plantain-tree which they call Sag gen, by which name they call the 

 plantain." To prepare this cloth they cut the plantain stem into four 

 quarters, " which, put into the sun, the moisture exhales ; they then 

 take hold of the threads at the ends, and draw them out ; they are as 

 big as brown thread ; of this they make cloth, which is stubborn w r hen 

 new, wears out soon, and when wet it is slimy." About the beginning 

 of this century the Government of Jamaica offered rewards of 200/. 

 " for the best specimens of plantain hemp produced in each county of 

 Jamaica." Dr. Stewart West, then acting-botanist in charge of the 

 Bath Garden, gained the premium for the best specimen produced in 

 the county of Surrey. The particulars are given by Lunan, vol. ii., 

 pp. 75-76. The fibre was cleaned by being passed through a " cramp " 

 fixed in the ground, and hung up to dry as soon as possible. It was 

 pointed out that " the goodness of the fibre depends upon completely 

 evaporating the sap, otherwise the least fermentation greatly impairs 

 its strength ; it cannot therefore be too thoroughly dried before it is 

 packed for use or exportation." A nine-thread rope, 1 inch diameter, 

 of plantain fibre made at the Dockyard, Port Royal, broke with a weight 

 of 728 pounds ; while a similar rope, known as " the King's nine-thread 

 inch rope,' 1 broke by a weight of 714 pounds. 



The most valuable Musa fibre is undoubtedly that yielded by Musa 

 textilis, known in commerce as Manila hemp. There are about 12 

 different varieties of plants under cultivation all differing in habit and in 

 quality of the fibre yielded by them. They thrive best in fresh clear- 

 ings of jungle on low hills, and under shade of trees left standing at 

 distances of about 60 feet. They do not do so well in open plains, and in 

 swampy lands not at all. Manila hemp takes the chief place as a 

 material for making white ropes for rigging and other purposes, and old 

 ropes made of Manila hemp make excellent paper material. The mag- 

 nitude of the industry connected with the Abaca or Manila hemp plant 

 may be gathered from the fact that about 50,000 tons of fibre are 

 annually exported from the Philippine Islands, of the value of about three 

 millions sterling. This suject is more fully discussed in Kew Bulletin, 

 1887, April, pp. 1-3. The fruit of the Abaca is green and hard and 

 unfit for food. 



It is important to bear in mind that the Manila hemp plant is 

 exclusively produced in the south eastern part of the Philippines. All 

 attempts to successfully cultivate it in the western and northern parts 

 have hitherto proved abortive. The plants grew barely 2 feet high, 



