THE PLANTAIif A^'D 



327 



is undoubtedly the yellovr banana, or common plantain. This tree grows to the 

 height of about fifteen feet, it is nine or ten inches in diameter, its fibre is firni 

 and ab-indint, and its fruit is used both in a green and ripe state. Thispbmtain 

 abounds on the continent of Spanish America and between the tropics, where the 

 natives cultivate it as producing the most nutricious fruit of its kind. Cargoes 

 of the fruit are frequently exported from Surinam and Demerara. On the Spanish 

 part of the American continent, land is measured by fanegas, each fanega con- 

 taining twelve quarrees, and each quarree five and one-fifth English acres. A 

 quarree measures one himdred geometrical paces, or three hundred square feet. 

 In the first instance, the suckers of the plantain (the tree being propagated 

 by cuttings or suckers which shoot up from the bulb), should be set at ten feet 

 distance from each other ; this proposition gives 300 plants on one line of trees, 

 or 900 on the surface of one quarree of land. Each plant propagates itself and 

 gives upon an average ten trees of the same size and bearing. On one quarree 

 of land, therefore, there would be 9,000 trees, yielding four pounds of fibre and 

 one bunch of fruit each, which is 9,000 bunches of fruit, and 36,000 lbs. nett 

 of fibre, in the whole. In good ground the same plant will last fifteen years 

 without any further trouble. Flat lands ought to be cultivated in preference to 

 any other. The plantain thrives with the root in the water, and the head to 

 the sun. On the borders of the river Orinoco it grows to the height of twenty 

 feet, is one foot in diameter, and the stalks of the branches are three inches in 

 circumference. 



Ci'.ttwg. — The tree which has not produced its ripe fruit ought to be cut, for 

 two reasons — first, that the fruit be not lost ; and secondly, that the tree will 

 not have arrived at its full growth and ordinary size, and the fibres will be too 

 tender. In cutting it down, take it olf six inches above the surface of the 

 ground, then divide it longitudinally into foiu' parts, take out the heait, which 

 must be left to serve for manure, and if fermentation is decided upon, leave the 

 pieces at the foot of the tree, oth rwise take them to the mill to be crushed. 

 The tree being very tender, may, on being bent down, be cut asunder with a 

 single stroke of a hatchet, cutlass, or other convenient instrument. One man 

 can cut down 800 trees, and split them in a day. 



Carrying. — The trees being thus divided, may be immediately carried to the 

 mill to be crushed, or may remain until the fermentation separates the juice or 

 sap fi-om the fibres and the pith. By fermenting the trees, their weight will be 

 so much reduced as to render their carriage considerably lighter than if taken 

 away when first cut down. A wagon, with oxen or mules, can carry about a 

 ton per day, and one man can load the Avagon and drive the cattle. 



Crushing. — If the tree is carried from the plantation without being subjected 

 to fermentation, it must be passed through a mill, the rollers of which, if 

 made about three feet in length, and one foot in diameter, will be found a very 

 convenient size. In this operation, care should be taken, first of all, to separate 

 the tender from the harder or riper layers of fibre. The tree is composed of 

 different layers of fibre, which may be divided into three sorts ; those of the 

 exterior, having been exposed to the atmosphere, possess a great degree of 

 tenacity — whilst those of the interior, having been secluded from the air, are 

 much more soft and tender. If, therefore, the layers of the plantain are passed 

 indiscriminately through the mill, those which are hard or firm will not be 

 injured by the pressure, whilst those which are Suft will be almost reduced to 

 pulp. Therefore, the rollers of the mill shoiild be always placed horizontally, 

 and upon passing the trees lengthways through the mill, the pressure will be uni- 

 form and the fibre uninjured. In this manner, pass the different sorts of layers 

 separately, and the produce will be about four pounds of fibre from each tree. 

 The stalks of the branches of the plantain give the best fibre, and a large 

 quantity, as compared with the body of the tree ; 100 lbs. of the stalk will give 

 16 lbs. nett of fibre. In general. If a tree will give 4 lbs. nett of fibre, the 

 stalks will give 1 lb. out of the 4 lbs. The stalks ought also to be crushed 

 separately, because they are harder than the exterior layers of the tree. About 

 3,000 trees may be passed through the mill in a day. "Whilst the experiments 

 were in progress it was ascertained that with a single horse, 100 plantain trees 

 on an average were crushed in twenty minutes, giving five minutes rest for 

 the horse. 



