Nov 1. 1894.] Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist' 
361 
apples and bananas with the result that while 
apples yield only 12 per cent, of the original weight, 
bananas, with the skins removed, will give within 
a fraction of 25 per cent, of thoroughly desiccated 
fruit, Professor Church, with fruit grown at liew, 
obUined 317 per cent- of dry matter from ripe 
bananas. 
The following is an extract from a letter of 
Messrs. Gordon, Grant & Co. giving the result of a 
shipment they disposed of in Canada : — 
Dealing with the first item in the account, 
namely, 97 boxes, this number represents the result 
of drying six bunches, weighing on an average 
52 lbs. per ripe bunch. A loss of one-third takes 
place in the peeling and drying process. The 97 
boxes contained one pound of dried fruit each and 
sold for 19 dols. 40c. or 20c. per lb. box, or, after 
deducting freight charges, 15 dols. 47c, a fraction 
under 16c. per lb. 
I do not desire to set up as a teacher, but facts 
and figures speak for themselves. The account 
shown is not an approximate one, but the money 
has been received, and the Canadians are asking for 
more at the same price. 
Little need be added to what we have already 
quoted in reference to the simple manufacture of 
the Plantain meal which served the Stanley-Emin 
expedition so well. The following extracts from 
the Bulletin may, nevertheless, provo interesting 
and explanatory. This is what Dr. Park says: — 
Ever since we learned this method of preparing 
our bananas we have been able to diminish our risk 
of starvation very considerably. We can make 
enough flour in one day for several days' rations ; 
and the weight is so much less than that of the 
corresponding quantity of the green bananas that 
men can carry a considerable number of days' 
rations with them, in addition to their other loads, 
whereas they could not manage more than a couple 
of days' supply of the green bananas. The banana 
flour is most nutritious and very sustaining.' - 
It is generally recommended that to make the 
best banana meal the fruit should be in an unripe 
condition. 
Again, in Jamaica, plantain meal is prepared by 
stripping off the husk of the plantain, slicing the 
core, and drying it in the sun. When thoroughly 
dry it is powdered and sifted. It is known among 
the Creoles of the Colony under the name of 
conquintay. It has a fragrant odour, acquired in 
drying. 
From information communicated to Kew by Mr. 
Louis Asser, of the Hague, Holland, the prepara- 
tion of dried bananas and of banana and plantain 
meal is proposed to be taken up on a large scale 
in Dutch Guiana. Already various preparations 
from this puit of the world have been shown at the 
International Exhibition held at Brussels by an 
association called the " Stanley Syndicate." Pre- 
ference appears to be given in this case to the 
banana on account of its lesser value locally, and 
because it is believed in Surinam to be a stronger 
plant "and less liable to be injured by rain and 
Btorms which are particularly severe on the plan- 
tain." The meal was obtained by slicing the fruit 
b] machinery into thin pieces and drying them in 
a fruit-drying apparatus, The dried slices were 
then ground into a meal in a mill and carefully 
sifted. The analyses of various meals made in 
Surinam show that the meal prepared from both 
plantain and banana has almost the same com- 
position. — Ceylon Independent. 
GENERAL ITEMS. 
The following is a translation from a Conti- 
nental paper : — Not only feeding, general care, 
and race peculiarities, but also the details of 
milking, have an important bearing on milk 
productim. The principal rules to be observed 
are the following: — (1) Milking should be done 
as quickly as possible, since the rapidity has a 
considerable influence on the percentage of fat 
and also upon the total quantity of milk ob- 
tained. (2) The cows must be completely milked ; 
first, because the last milk obtained is richest 
in fat ; and further, because milk left in the 
udder is liable to set up inflammation, and 
may even stop the secretion of the milk glands. 
(3) The milking time should be punctually ob- 
served, tis otherwise the cows become restless 
and allow some milk to run. (4) The cows 
should be milked cross-ways — i.e., one hind teat 
should always be milked at the same time as 
the fore teat on the other side. The udder will 
thus be uniformly moved, and increased secre- 
tion of milk thereby induced. It is well known 
that most of the milk is formed in the udder 
during milking, for it can only contain about 
&\ to 7 pints at the same time. (5) All milking 
machines should be avoided. (6; The method 
adopted by many unskilled milkers, of taking 
the teat between thumb and forefinger only, 
is to be strongly condemned. It not only pro- 
longs the time of milking, but also causes the 
animals unnecessary discomfort. The whole hand 
should be used, and in such a way that a part 
of the udder above the teat is grasped. By 
oxiening and closing the hand the muscle which 
keeps up the milk is opened and closed, so that 
the milk is obtained quickly and painlessly. 
(7) Cows, especially young ones which are difficult 
to milk, should be grasped by the root of the 
tail ; or, if this does not suffice, one of their 
forelegs should be lifted up during milking. 
Under no circumstances should they be made 
to keepquiel by scolding or beating. (8) Cleanli- 
ness in milking is indispensable, if milk and 
butter that will keep are desired. ('•) Whether 
there should be two or three milkmgs a day 
depends on circumstances. Cows freshly in milk 
must obviously be milked the most frequently 
(10) The byre should be quiet while milking is 
going on, so that the cows remain undisturbed. 
Abnormal Eyys. — The production of one egg 
within another, occasionally reported as a curio- 
sity, is very simple, according to Mr. W. B. 
Tegetmeier. It occurs in domestic poultry from 
over-stimulation of the system by over-feeding, 
The ovum, or yolk, when mature is received 
into the upper part of the oviduct, — a tube nearly 
two feet in length' in the domes! ic fowl — and in 
its descent is clothed successively with the layers 
of albumen, or white, the liniug membrane of the 
shell, and finally arriving at the calcifying portion 
of the oviduct, is enveloped in the shell itself 
