September i, 1891.] THE TROPJOAL AQR!CULTUR»ST. 
• Eeoretary to the Planters' Asecciation of Ceylon. 
{Trnjis'.afivii.) 
Foreign Office, Berf"!!, 25'li June 1891. 
I I;avc iht: Lou ur lo it. form tl.e I'lauteis' As-l- 
ciiitiou thut I hiive Iraiismitleil to H't; Mnj.'siy ili - 
Euiperor iind to Her Majesty the Emprpss Fre i< rick 
ihe four cht.'t-; of tea which have b eu seut Leie 
through tho Imptiial G rncau Consul at. Colombo. 
Hia M»je.sty the EiniJeror nud Her Ma j si y the 
Euipreis Frederick Lave beau p;raeiou3ly pieaied to 
accept these presents t-.nd to direct me to tra^tinit 
to the Planter-.' Association their Majeatys' tinceres 
thanks lor this courier us at'.entioa. 
It giv.a mo much plrasure ti bring this to the 
notice of the PlaLters' Association. 
(SigLcd) Marschali,, 
Secretary of State for Fo. e;gn Aflisirs. 
The Planters' Association o£ O-ylon, Colombo. 
^ 
BANAXAS. 
are thus noticed, in a report on the Trinidad 
Ji.\perimental Farm : — 
OoUeotively there are 21 cores uudcr " Ores Michel" 
banana. This hue proved a capital nursery, faroishitg 
during the p:ift two yei»rs upwards of 100,000 plants 
for disiribn'tioii, aud as mnuy more ai'e ready for the 
same purpose. The bananas were p'anted 8" x 10", 
but this is too c'ose for good fruit-beaiiug— 12 feet 
Equaro apart should be the distaLce | all suckers Ehouid 
be kspt cut down to the bearinj? plant, and one only al- 
lowed to t^row when the parent stem is showing sign 
of fruit. This will ensure a marketable ratcon Lunch, 
Shipping bananas from bore has not proved aucoesstui. 
Noatly 1,300 bu'jcbes were shipped to New York, and 
thougl* a ftw bunches realized top pricis, sufiioient 
was not obtained for the whole to C07(r expenses; 12 
buiiches, packed in ctutes, were shipped ta Ouvent 
Garden, London, also unsucces5iully, chiefly from want 
of knowledge iu packing. From instructions since re- 
ceived in this malt^.r. Lopes are held out that bananas 
might reach Lo^jdon sound. Full particulars of this 
txperiment were publisbed iu the Record for February, 
1891. Attention has recently bi;eu turned lo dryiug 
this fruit, at first in the open air; but owii'g to the 
damage by myriads of insects attracted by the sweet 
fruit, the du,-t, etc., a fail'ire was anticipated. This 
Las LowevtT been remadied by the Hot Air Fiuit Drii-r, 
propi rly known as thj'^Etna FneMmalic Fiuit Drier," 
and I am Lappy to report in fivonrof th? Lood work 
done by the macliine. This is pr^vtd by the dried 
fruit being accepttd iu London, New York aad C.inada 
at reoiuneralive prices. Orders are on Land for these 
places for more than two tons. Samples have been 
Bent to Geimany, Kussia and France aud othtr coun- 
tries. Iu advocating drying bananas I by no mcaus 
suggest that the export of the raw article should be 
given up— only that the drying iiffords a means of dis- 
posal to those whose means of inland transport pre- 
vents their profitably offering tha fruit for shipment. 
The fruit can bo dried within 24 hours at a temperature 
from 130° to 160" ; lugher tijan this the fruit hardens. 
Thodryiogis done here iu the dajliaie and the fire put 
out at night ; any kind of fuel answers for firing, froih 
patent fuel to cccoa wood chips. The fruit should be 
as larRe as possible and quite ripp, the skin to be re- 
moved and the I ruit then liglitJy scraped. Whilst iu 
the drier the fruit to bs turned twi.e oi thiee times 
carefully to ensnie an even dijing. The fruit may be 
seen undergoing the process any day, and a visit w)ll 
furnish all information di sired. I ceitiii ly am of opin- 
ion that a dried fruit tra le would prove a prufitable 
one, and it should receive tho attention it deserves. No 
great umjunt of capi at is required or even fkil , and 
Bomeof our suiait yt ung pl-iuttrs ought lo take it' up. 
All article iu the Kccord for April, 1891, fully demon- 
strates tho above. Red Banana/,:— A. field cf this va- 
riety, about 5 acres, ha.s been planted with a view prin- 
cipally of obtaining fibre from the stems. The red 
banana yields the flutst fibre of our banana?, and 
jwould prove of va!uo in conn:clion with the roanu- 
aoturo of other ftbrej. Iu 1886 a ssinplo of the fibre 
203 
was submitted to His E.xceJlency tho Governor who 
obtained artpo t from Mes.'sra. Ide & Christie on its 
Value. The Bsmplc was coMsideri'd to bo worth £25 per 
ton. Frcm the many advantages oifered by t!. is plant, 
dotlbtless, in the event of a fibre industry arising, it 
will receive tlio ;ittentior\ it de!e[ves. A stem weigh- 
ing 100 lb. will yield between one and two pounds of 
clean fibre. 700 plants to tlieaore woutd give an an- 
nual yield of mdre than half a ton of fit re = £12 10, 
less cost of prod lotion, frcigf.t, &c., and ihis onght 
to leave halt profits to the producer. The fruit of tho 
red bananas was used for cattle food. Cocked with a 
litt'e salt they have proved to be an excellent feed, and 
being rich in starch and albumen they improve the food 
value of milk. The stock are exceedingly fond of it, 
and a herd fed with it, mixed with a proportion of 
cake, v. ould affoid manure of great value. Whilst on 
the eubjeotof harauas 1 mu't mention the " Moko." 
Lnst mail a sample ot 7 lb. of meal prepared from the 
Moko plantain was forwarded to London for which 
Ihe correspondent offered sixpence per pound. Ke- 
ceipts were also supplied for preparation in cooking. 
Great attention has been drawn to banana meal by the 
observations made by Mr. H. M, Stanley in bis book 
" Darkest Africa" and which as an »dverlieem3ut 
should not be lost sight cf . No banana gives such ex" 
colient meal as the " Moko," or so agreeable in flavonr 
Bud taste. The preparation of the meal is as follows; — 
The green Moko was skinueJ, sliced thin a^d dried in 
the fruit drier ; thtnground fine inordinary corn mill 
ar,d afterwards silled through a muslin sieve i this 
latter removes any fibre and leaves a delicate fine meal. 
The slices dry in two houis. A 15 lb. bunch will yield 
3 lb. of prepared meal which at sixpence per pound 
1/6 per bunch. Two women could prepare 56 lb. of 
meal per day. The cost of procuction, packing, &o., 
has to be considered, but the price obtained must be 
considered a fatisfuetory oue ; at least it is better 
than now oblained, which m»y be said to be nil. 
NOTES BY "WANDERtE." 
Aug. 24tb. 
Colombo hiss seen mere of the Gakden Planter for 
the last fortnight than his factory has, which may in 
some measure account for the better class teas the 
factories are now turning out 1 However the true 
reason of the improvement is that there is plenty of 
wiihering room, and no hurry in the rolling and dry- 
ing. Is it the case that the fine districts of Bogawan" 
talawa, the Agras and KandapoUa are beginning to 
lose tho flavoury character of their teas. Some 
planters are of Ofjiuion that the teas first taken off 
a new estate say for six months are distinguished 
for flavour, but that when the fields gft older, tha 
flavour goes oft and strength of liquor takes its 
place. This is exactly what has taken place with to- 
bicco wrapper leaf, Java at one time had a good 
time of it, Sumatra followed suit, and now the cigar 
manufacturer is at his wits' end for pastures new in 
the Straits and Borneo. 
Cacao. — You don't seem to be|8ufficiently alarmed at 
the important information you chronicle in the 04- 
servev and now in the Tropical Agriculturist of August, 
page 93. You say that in ten months the exports pt 
Java cacao have run to 10,000 cwts. This au 'u. 
rease of 8,600 cwts over the previous i- t.' 
Are you sure you are right, and if so what has b^" 
come of this extra cacao ? The cacao blossoms 'n 
Ceylon have set most irregularly. Even on neighbour- 
ing estates you eee one with a plentiful supply, and 
the other with a beggarly show. Why is this thus? 
On the whole excessive moisture is blamed for tho 
probability of a rather poor autumn crop. 
Coffee. — When you ask a friend who has any of 
this commodity on his estate how it is getting on, 
be generally asks you if you think tea is going down 
to 8d, Why he does so, I cannot say, unlets he 
wishes to insinuate that Tea at that limit is i bout 
as good KB the Best Oe;loQ Ooff(e selliD;; at five, 
tij'neaa per cwt. 
