2 
The several varieties of the edible Plantain 
or Banana found in the West Indies, are re- 
ducible to two classes ( Musa Paradisiacal and 
Musa Sapientum), or as named by them, the 
Plantain and Banana. 
In Queensland, the term Banana is indis- 
criminately applied to both classes, though 
doubtless we have not the largest size des- 
cribed by some of our West Indian authori- 
ties. Bindley enumerates 10 species of Musa, 
which range in height from 4 to 30 feet ; the 
most valuable seem to be the most stunted. 
In the strait’s settlements of the East, the 
Royal Plantain yields fruit in eight months, 
there is one that bears in a year ; beside these 
there are others held in high estimation, viz., 
the Milk Plantain, the Downy Plantain, and 
the Golden Plantain or Banana. The Malays 
assert that they can produce new varieties, by 
planting three shoots of different sorts 
together, and by cutting the shoots down to 
the ground three successive times when 
they have reached the height of nine or 
ten inches. In Syria the Banana (according 
to Humbolt), ceases to yield fruit at the height 
of 3000 feet, where the mean annual tempera- 
ture is 68 degrees ; the highest range of the 
Banana seems to be about 4,600 feet. 
The tribe Musaceo is endogenous ; the stem 
possesses no traces of medullary rays, but con- 
sists of a cylindrical mass of cellular tissue at 
the root. This mass, towards the top becomes 
separated, and near its centre is prolonged, 
and becomes the back-bones or frames of the 
large umbrageous leaves. The whole of the 
species, and varieties of the tribe are poly- 
gamous monocious plants, bearing male, 
female, and hermaphrodite flowers within the 
same spathe — all being imperfect, and unpro- 
ductive of seed. Any individual may, from 
excess of culture, moisture, &c., be entirely 
incapable of flowering. The common Banana 
(of Hockings’ Manual <c Musa Maculata ,”) in 
Jamaica is called the Tiger Plantain. Whilst 
on the botanical part of my subject, I may 
mention that each authority I have consulted 
bolds opinions different from the rest. Some 
differ so widely that I almost come to the con- 
clusion that they speak not from personal ob- 
servation, but from hear-say. Carpenter des- 
cribes the fruit of the Plantain, i. e., every 
variety of Plantain, as insipid ; whilst our 
Queensland authority (page 62), states that the 
“ Musa Masculata or Tiger Plantain, when 
ripened on the tree, is very superior in flavor. 
The vegetation of this tree is so rapid that, 
if a line of thread be drawn acros and on a 
level with the top of one of the leaves when it 
begins to expand, it will be seen in the course 
of an hour to have grown nearly an inch. 
There is hardly a cottage in the tropics which 
is not partly shaded by this plant, and it is 
successfully grown under other fruit trees, 
though it is independent of shelter ; its succu- 
lent roots and dew attracting leaves render it 
useful in keeping the ground moist during the 
greatest heats. It is the most valuable of all 
fruits, since it will supply the place of grain in 
time of scarcity. To the negroes of the West 
Indies it is invaluable, and, like bread to the 
Europeans, is with them denominated the staff 
of life. 
The greatest authority, and one quoted by 
almost every writer who has touched on this 
subject, is Humboldt, who states that a plot of 
ground, containing 30 or 40 plants, will yield 
in the course of the year upwards of 4,000 lbs. 
of nutritive substance, M‘Culloch states that 
the same plot of ground, planted with wheat, 
would not produce more than 30 lbs., and not 
more than 90 lbs. of potatoes ; hence the pro- 
duce of the Banana is to that of wheat as 133 
to 1, and to that of potatoes as 41 to- 1. 
According to the same writer, the apathy of 
the inhabitants of the “ Terras Calientes” of 
Mexico is mainly to be ascribed to the abun- 
dance of food derived from the banana, which 
grows almost without labor. 
In Queensland we allow the fruit to grow 
almost ripe; but in the West Indies it is 
either cooked, i.e. boiled, roasted, or fryed when 
green, or else cut into slices, dried, and 
pounded into a kind of flour, whilst still in a 
green state ; and the creoles call it in this state, 
“ Conquin Tay.” It has a fragrant odor, pro- 
duced by drying, and is largely employed as 
the food of infants, children, or invalids. In 
Mexico the fruit, when dried, is called “ Plan- 
tado Pasado,” and is a considerable article of 
internal commerce. 
Besides being an article of food for man, 
there are other uses to which the plant is put. 
The foliage affords food and bedding, and is 
used for thatch, making paper, and basket 
making. From its petioles or lruit stems is ob- 
tained a fine and durable thread ; — the tops of 
the plants are eaten as a delicate vegetable, 
and the fermented juice of the trunk produces 
an agreeable wine. 
I have briefly enumerated the various ways 
of using the fruit, as it is not entirely neglec- 
ted, but I wish to draw more attention to that 
which is entirely neglected, viz : — the trunk 
and leaves. In a country like ours, where 
occasional droughts cause nearly all vegetation 
to shrivel, and become useless ; where the 
failure of green crops is not unfrequent ; it 
becomes U3 well to consider and remedy any 
want of such necessary food. We or our 
families are the ones who suffer the most, as in 
such cases the poverty of the milk frequently 
contaminated with disease, is surely attended 
with disastrous effects, if not to ourselves, to 
our little ones, who are more dependent on its 
supply, and whose health is more or less 
affected by any deterioration in quality. 
In all countries but our own, the succulent 
stem and leaves are an invaluable food for 
horses, cattle, and swine j the trunk is so soft 
as to be cut with a knife] in the West Iudies 
