MUSA TEXTILIS. Nees.
Pinang-0am, . MALAY. Abaca brava, . . TAG. Koffo, , Bandala (fibre), . „ Kola-abbal, . . . TAG.
A plant of the Philippines, said also to grow wild on the Western Ghats of the Peninsula of India, from Cape Comorin northward. In the northern slopes of the ghats, the plant does not reach a height fitted to afford a fibre of more than two feet in length. Its strength is well known to the ghat people, who employ it occa sionally for domestic purposes, in rope-making, as well as the stem for food. Professor Bikmore states (p. 340) that in Minahassa this plant is raised from seed, and in the Philippines its fibre is called Bandala, the plant itself receiving the name of Abaca. The plant grows freely at Singapore, from which it was introduced into Madras by Colonel (Sir George) Balfour, C.B., of the Madras Artillery, but seems to have suc ceeded only in the Wynad, where it has been grown since 1864, and its value is fully recog nised. Its fibre is largely imported from Manilla into Great Britain. See Manilla Hemp.
1877, 332,304 owt. , £488,069 1881, 353,770 cwt. ,2691,186 1878,421,160 „ 551,856 1882,373,231 „ 830,033 1879,337,687 „ 434,037 1883,330,132 „ 747,031 1880,407,431 „ 622,776 and is there made into ropes for yacht rigging and clothes-lines. It is a native of the Philippines,
also of some of the more northerly of the Molucca Islands. On account of its fibres, it is extensively cultivated in the first of these, particularly in the provinces of Camarines, and Albay in the great island of Lncon, and in several of the Bisaya Islands, a range lying south and east of it. It is grown extensively in Manilla, where 250,000 acres are planted with this staple ; it has hitherto been treated only by hand, the natives preparing about 12 lbs. weight of fibre per day, and receiving one-half its value for the work, the waste being so great that only about 1 lb. of fibre is obtained from each tree. Yet, notwithstanding this, the exports have amounted to 35,000 tons annually. Manilla hemp is imported into Europe and America for rope-making only, and is worth £20 to £60 per ton, according to quality ; the crop may be taken at from 10 cwt. to 2 tons per acre, according to successful treatment.