Musa sapientum —Edible Banana. —Endogen. This well-known plant is common throughout the tropics of both hemispheres, and is very generally cultivated for the sake of its fruit. It thrives best on land containing much decayed vegetable matter, but flourishes also in the poorest soil, and even near brackish water, and its cultivation is capable of wide extension, with very little trouble and expense. It is propagated from suckers, which rapidly attain maturity ; some varieties, within 8 months ; others, within the year. Each throws out from its roots and around its stem some 6-10 new suckers, which are cut down annually to make room for fresh shoots, and may be set out to form new plantations. Ordinarily, this plant is grown exclusively for its fruit, and thousands of tons of the fibrous leaves are thrown away as useless, or allowed to manure the ground. Prof. Key, of Madras, suggests that by cutting away a portion of the suckers, and leaving a portion, supplies of fruit and fibre may be obtained simultaneously. It appears very doubtful whether the quality of either fruit or fibre can be maintained in this way. On the other hand, the fibre has never yet been produced of a quality equal to that of M. textilis, the so-called Manilla hemp, and no doubt a great point would be gained, if, while retaining the fruit crop as the chief consideration and remuneration, a large quantity of less valuable fibre, suitable for paper-making, could be produced at a very low price, say below 10/. a ton.
A 400-acre experimental farm in British Guiana, planted with suckers at distances of 12 ft. by 9 ft., produced an average of at least 700 stems an acre annually. For fruit-raising, this distance is found to be most suitable ; but for fibre-producing only, the distance should not exceed 8 ft. each way, giving at least 1400 stems an acre. The average yield of each plant was 80 lb. of fruit, and 4 lb. of fibre, only 2i- lb. of the latter being clean and good, the remainder dirty, broken, and fit only for paper-making.
Dr. Hunter gives the following method of extracting the fibre :—Soon after the tree has been cut down, the upright stems, and central stalks of the leaves, are selected, avoiding any which are old, stained, or withered. The different layers are stripped off, and cleaned in the shade if possible. Each stalk is laid with its inner surface uppermost on a long flat board, and the pulp is scraped off by a blunt iron tool. When the inner side, having the thicker layer of pulp, is olean, the leaf is turned over, and the back is similarly scraped. When a quantity of this partially cleansed fibre has been collected, it is washed briskly in abundance of water, and thoroughly rubbed and shaken about, so as to remove the pulp and sap as quickly as possible. After thorough
washing, the fibre is spread out in very thin layers, or hung up in the wind, to dry. Exposure to the sun, while damp, engenders a brownish-yellow tint, not easily removed by bleaching. In the W. Indies, recourse is sometimes had to retting; this stains the fibre, and reduces its strength ; more often the leaves are put between a pair of crushing cylinders, and are then cleaned by boiling in a dilute solution of caustic soda, followed by washing aud drying.
The fibre bears in every respect a close resemblance to that of IL textilis (see below). The mean dimensions of the filament are about 0'1968 in. in length, and 0.00112 in. in diameter. In Dr. Royle's experiments on the strength of the fibre, some prepared at Madras broke at 190 lb., other, from Singapore, at 390 lb., and a 12-thread rope at 864 lb. Samples of the fibre exposed for 2 hours to steam at 2 stares., then boiled for 3 hours, and again steamed for 4 hours, lost per cent. by weight, while Manilla hemp lost 6.07; phormium, hemp, 6 per cent. Slips of sized paper weighing 39 gr., made from this fibre, bore on an average 78 lb., as against Bank of England note pulp, 47 lb.; it is said to make a good paper, and to bear ink without being sized. The fibre is fine, white, silky, long, light, and strong ; but in most respects is inferior to Manilla hemp. As with other fibres, the quality depends in a very great degree open the modes of cultivation and preparation. (See Fruit—Bananas.) M. textilis—Manilla hemp, AbaeL—This is the wild plantain (or banana) whose fruit is bitter and non-edible. It is a native of the Philippine Islands, and has been named from the chief port of shipment. It is by no means generally distributed in the group. The provinces of Camarines and Albity, in the south of Luzon, produce the greatest quantity ; the islands of Samar, Leytg, Cebif, and Mindango, afford smaller contributions, much of that from the last-named island being despatched from Cebri. Attempts to grow the plant in the northern and western districts of Luzon have always been unsuccessful, chiefly, it is thought, by reason of the extreme dryness prevailing there for a great part or the year. The plant is said to exist in Borneo and Java. Repeated efforts have been made to introduce the plant into other countries, especially the E. and W. Indies, but with very questionable success, and the Philippines still enjoy a monopoly of the trade in the fibre. Yet the edible banana grows luxuriously in all the tropics. This remarkable difference between the two species is intensified by the fact that M textilis requires loss rich land than its fruit-yielding relative. The question deserves scientific investigation.