The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1879-09-03
THE PLANTAIN AND BANANA.
NO. II.

I
From Simmonds' Tropical Agriculture.
Finlayson gives the following in
teresting information respecting the
wild plantain trees, found on the
island of Pulo Ubi, off the southern
extremity::of Cambodia.
1--WE had," he says, "the good for
tune to find that SPLENDID herbaceous
plant in flower: unlike, however, that
luscious and most delicious fruit
raised by the hand of man, the fruit
of the wild plantain contains scare
any pulp whatever. Its leathery
sheath encloses numerous series of
large black seeds, attached to pithy,
central stem, and immersed in a
gummy substance resembling bird
lime
at appeared, by our systematic
works, that the seeds of this most
useful plant have been but rarely
seen by botanists; hence doubts had
been expressed upon the subject. In
none of the cultivated varieties are
there any seeds discoverable; though
at times, we may observe minute
black points in the pulp, disposed in
longitudinal rows. These are prob
ably, the feeble traces OF seeds not
yet quite extinguished by cultiva-
ton, the black perisperm being the
last to disappear The seeds were
numerous, covered with thick, black,
brittle shell, and as large as those OF
the custard apple, but Of a more II
regular shape.
There is no necessity to refer,
as Wildenow does, the origin OF
all the cultivated varieties, and
of all the species enumerated
by botanists to the lLusa 7foq-
lodstGqt7a, native Of the Mo-
lucco islands, as the parent stock.
Our specimens accorded with the de-
scriptions given Of lletsa Sapie,1tatan.
The seeds were in all respects per.
feet, and apparently capable of pro-
pagating the plant. Indeed its exist
ence on these islands, so rarely fire.
quented by man, and altogether unfit
tor cultivation, can be accounted for
on no other principle than the fertil-
ity of the seeds. ''-(Joa0nal eta Ms.
sion IN Siam, Ge.)
The banana is like the plantain, but
its stalk is marked with purple spots,
and its fruit is shorter and rounder.
There are 20 varieties of plantain
in Tenasserim, 10 in Ceylon, and 80
in Burmah. From Asia it has been
introduced into the West Indies and
South America, and into England in
1880. 1t is more productive than
wheat In South America the fruit
is dried and preserved, while the flour
is separated and made into biscuits.
The fruit can be kept for 20 or 80
wears, owing 70 the sugar in it; Zoe
parts of the fresh fruit contains y Of
dry nutritiye matter; the potato
gives %. III the plantain fruit out
Of 100 parts there are Of
Water. "A parts Su!;gar------3 parts
Cellular fibre a . Ash........44 "
A sucker attains maturity lna year;
each produces bunch OF fruit weigh
ing from % to 90 pounds. One tree
gives 4 pounds of fibre; 600 pounds
weight Of fibre might be produced
annually from each acre Of plantalns'
The piantain is used as nurse or
shade to the betel vine and other
plants. The top Of the stem yields
Juice good for making ink. The fibre
can furnish material for paper and
canvas; thus the plantain gives TODD
for the body and mind. The Chinese
use the young shoots for paper-maIk;,
idg; 1907 square feet Of ground yield
1000 pounds of nutritive substance
from plantains, which will support %
persons; the same space planted with
wheat will support only =.
It is in season all the year round.