t the most economical and advantageous method of rendering
the fibre into a state fit for shipment to Europe. At the same time,
it was of the utmost importance to find out the best description of
tree, for producing the strongest, the most abundant, and the most
silky fibre--for containing the least quantity of juice, for
producing the color sufficiently white to facilitate the operation
of bleaching, for bearing fruit of the most esteemed quality, and,
therefore, the most favorable for general consumption.

A banana tree, which seemed at first sight to possess all those good
qualities--being of a large size, with whitish or flaxen colored
fibre, and producing very savoury fruit, only gave 2 per cent, of
fibre after preparation; that is to say, 100 lbs. in its raw state,
only gave two pounds of fibre after it was boiled. In endeavoring to
find out the cause of such a small result, it was discovered that
this specimen of banana (commonly called the "pig banana,")
contained a larger proportion of water than of fibre, compared with
other sorts--that the heart was too large, and that the inside
leaves were so tender that they almost dissolved in the process of
boiling. These were the greatest inconveniences of this species of
tree. There was also another disadvantage, in the quality of its
fruit, which was yellow in color, and not so useful as those
descriptions of banana which are generally eaten as a substitute for
bread. The results of several experiments made upon various
descriptions of banana, demonstrated the properties of each species,
both as regarded fibre and fruit. The most profitable in both
respects is undoubtedly the yellow banana, or common plantain. This
tree grows to the height of about fifteen feet, it is nine or ten
inches in diameter, its fibre is firm and abundant, and its fruit is
used both in a green and ripe state. This plantain abounds on the
continent of Spanish America and between the tropics, where the
natives cultivate it as producing the most nutricious fruit of its
kind. Cargoes of the fruit are frequently exported from Surinam and
Demerara. On the Spanish part of the American continent, land is
measured by _fanegas_, each fanega containing twelve _quarrees_, and
each quarree five and one-fifth English acres. A quarree measures
one hundred geometrical pace