t must be passed through a mill,
the rollers of which, if made about three feet in length, and one
foot in diameter, will be found a very convenient size. In this
operation, care should be taken, first of all, to separate the
tender from the harder or riper layers of fibre. The tree is
composed of different layers of fibre, which may be divided into
three sorts; those of the exterior, having been exposed to the
atmosphere, possess a great degree of tenacity--whilst those of the
interior, having been secluded from the air, are much more soft and
tender. If, therefore, the layers of the plantain are passed
indiscriminately through the mill, those which are hard or firm will
not be injured by the pressure, whilst those which are soft will be
almost reduced to pulp. Therefore, the rollers of the mill should be
always placed horizontally, and upon passing the trees lengthways
through the mill, the pressure will be uniform and the fibre
uninjured. In this manner, pass the different sorts of layers
separately, and the produce will be about four pounds of fibre from
each tree. The stalks of the branches of the plantain give the best
fibre, and a large quantity, as compared with the body of the tree;
100 lbs. of the stalk will give 15 lbs. nett of fibre. In general,
if a tree will give 4 lbs. nett of fibre, the stalks will give 1 lb.
out of the 4 lbs. The stalks ought also to be crushed separately,
because they are harder than the exterior layers of the tree. About
3,000 trees may be passed through the mill in a day. Whilst the
experiments were in progress it was ascertained that with a single
horse, 100 plantain trees on an average were crushed in twenty
minutes, giving five minutes rest for the horse.

_Fermentation_.--This operation may be performed in several ways. If
the trees are allowed to ferment upon the spot after being cut, a
great saving will occur in respect of _carriage_; this matter ought
to be carefully studied, because, on an extensive scale of
manufacture, it is of serious importance. It is found that the trees
when cut and heaped up, are subject to a drainage of juice, which,
having a tanning property, discolors those pieces which lie at the
bottom; hence much time is consumed in afterwards restoring the
fibre to its natural color. The cut plants should be removed from