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The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom by P. L. Simmonds

P >> P. L. Simmonds >> The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom




The same extent of ground which in wheat would only maintain two
persons, will yield sustenance under the banana to fifty. That eminent
naturalist and elegant writer, the Baron Von Humboldt, states
("Political Essay on New Spain," vol. ii.) that an acre of land
cultivated with plantains produces nearly twenty times as much food as
the like space sown with corn in Europe. He refers to a place in
Venezuela, where the most careful tillage was rendered to a piece of
land, yielding produce supporting a humble population residing in
huts, each placed in the centre of an enclosure, growing the sugar
cane, Indian corn, the Papaw tree, and the Musa--a tropical
garden!--upon the elaborate culture of which a whole family relied for
subsistence.

Although from the extensive plantain walks in our colonies--which are
seldom cultivated with a garden-like care--so large an average
proportion may not be obtained as twenty times the production of wheat
in Europe, yet I have had practical experience of the prodigious
quantity of farinaceous matter obtainable from an acre of tolerably
well-cultivated plantains, and no esculent plant requires less labor
in its culture upon land suitable for its production. They are readily
increased by suckers, which the old plants produce in abundance.

Lindley enumerates ten species of Musa, some of which grow to the
height of 25 or 30 feet, but that valuable species _M. Cavendishii_,
does not grow more than four or five feet high.

The bananas of the family of the Musaceae, appear to be natives of the
southern portion of the Asiatic continent (R. Brown, "Bot. of Congo,"
p. 51). Transplanted at an unknown epoch into the Indian Archipelago
and Africa, they have spread also into the, New World, and in general
into all intertropical countries, sometimes before the arrival of
Europeans.

According to Humboldt it affords, in a given extent of ground,
forty-four times more nutritive matter than the potato, and 133 times
more than wheat. These figures must be considered as only
approximative, since nothing is more difficult than to estimate the
nutritive qualities of different aliments.

_Musa paradisiaca_ is cultivated in Syria, to latitude 34 deg.
Humboldt says it ceases to yield fruit at a height of 3,000 feet,
where the mean annual temperature is 68 deg., and where, probably, the
heat of summer is deficient.

The banana seems, however, to be found no higher than 4,600 feet in a
state of perfection.

No fruit is so easily cultivated as are the varieties of the plantain.
There is hardly a cottage in the tropics that is not partly shaded by
them; and it is successfully grown under other fruit trees, although
it is independent of shelter. Its succulent roots and dew-attracting
leaves render it useful in keeping the ground moist during the
greatest heats. The plantain may be deemed the most valuable of
fruits, since it will, in some measure, supply the place of grain in
time of scarcity. To the negroes in the West Indian Islands the
plantain is invaluable, and, like bread to the Europeans, is with them
denominated the staff of life. In Jamaica, Demerara, Trinidad, and
other principal colonies, many thousand acres are planted with these
trees.

The vegetation of this tree is so rapid that if a line of thread be
drawn across, and on a level with the top of one of the leaves, when
it begins to expand, it will be seen, in the course of an hour, to
have grown nearly an inch. The fruit when ripe is of a pale yellow,
about a foot in length and two inches thick, and is produced in
bunches so large as each to weigh 40 lbs. and upwards.

The soil best suited to the growth of the plantain is found in the
virgin land most recently taken in from the forest, having a formation
of clay and decomposed vegetable substances. A large portion of
organic matter is required, as well as clay or other ponderous strata,
to afford the greatest production of fruit. I have known good
plantains produced in the West Indies, upon land considerably
exhausted by the culture of cotton, but which was enriched by the
application of a quantity of the decomposed seed of that shrub near
the roots of the young plantains.

In the Straits' settlements of the East, the following are the most
approved varieties:--The royal plantain, which fruits in eight months;
one which bears in a year, the milk plantain, the downy plantain, and
the golden plantain or banana. A species termed _gindy_ has been
lately imported from Madras, where it is in great request. It has this
advantage over the other kinds, that it can be stewed down like an
apple while they remain tough.

The Malays allege that they can produce new varieties, by planting
three shoots of different sorts together, and by cutting the shoots
down to the ground three successive times, when they have reached the
height of nine or ten inches.

About 144 suckers of the plantain are set on an orlong (1-1/3 acres),
each of which spreads into a group of six or eight stems, of about six
inches to one foot in diameter, which yield each a bunch of fruit, and
are then cut down, when fresh shoots succeed. In very rich soils the
plant will continue to bear for twenty years, but otherwise it is dug
up after the seventh or eighth year. The cost of cultivating 100
orlongs of land exclusively with plantains, will be nearly 2,000
Spanish dollars until produce be obtained. About 43,200 bunches may be
had afterwards yearly, which might give a return of 2,160 dollars, or,
deducting the cost of cultivation and original expenses, a profit per
annum of 1,450 dollars.

The plantain has frequently been suggested as an article of export
from our colonies. A few bunches are occasionally brought over by the
Royal West India Mail Company's steamers running to Southampton, but
more as a curiosity than as articles of commerce.

In its ripe state no unexceptionable and sufficiently cheap method of
preserving it has yet been suggested.

In some districts of Mexico it is, indeed, dried in the sun, and in
this state forms a considerable article of internal commerce under the
name of "plantado pasado."

It is sometimes so abundant and cheap in Demerara, Jamaica, Trinidad,
and other of our colonies, that it might, if cut and dried, in its
green state, be exported with advantage.

It is in the unripe state that it is so largely used by the peasantry
of the colonies as an article of food. It has always been believed to
be highly nutritive, but Dr. Shier states that, in any sample of the
dried plantain which he analysed, he could not find a larger amount
than 88 per cent of nitrogen, which corresponds with about 51/2 per
cent. of proteine compounds.

When dried, and reduced to the state of meal, it cannot, like wheat
flour, be manufactured into maccaroni or vermicelli, or at least the
maccaroni made from it falls to powder when put into hot water. The
fresh plantain, however, when boiled whole, forms a pretty dense firm
mass, of greater consistency and toughness than the potato. The mass,
beaten in a mortar, constitutes the _foo-foo_ of the negroes. The
plantain meal cannot be got into this state unless by mixing it up
with water to form a stiff dough, and then boiling it in shapes or
bound in cloths.

Plantain meal is prepared by stripping off the husk of the plantain,
slicing the core, and drying it the sun. When thoroughly dry it is
powdered and sifted. It is known among the Creoles of the West Indies
under the name of _Conquin tay_. It has a fragrant odour, acquired in
drying, somewhat resembling fresh hay or tea. It is largely employed
as the food of infants, children, and invalids. As food for children
and convalescents, it would probably be much esteemed in Europe, and
it deserves a trial on account of its fragrance, and its being
exceedingly easy of digestion. In respect of nutritiveness, it
deserves a preference over all the pure starches on account of the
proteine compounds it contains.

The plantain meal would probably be best and freshest were the sliced
and dried plantain cores exported, leaving the grinding and sifting to
be done in Europe. The flavor of the meal depends a good deal on the
rapidity with which the slices are dried; hence the operation is only
fitted for dry weather, unless indeed, when there was occasion for it,
resource were had to a kiln or stove. Above all, the plantain must not
be allowed to approach too closely to yellowness or ripeness,
otherwise it becomes impossible to dry it. The color of the meal is
injured when steel knives are used in husking or slicing, but silver
or nickel blades do not injure the color. On the large scale a
machine, on the principle of the turnip slicer, might be employed. The
husking could be greatly facilitated by a very simple machine. Were
the plantain meal to come into use in England, and bear a price in any
way approaching to that of Bermuda arrowroot, it would become an
extensive and very profitable export. Full-sized and well-filled
bunches give 60 per cent. of core to 40 of husk and top-stem, but in
general it would be found that the core did not much exceed 50 per
cent., and the fresh core will yield 40 per cent. of dry meal, so that
from 20 to 25 per cent. of meal is obtained from the plantain, or 5
lbs. from an average bunch of 25 lbs.; and an acre of plantain walk of
average quality, producing during the year 450 such bunches, would
yield a ton and 10 lbs. of meal, which, at the price of arrowroot,
namely, 1s. per lb., would be a gross return of L112 10s. per acre. A
new plantain walk would give twice as much. Even supposing the meal
not to command over half the price of arrowroot, it would still form
an excellent outlet for plantains whenever, from any cause, the price
in the colony sank unusually low.

In respect of the choice of a situation for establishing a plantain
walk, with a mill, boiling-house and drying ground, it will be
necessary to fix upon new land with plenty of moisture, and flat if
possible, in order that there may be no difficulty in making roads to
carry the trees; whilst a deep river traversing the land, where there
is no tide or danger of salt water--where facility would be afforded
in making the basins wherein to wash the fibre; where a sea port would
be near at hand for shipping the produce--where workmen, provisions,
and fuel would be readily obtained, and where the climate is
particularly healthy, should be especially sought after.

The plantain grows in profusion between the tropics in all parts of
the world; but as it is an object to have the London market available
for the prepared fibre, the following places may be mentioned as best
calculated to produce a good and constant supply, viz:--the West India
Colonies, the British Colonies in Africa, the South American
Republics, along the Mosquito shore, and other places on the Continent
of America, including Porto Rico, Hayti, and Cuba. The advantages to
the paper manufacturer in employing the prepared fibre instead of
rags, will be numerous, for the fibre is equal in texture, clean, and
aromatic; whilst rags are dirty, full of vermin, and very often
pestilential.

A large stock of the plantain can always be secured, without fear of
its being injured by keeping. The paper will be superior to that made
of rags, and the process of making it will be more economical,
inasmuch as the _sorting_ of the material will not be required.
Another advantage is, that a new article of commerce will be opened
for the benefit of the colonial shipping interests, and a stimulus
will be given to the cultivation of a fruit which is the favorite food
of large masses of the population.

The following is a "specification" of articles requisite for making
three tons of prepared fibre in a day:--

Four wooden boilers lined with lead, in the form of coolers, 7 feet
deep by 6 in diameter. One hydraulic press, from 400 to 500 tons. One
stout screw press, to compress the fibre before it is submitted to the
hydraulic press. One iron mill with horizontal cylinders. Six waggons;
twenty mules. Utensils, such as spatulas, cutlasses, hoes, rakes, &c.
&c. One lever, to take out the fibre from the boilers. One steam
boiler, equal to 12-horse power, to steam the four wooden boilers.

It being very desirable that the works should be in the immediate
neighbourhood of a river, the machinery should be worked by
water-power; but if this mode should be inconvenient, a steam engine
in addition must be obtained, of about 8 or 10-horse power; or if one
steam engine of 20-horse power were employed, it would be sufficient
for all purposes. Thirty men are required to make three tons of fibre
in a day.

_Buildings_.--A store, 100 feet long by 25 feet broad, in wood,
covered with straw, to contain the dried fibre and the presses. One
open shed of the same dimensions, covered with straw for the boilers.

_Capital required_.--It is ascertained that the following outlay will
be sufficient:--

The materials will cost L2,000
Buildings 500
Purchase of land 1,500
Working capital 1,000
------
L5,000

The estimated expense in cultivating one quarree, or 5 1-5th English
acres, in plantains, will be L30, as the work can be easily performed
by one laborer in 300 days, at 2s. sterling per day.

A quarree will produce 18 tons of mill fibre, the cost of the
preparation of which is as follows:--

For workmen's wages, soda, lime, and fuel, at L3 per ton L54
Freight to Europe at L4 per ton 72
Managers 30
Duty, insurance, office fees, &c., at L1 per ton 18
----
L174

Thus, making the total expense of producing 18 tons of fibre L174, or
L9 13s. 4d. per ton. In 1848 Manila rope, or plantain fibre of good
quality, was worth L38 per ton.

A correspondent in Jamaica, who has devoted much attention to the
subject, has furnished me with some very valuable detailed
information, the most complete and practical that has ever yet
appeared:--

_Cultivation_.--The first care of a planter in superintending the
cultivation of the banana tree, with the two-fold object of
collecting both fibre and fruit, will be to study the nature of the
tree to which he will give the preference. A number of experiments
have been made upon different species of the banana with a view of
obtaining therefrom the largest quantity and the best color of
fibre, as well as the finest fruit. Those experiments were very
tedious and minute, but were absolutely necessary, in order to
arrive at 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 paces, or three hundred square feet.

In the first instance, the suckers of the plantain (the tree being
propagated by cuttings or suckers which shoot up from the bulb),
should be set at ten feet distance from each other; this proposition
gives 300 plants on one line of trees, or 900 on the surface of one
quarree of land. Each plant propagates itself and gives upon an
average ten trees of the same size and bearing. On one quarree of
land, therefore there would be 9,000 trees, yielding four pounds of
fibre and one bunch of fruit each, which is 9,000 bunches of fruit,
and 36,000 lbs. nett of fibre, in the whole. In good ground the same
plant will last fifteen years without any further trouble. Flat
lands ought to be cultivated in preference to any other. The
plantain thrives with the root in the water, and the head to the
sun. On the borders of the river Orinoco it grows to the height of
twenty feet, is one foot in diameter, and the stalks of the branches
are three inches in circumference.

_Cutting_.--The tree which has not produced its ripe fruit ought to
be cut, for two reasons--first, that the fruit be not lost; and
secondly, that the tree will not have arrived at its full growth and
ordinary size, and the fibres will be too tender. In cutting it
down, take it off six inches above the surface of the ground, then
divide it longitudinally into four parts, take out the heart, which
must be left to serve for manure, and if fermentation is decided
upon, leave the pieces at the foot of the tree, otherwise take them
to the mill to be crushed. The tree being very tender, may, on being
bent down, be cut asunder with a single stroke of a hatchet,
cutlass, or other convenient instrument. One man can cut down 800
trees, and split them in a day.

_Carrying_.--The trees being thus divided, may be immediately
carried to the mill to be crushed, or may remain until the
fermentation separates the juice of sap from the fibres and the
pith. By fermenting the trees, their weight will be so much reduced
as to render their carriage considerably lighter than if taken away
when first cut down. A wagon, with oxen or mules, can carry about a
ton per day, and one man can load the wagon and drive the cattle.

_Crushing_.--If the tree is carried from the plantation without
being subjected to fermentation, it 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
the stumps of the trees, and then placed in heaps, shaded from the
sun by laying the leaves over them. They will take several weeks to
ferment. To pursue this process in the immediate vicinity of the
establishment, would give rise to many inconveniences, in
consequence of the very large space of ground that would thereby be
occupied. Fermentation requires a mean temperature. A tree cut down
and exposed to the sun, would be nearly dry at about 30 deg.
centigrade, showing a result quite different to that which ought to
be obtained; whilst a tree placed on a wet soil, and open for the
fresh air to circulate between the plants, covered at the same time
with its own leaves, and shaded by the foliage of the plantation,
would be decomposed at the desired point of about 22 degrees. The
different modes of fermentation require the same proportions. If the
cut plants be covered with a thick layer of earth, they will not
decompose in six _months_; but if, on the contrary, they are covered
slightly, so that they may receive the freshness of the earth, and
the heat of the air, they will decompose in six _weeks_. It is the
same with the fermentation of alkaline baths. Baths at only _one_
degree will produce decomposition, whilst baths at _three_ degrees
will not produce any decomposition. The stuff after being passed
through the mill, or after fermentation, will be put into the
chemical baths, or vats, or chemical liquor, and the persons in
charge of the mill and boilers will do this work. Fermentation may
be advantageously used, in cases where the trees are grown at a
distance from the establishment--but, where they are in the
immediate vicinity of the works, it will be best to crush them by
the mill. The principal saving that is occasioned by fermentation,
will be found in the carriage, as the substance will be much reduced
in weight by that process. In an establishment where the manufacture
is carried on upon a very large scale, trees cut down at a distance
can be fermented, whilst those produced near the mill can be
crushed.

_Chemical Agents._--For decomposing the gluten in the trees during
the process of boiling, soda, carbonate of soda, and quick lime, are
used. The proportions herein given, are those requisite for making
three tons of fibre per day, upon which scale the cost price of the
fibre in a prepared state for bleaching, is subsequently calculated.
To make three tons of fibre per day, it is necessary to have four
boilers of 800 gallons each, and give five boilings in a day, or
1,650 lbs. of nett fibre for each boiler, or 6,600 lbs. for the four
boilers per day. After having put into the boiler a sufficient
quantity of water to cover the material, wait until the water begins
to boil, and then add the chemical agents.

Copyright (c) 2007. bestextbooks.com. All rights reserved.

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A Stephen King fan has published an 80-page version of the book which novelist Jack Torrance obsessively writes during King's The Shining, where his descent into madness is revealed when his wife discovers that his work consists of just one phrase, endlessly repeated.

Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson in terrifying form in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film, is a frustrated writer who goes with his wife and son to spend the winter in the isolated Overlook Hotel in an attempt to get the novel he has always wanted to write started. But the hotel's grisly past and unquiet ghosts have their way with him, and his wife Wendy eventually finds that the manuscript he has been working on actually only contains the phrase "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", typed over and over again.

Now New York artist Phil Buehler, who describes himself as "a big fan of Stanley Kubrick and Stephen King", has self-published a book credited to Torrance, repeating the phrase throughout but formatting each page differently, using the words to create different shapes from zigzags to spirals.

"The idea has probably been marinating for years, because I loved the movie and the Stephen King book," said Buehler. "I'd just finished my own obsessive art project [and] it was an idea I had over the Christmas holidays."

He said he decided to stick to type and formatting that could have been created on a typewriter, with the first ten pages duplicating shots of Torrance's work from the film. "I thought 'if he continues to get crazier, what would those pages look like?'" he said. "I hit writer's block about 60 pages in, and I had to get to 80 - that went on for about a week." His fiancée, who had neither read the book nor seen the film, became a little concerned about his actions. "I finally showed her the movie, and she realised I wasn't really losing it," said Buehler.

He's included a spoof review from the blog OverThinkingIt.com on the book's back jacket, which compares it to "the best of Beckett" in its "lack of forward momentum", and considers the struggles of the author, "heroically pitting himself against the Sisyphusean sentence". "It's that metatextual struggle of Man vs. Typewriter that gives this book its spellbinding power," the review says. "Some will dismiss it as simplistic; that's like dismissing a Pollack canvas as mere splatters of paint."

So far, Buehler says that around 1,000 people have viewed the book, for sale on Blurb.com for $8.95 in paperback, or $22.95 in hardback, and he's sold "a few" copies, with sales now starting to pick up steam. "A few people have asked me to sign it - they're looking it as a piece of art rather than a funny thing to give to a Kubrick fan," he said. "If you're not a Kubrick or King fan, you might not even get it."

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