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 | £2,000 |
| Buildings | 500 |
| Purchase of land | 1,500 |
| Working capital | 1,000 |
| £5,000 |
The estimated expense in cultivating one quarree, or 5 1-5th English acres, in plantains, will be £30, 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 £3 per ton | £54 |
| Freight to Europe at £4 per ton | 72 |
| Managers | 30 |
| Duty, insurance, office fees, &c., at £1 per ton | 18 |
| £174 |
Thus, making the total expense of producing 18 tons of fibre £174, or £9 13s. 4d. per ton. In 1848 Manila rope, or plantain fibre of good quality, was worth £38 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.