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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.
eighty pounds. Many of the large, handsome leaves—usually torn to fringes by the trade winds—measure ten feet in length by two
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/PSM_V48_D834_Banana_tree.jpg/500px-PSM_V48_D834_Banana_tree.jpg)
Banana Tree.
feet in breadth, their uppermost crests waving twenty feet above the ground.
From the fibrous petioles or leaf stalks is manufactured a fine, white flax, which is woven into delicate muslins, or, when in a half-finished state, is used for tinder or wadding; while one variety in the Philippine Islands furnishes the well-known Manilla hemp.
Green bananas are sometimes dried and ground into meal or