Page:Tales in Political Economy by Millicent Garrett Fawcett.djvu/43

 power of the plantain is 133 times greater than that of wheat. Its cultivation requires very little labour; it is generally propagated by suckers, which attain their full growth in about ten months after they are planted; and they go on bearing for fifteen or twenty years.

The ease with which these trees could be cultivated, and the number of purposes they were capable of serving, made their discovery the most important event that had taken place since the shipwreck. Calling the whole of the company together, the captain explained to them that they had now a new source of obtaining both food and clothing; that no more labour need be expended in the cultivation of corn; they would be able to provide themselves with a variety of excellent food free of all labour except that of bringing the fruit from the place where it grew to their own island; and he added that they might confidently expect soon to have plantain-trees round their own settlement. A hearty cheer rose from some of the sailors when the captain finished; but he