The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1875-05-18

generally carry crew of five or six men
and as the work is light there are Away.
plenty of men offering for the trip, Most
Of these boats have an extra berth or two
and scarcely one Of them leaves without
passenger. The owners are paid abou
1880 per voyage for the use of lhei,
boat if she is wcll-known sailer, anc
can, accidents excepted, make the voyage
inside of a month.
The most of the vessels start away in
March, though some are continually ir
the trade as long as fruit can be had, ane
as it is great honor to be the first back,
the fleet does not long keep together, and
the vessels do not usually see each othe,
until their return.
Then it is great sourse of profit tt
the owner of the fruit to be first in mar
ket, for should they all return at once
the supply would be greater than the de-
mand, and great loss would be the re.
suit. Sometimes the weather will be sc
cold, as it has been this spring, that the
boats cannot be unloaded for fear of dan.
ger, and this spring some of the schoon
ers have been lying at the wharvcs fol
ten days, waiting for warm day. as to-
day has been, and the amount of bananas
now being brought ashore is simply as.
tonishing.
After the vessel has arrived at her des.
tination, the fruit is put aboard by expe.
rienced hands, and besides using every
precaution N the way of handling. the
cargo must be so arranged that there
will be a free circulation Of air, and when.
as in the case Of long.continued storm
on the passage home, the matches have to
be closed, the fruit decays with ruinous
rapidity. When these are closed, fer.
mentation sets in Immediately, and cases
have occurred where two-thirds of the
cargo was total loss.
The risk on a consignment Of oranges
is nearly as large as upon the more ten
der banana, for while the latter is handled
with greatest care, and picked from the
parent stalk, :hc former is knocked off
from the tree, and nearly all are more or
less bruised, and my informant said that
usually considerable per cent. of the
cargo was rotten before starting, hence
the importer has to add largely to the
original cost, to cover the loss upon his
cargo by decay.
I do not suppose that the boys and
girls will eat any less of these fruits when
tell them, that in Havana the agents
pay not far from $4.75 per thousand for
oranges, so that to sell them here for 5 a
per thousand, does not leave so great c.
profit after all, taking the loss into ais
count. The loss upon cargo of fruit t
about Is to 80 per cent, that is, abou
$50 oranges to the 1000 will have to be
thrown away, and about 300 punches
Of bananas. The bananas come
from Baraco' the vessel generally
stopping going and coming at the Wind.
ward Islands. For this fruit, seventy
five cents in gold has to be paid for each
bunck, and here in New York they retail
from one dollar to three, according to the
fneness of the lunches.
The pine apples seem to have the most
friends here, and readily sell for 1925 per
thousand. They come from the West
Indias, where they are bought at an av-
erage sum of about $33. The salt water
is destructive enemy to them, and one
dealer told me that, one year with anoth-
er, nearly one.half of each cargo vas lost
by decay alone; hence it is very easv to
see why they are so high.
A great heap Of cocoanuts is not a very
inviting looking mass, but of these it IS
almost impossible to estimate the QUAINT.
ty brought to this port. The loss on this
fruit would not be so great, but from the
fact that the heat of the hold is liable to,
start the outer covering of the nut. and
allow the air to reach the interior. and
then the ''vermin' that always are found
in ships hold are ready to NAV the;r