Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1885-02-20
THE BANANA TRADE,
.i!' with the Nan Who Brought tn.
first Cargo to Thi, Country

.iI' with the Man Who Brought Il, -
first Cargo to This Country.
'apian George Bush. the supcrcargo
i he r,Nrril.is is not only Il veteran sailor.
a; Il :" tie father of the banana bu>i
A;N' III The United States. Captain Bush
"'n'Eratrd from Germany to this co,in-
try when he WAS quite a Young man.
lie was naturaizcd in the Circuit Court
oi THIS city in 1870. He has been "A
>hlpma>trr since 1860. and is one of the
best known sailors in the ports of the
West Indies. In an Interesting talk
about the banana business with a sun
reporter. Captain Bush said: Il brought
In" first Schooncr-loId of bananas ever
sen IN the United States. sold them
10 Gilmartin. in New York. in 1859. Peo-
pie d:d not know what they were, and
my little cargo of eleven hundred
lunches overStocked the market |
secure them in Blracoa, Cuba. Three
years after that cargo WAS landed in
New York the trade had developed so
fast that il required twenty-five or thirty
>cii'oner-loadS alone to supply New
\ or>. Three large firms in New York
monopolizcd the trade from Baracoa
They We're Erras Brothers. Douglass
Brothers. and Pcar>all Brothers. In 1867
the trade had grown SO enormously
thai BEGAN to look around for other
places 10 get bananas. | had been to
ports in Jamaica after oranges in pre-
ri0u> wears. bat never for bananas
In May. 1867. sailed for Gro
tabrAa. jamaica. in search of bananas.
Arriving there found Captain
jim MurdOck. a quadroon native and a
Christian. the last quality being rare on
the island, told him what wanted
and he promised to buy them for me-
Bananas had no value among the
natives. They never ate them. They
were planted simply aS protection to
the coii,'" trees. The latter need pro-
lection from the sun. and the banana
trees are planted in rows alongside
them. Wen. my friend Captain Jim
Murdock couldn't get me more than
1UD lunches of bananas at Orc CabeZa,
and induced him to sail with ME to
Port Antonio. Here found Il splendid
land-lockri harhor. with deep wa cr
Captain Jim succeeded in buying l.000
bunchr- of bananas for me in short
time. The natives We're only too glad
to sell them al six to eighteen cents a
bunch. The people were very poor
They had no moary and very little to
eat. and no clothing to speak Of paid
$40 for my cargo. | reached Boston
in eleven days. and discharged 1.l90
bnnchrS of good bananas. For one
VERY handsome bunch got TWENTY-FIVE
dollars. and the man who purchased it
sold 1t in ten minutes for thirty five
dollars. Since that time have been
engaged III the banana trade. and have
seen the ports of jamaica built up and
the people growing rich. The natives
don't spend much on their living.
Their wardrobe principally consists
of coilrr-Sack. with holes for arms
and the head, bclted around the
waist with Il rope. The other items in
their living stand about in the same
ratio in the matter of cost. They do
not invest or bank their money. They
know nothing of such things. They
bur, their money and hoard il. Some
of them are quite rich. The banana
tree is n species of the palm. 1t re-
quireS very rich and moist ground 1t
is 4 porous. librous tree. and attainS
from twenty-five to forty feet in height
Ii is indigenous to the soil of the Islands.
where bananas abound. The roots are
planted in rows by the natives. They
soon shoot sprout about four feet out
of the ground. Then three or four
more appear at short intervals. until rs
many rs eighteen show above the
ground from one root. If all these are
let grow there will be no bananas So
all the sprouts except two or three of
the heallhic>t are destroyed. The first
sprout will mature in ten to fourteen
months. The first evidence of fruit is
a brilliant purple flower. This soon
gives place 10 innumerable little ba-
nana-. which rapidly grow to maturity.
The next >prout comes in bearing from
three to f1ur weeks after the first, and
others follow ut regular intervals
throughout the year. Each sprout
bears one bunch of bananas. and is cut
down when the fruit is harvested. The
natives receive from thirty-iive to scv-
enty-ivc cents per bunch for bananas.
according to size and quality.-Baiti-
more SHH.