The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1885-02-12
THE BANANA TRADE.
A Talk with the Man Who Brought the
First Cargo to This Country.

First Cargo to This Country.
Captain George Bush, the supercargo
of the Peveril, is not only veteran sailor,
but also the father of the banana bust
ness in the United States. Captain Bush
emigrated from Germany to this coun-
try when he was quite a young man.
He was naturalized in the Circuit Court
of this city in 1856. He has been a
shipmaster 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: II brought
the first schooner-load of bananas ever
seen in the United States. / sold them
to Gilmartin, in New York, in 1859 Peo-
pie did not know what they were, and
my little cargo of eleven hundred
punches overstocked the market. l
secured them in Baracoa, Cuba. Three
years after that cargo was landed in
New York the trade had developed so
fast that it required twenty-five or thirty
schooner-loads alone to supply New
York. Three large firms in New York
monopolized the trade from Baracoa.
They were Eneas Brothers, Douglass
Brothers, and Pearsall Brothers. In 1867
the trade had grown SO enormously
that | began to look around for other
places to get bananas. ! had been to
ports in Jamaica after oranges in pre-
viOus years, but never for bananas.
In May, 1867, l sailed for Orc
Cabeza, Jamaica, in search of bananas.
Arriving there found Captain
Jim Murdoch, a quadroon native and
Christian, the last quality being rare on
the island. j 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 a protection to
the coffee trees. The latter need pro-
lection from the sun, and the banana
trees are planted in rows alongside
them. Well, my friend Captain Jim
Murdoch couldn't get me more than
700 punches of bananas at Orc Cabeza,
and | induced him to sail with me to
Port Antonio. Here [ found splendid
land-locked harbor, with deep water.
Captain Jim succeeded in buying 1000
punches of bananas for me in short
time. The natives were only too glad
to sell them at six to eighteen cents
bunch. The people were very poor.
They had no money and very little to
eat. and no clothing to speak of. | paid
$3.50 for my cargo. / reached Boston
in eleven days, and discharged 1,120
punches of good bananas. For one
very handsome bunch | got twenty-five
dollars, and the man who purchased it
sold it in ten minutes for thirty-five
dollars. Since that time | have been
engaged in 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 a coffee-sack. with holes for arms
and the head, and belted around the
waist with 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
bury their money and hoard it. Some
of them are quite rich. The banana
tree is species of the palm. 1t re-
quires very rich and moist ground. It
IS porous, fibrous tree, and attains
from twenty-five to forty feet in height.
1t 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 as
many as 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 health1est 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 to innumerable little ba-
nanas, which rapidly grow to maturity.
The next sprout comes in bearing from
three to four weeks after the first, and
Others follow at 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-five to sew
enty-five cents per bunch for bananas,
according to size and quality.-Balti- |
,17oYe S1i17