The Arizona sentinel., 1886-02-27
BaNANA CULTURE.

entirely wrapped in the driel leaves taken from the tree itself and sent to the steamers which are to transport them. The banana culture being near ly all in the hands of Chinese, Portu- gues and native Hawaiians-especial- ly the former-the cultlvators, on this island rarely ever export on their own account. They generally sell to agents of San Francisco fruit dealers, who go around to the plantations few days before the steamers departure and se- lect and mark the punches on the plants. The selection is not made by the weight, as it ought really to be but by the numbers of rows or layers Of fruit in the bnnch, these rows be- Ing called ''hands." Punches number ing less than eight hands are usually refused, as being too small.
 Now it will be well to point to an- other habit of growers, which greatly irjures the quality of the fruit, and this is that the punches are seldom d. lowed to mature sufficiently on the plant, but they are cut when little more than half grown and hung up to ripen, or better to get soft and fabby. This is the principal reason why bana- mas usually found in San Francisco from this islands are far from being what they should and might be.
 Even in this warm climate bana- na takes from four to six days to ripen after it begins to turn color and will require still longer period in the cooler climate between here and the Coast, if it be placed in contact with the cool air. In fact 1 have frequently sent in custody of private parties punches that were beginning to ripen before cut and have invariably received informa- tion of theIr arrival ever in excellent condition.
 Ten years ago, in nine months only 4,980 punches were exported. In 1879, the yearly expectations had grown to 12,369, in 1880, to l9,164, in 1881 to 2O,776 and in 1882 to 2S,- S4S. In 1883, the number suddenly jumped up to 44,902 and continues in 1885 53,040; this year, nine months only already gives an exportation of 43,673 punches.
 Now there is no doubt that if the demand for export at remunerative prices warranted it, our production would rapidly increase to much higher figures still But whether this culture at the present rates, is renumerative, is what I am going to investigate.
 In the West Indies, where the banana culture has also been steadily increasing, it is supposed to be very remunerative. In Jamaica the Irri- gation works have given it great i'm pulse since 1875, ,andit isnow considered there to be highly satisfactory from a monetary point of view. A writer on this matter states that Gin fairly good soil, with sufficient water for ir rigation and under careful intelligent management, the best return for acre may safely be estimated at Gl5 per annum," though there are often very great disparities in the returns. The expenditures, which leaves room for the above return, are set down as fol- lows:
 Cleaning of land and ploughing 2 l,l5 Irrigation trenches etc. ..... 1.l0 100 suckers at 6 shill1ngs .... l. 4, Planting of ditto. o.......... 0. 4 Eight cleaning per year ...... 4. 0I Value of irrigation water ...... l. 0I Contingencies .......... 1SI
 Total per acre. ............ 9l0lO
 This gives no estimate for the rental of lands and supposes only 400 trees to the acre, whilst the yield of market able fruit is put down at 25 per cent. less than the number of suckers planted, and the cost of cutting the fruit and delivering it to the steamers is valued at pence per bunch. These are very low figures. Yet that bana- Ra culture could be equally profitable here, if not more so than in Jamaica, cannot be doubtful, provided the pricee of punches be kept sufficiently high, and the expenses of freight be brought down to reasonable figure. Bananas have been sold here as much | oo GI fo, n r,~oJ ,;po b,poh opd S00