Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1886-11-12
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HOME OF THE BANANA.
HOW THE POPULAR FRUIT Is
SHIPPED AND TRANSPORTED.
Growth of the Banana Traff1c-Risks OF
tho Trade-Varieties of the Plantain.
Value of an Acre of Bananas-The
CropRHow to Cook Them.


Value of an Acre of Bananas-Th
CroppHow to Cook Them.
a few weeks ego I stood under a bunch o
ripe bananas hanging from beam In hous
in Catacamas, one Of the most thrifty O
blanche pueblos As a personal favor tn
Indian owner of the house suspended for ;
moment operations on tho bedstead he wa
hewing out Of solid mahogany, and sold the
fruit to NE for two reals. That was equal tx
twenty cents of American money. l car
prove that tie fruit was paid for, for dozer
witnesses saw the whole transaction, and
laughed at my companion when he Jauntiiy
caught hold OF one end OF the bunch, and lei
go to get better hold. He had not expected
that the thing would weigh nearly or quite
100 pounds. The connandante, III whose house
vo lodged, assured us, when we had luGged
the bunch TO his dining room, that the cabi-
nctr,al;er was 4 sharp rascal, in that be had
charged Us twice as much rs would have been
an ample price. "But," he reflected, phiio-
sopllicaIly, won must pay Cor being Aneri-
canos and Strangers" As il was too lato we
tried 10 not mourn too deeply the loss Of Our
ten cents, and ate the fully ripe, mealy, sweet
fruit Many time before and after that |
bought bananas for two to four centavOs q
dozen.
Considerable quantities of fruit are brought
from Nicaragua, but about the middle Of May
quarantine regulations forbade tho entrance
OF vessels from ports on the cast coast OF that
country without passing q very close exarnin-
alton and undergoing considerable delay at
the quarantine stations. Any detention would
10 most injurious TO q fruit so perishable as
nre bananas, plantains, mangocS and other
tropical fruits a few days in quarantine in
hot weather would he as fatal to fruit in a
vessels hold IS Yellow Jack would be to n
patient on whom i had hold; therefore craft
trading to suspected regions refused to receive
cargoes OF fruit. They could not afford to
risk losses That kept out of the market a
large quantity Of fruit.
DOOM or TIE POOL
For years two houses in New Orleans prac-
tically monopolized the fruit trade Of the
coast Of Spanish Honduras, tho islands there
abo1t, and OF that little neck OF Guatemala
which separates Spanish from British Hondu-
ras. Competition between the two firms was
raising prices, SO they pooled their issues and
divided the trade between them. That worked
nicely, and prices were jammcd down by
the traders, because they "take all the chances,
yo see" and leave the planter mono. But one
bright day an ugly black smoke away to the
northUard llcraldcd tho approach Of tic Maria
p. and the doom of the pool. The steamer is
owned by q firm of much enterprise and with
money galore, SO she harvested nearly oil OF
The fruit then ready for shipment. Every
bunch Of bananas. every 1lantain, every Co
co2:lut, every mango, and all tho oranges,
lemons and lines the officers OF the Maria z.
could buy were promptly secured, slowed
away in her hold, and contracts made for en-
suing trips. When tho old line steamers az
rived there was not half a load for them, SO
they wcro filed with profanity by their Off
Gers. The planters seemed to really enjoy the
situation, which was unkind Of them.
OF the musa or plantain there are great
number of sorts; some cultivators claim that
they have eighty different kinds, but only two
or three varieties are known in the markets
of the United States. Tho variety popularity
known in the West Indies and in the several
Central American republics as platinos, or
Plantains, arc seen in very few places in the
United States outside Of New Orleans. Tho
sorts generally recognized in the states as
bananas are either red or yellow, but the fruit
of the two coiors named. BY far the greater
part of the bananas brought 10 tlii5 country
are eaten raw. but they may DO cooked in
several ways. Fried in butter they are excel
lont food; baked in the skins they resemble
delicious pears. boilel they are palatable;
dried after fully ripening they form sweet
paste, and in every form thcy arc very nu-
tritious-fag more S. than bread The tender
young plants are boiled and eaten as aspara-
gus Is.
AN ACRE OF BANANAS.
Scientists declare that en- acre Of bananas
produces vastly more nutritious food than al
acre OF wheat or of potatoes will Cattle,
horses, goats, rig5 and poultry join man in
lis liking for this fruit, without which many
Il family would be Oh short commons much of
the time. 1t is to dwellers in the tropics what
the p.ta;o has become to tAe Irish No woE-
der that belief was accorded to The story that
the plantain was tie forbidden fruit Eve in
vitcd Adam 10 share with her and that it was
Che grapes that the spies brought away
from the Promised Land If plantains grew
IL Canaan the eageTneSs OF the IsraeliteS TO
gobblo the whole country is satisfactorily ac-
counted for
The u5efuln.ss of the plant docs not end
with tho feeding of man and beast The
leaves furnish an excellent thatch. and the
stalks supply large quantity Of fiber Of great
strength and varVing degrees Of finenesS.
Some OF this fiber is 50 exceedingly fine that
an entire garment made of it may he hidden
in the hand. But, notwithstanding the many
us.s to which the plantain may be put, and
its almost incalcul2ble value rs food not one
per.on in ten thousand who would probably
become regular consumers ever buys
banana or k2s ever seen = plantain. There is
plenty Of roO-3 for the expansion Of the bust
ness Of growing the fruit and some reason for
thAling that il VIII increase, for the business
is said to be fairly profitable now tla5 rcfriC-
orator cars and cold storage on steamers have
made il possible to carry the most pcrishable
tropical productions TO most remote parts of
the United States and to Europe
The cost Of preparing plantation Of PLAN
tainS or bananas is said to be about Sl5 per
acre. Nine months after the shoots are stuck
into Tie ground the first crop is ready for
and from that time on lunches arc
maturing. New plants spring I'D
20 take the place of the old stalks, which die
after producing single bunch each of fruit
The lunches weigh from thirty to eighty
pounds. Stems having less than six ~hanis'
or half-circleS Of fruit are rejected 10y the
buyers for market as being too small 10 be
worth the thirty-iivc TO fifty cents they pay
on tho coast The vessels i'll the trade can
carry from 10000 TO 40, 900 punches, and tie
lunches sell il New Orleans for about dol
lar mere than they cost on tie coast Tho
plants are set about sixteen feet apart, and
receive little or no care after the planting
until the time comes 10 cut the larger
punches and to cut down all the young plants
not wanted. The dead stalks, with eli their
fiber, are left to rot on the ground
"E- Y. T., ;" in Chicago Times.
Singular Relic of the FIoed.
\ sinsular and beautiful relic Of the food