Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-04-20
A LETTER FROM HONDURAS.
Interesting Facts Concerning the Banana.
A Tricky Trader-The Planters Loss.

Interesting Facts Concerning the Banana.
A Tricky Trader-The Planters Loss.
The inhabitant of the north, who lives
within easy reach of steamers and rail-
ways, can buy his bananas and other
tropical fruit while the thermometer is
somewhere down in the thirties, and he
may have a faint longing to be some
where down south, where "the citron
blooms" and where he may imagine
that the sky must be forever blue. But
far from it; here, as elsewhere. there is
always some detrimental element up
setting ones agricultural expectations,
and the bananas, in spite or perhaps be-
cause of the luxuriant and speedy growth
of the plant, is the first to suffer from
the heavy storms that sweep down over
the mountains or along the coast. Whole
banana fields are thrown to the ground
by one severe gale; the plant has not
what might be termed a trunk from the
leaves and stem, which, top heavy ard
fruit laden, is bending the tree by its
own weight, and if felled to the ground
by storm it rises no more.
This is, however, not the only misfor-
tune to which the planter must submit.
Even if he is lucky enough to escape the
devastating storms and have his bananas
attain the necessary state of maturity,
he is then at the mercy of an occasional
steamer to come and buy his product.
Tropical fruits are not like apples and
pears, which may be preserved for
months; here almost every kind of fruit
must be cut before it is fully ripe; ba-
nanas are cut when they are "three-
quarters full, and during the summer
even less, to insure their safe arrival
after a voyage of ten or twelve days.
Strange as it may seem, bananas left to
ripen on the stem are tasteless; they
must always be cut before they are fully
ripe, only what is exported is often too
young and too green to develop the de-
licious flavor which they have here.
When steamer arrives in these tropic
ports where bananas are cultivated, the
agent or captain gives out tickets or or
ders to the various fruit growers to cut
so many punches, each cluster to be of
the prescribed height seven hands up"
which means 80 many layers of BAN
anas everything each other. There are
tall and little men, SO there are punches
of bananas, but a little man may be
man for all that, not 80 the punches Of
bananas, the small ones are counted two,
or even three for one. At stated hour
of the day, or more frequently of the
night, the steamer is anchored out in the
bay, and at the peril of his life each
planter carries out his fruit in his small
boat or dory, to meet with bitter disap-
pointment, for very often only one-half,
perhaps less, of his fruit will be accepted
and paid for, although it was all con-
tracted for, but it is SO easy to find some
fault, and as there is no way of preserv-
ing the bananas, and no other steamer
due for week or fortnight, there is no
choice and no time for the planter; either
he takes what he can get or he throws
his bananas overheard, and the tide Of
the early morning washes the refused
punches ashore like so many bodies after
slaughter.
One often reads in books of travel that
the banana is the staple article of food of
the inhabitants of the tropics, but this is
mistake on the contrary, they war
the foreigners from indulging too much
in this species of fruit, which they never
eat themselves, except cooked like pota-
toes, while the banana is yet green. 1t
is the plantain which, throughout the
West Indies and the mainland of Central
and South America, takes the place of
bread and potatoes. 1t belongs to the
same family as the ''Musa L., but it cam
not be eaten raw; it is cooked. roasted or
fried like potatoes. Cantini in
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