Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-09-10
GOLDEN FRUIT.
COMING WEALTH PROM THE BANANA
IN JAMAICA.
How the Fruit 10 Put on Board, and HOW
II is Carefully Hursed
Aftsrvard.
William Drysdalo in New York rimes.l

Jamaica has time out OF mind been
known as the land Of rum and sugar,
with generous sprinkling OF very hot
ginger; but appearances are that the
island will soon be known pre-eminentiy
as the land of bananas. Many q once
profitable cane-feld has been turned
within few years into banana plants-
ton, much TO the profit OF the owner !;
and even the old Jamaica planters are
mostly willing TO raise whatever crop
brings them most cash, though they still
look upon suear.cane as an srlsto-
GRAFT and the banana-tree as a plebeian.
Fruit has taken hold OF Jamaica,
and is constantly taking stronger
hold, as it ought TO, and OF all the
fruits raised the banana is the staple.
The great market for Jamaica is New
York here most Of her products are
sold, and here most Of her money comes
from. We buy her fruit and her sugar ;
the bulk of her rum goes to England,
and think nobody will deny that Eng
land is welcome to it. IL is almost be-
yond the belief OF anybody familiar with
the West Indies that the great island OF
Jamaica should derive her greatest reye-
nue. from fruit sent TO the New York
market but look at the figures for 1886,
which | shall use in the smallest OF
homeopathic doses: Exports of SUI
gar, in round numbers, G202, coo !;
Of rum, GlS4. 900; OF coffee, Gll9,-
900; of dyewoods. e194,000 OF
fruit, e232, 900. And Of the 1882, 600
worth OF fruit G227,000 came to the
United States, principally to New York.
Now let the figures show how the Ja-
maica fruit business Is increasing. II
must be remembered that the year 1881
was an exceptionally bad season for all
crops on the island and 1884 an excep-
tioneily good one. This accounts for the
vast difference between those two years.
In 1877 the value OF ell the fruit export
cd from the island was 500, 900. In 1873
it was $50, Then it crept up thus ::
1879, 100000; 1880, G5l, 900; 1881,
e4l. 900: 1882. el24, 600; 1888, Gl54,-
600; 1854, G253, 600; 1885, GlSl, 600 !;
and 1886. .c232, 000. So the trade came mp
in ten years from 300, 600 10 considerably
more than 81, 100000. And just as steadi-
" as the fruit business grew the sugar
business declined. The land was there,
the climate was there, the labors was
there, and the people, fortunately,
we're for the most part wise enough to
see that sugar was running them, and
that fruit would make them rich. How
many fair garden-spot in the West In
dies has been laid waste by the fatal
sugar-cane | have often wondered,
when driving over wrecked and ruined
West Indian islands, that the people did
not detest the very sight OF sugar-cane
after all the & bic 1t has brought them.
But fruit il ,.eir salvation, and New
York IS the oyster for them to open, as
long as thew continue TO raise what We
want. Evidently We want bananas pretty
badly, for, although Jamaica Is only one
of hundred tropical places engaged IN
raising bananas for this market, she sent
enough here last year to give five to
each man, woman, and child IN the
United States.
nave before me letter from Mr.. r..
r. kennedy, Of Port Antonio, Jamaica,
the agent there of the Atlas Line OF
steamers. telling me all about bananas.
He handles every year probably as many
bananas as any man in the world, and
what he does not know about them is not
worth knowing. When | speak Of his
handling them mean Of course that he
does it by proxy, for he sends more ba-
nanas to New York every week than one
man could handle in year. Port Anto-
MO is on the north shore OF the island
of Jamaica, and is the great fruit-ship-
ping point of the island. Very few ba-
nanas, comparatively, are shipped from
Kingston, the chief port of the island.
Port Morant is the other Jamaican point
from which bananas are shipped, and the
fruit business done at these two places is
shown in the following paragraph clipped
from the Kingston Cleaner for June %,
1888:
1.-The largest shipment OF bananas
ever made from this island took place
last week, when the following ten steam
ers were loaded on the north side Of the
island and sailed for the northern ports
of tba Tfnited States