The Arizona champion., 1890-10-11
A LETTER FROM HONDURAS.
Interesting Facts Concerning tho Banan.

Interesting Facts Concerning tho Banana.
 A Tricky Tradcr-1he 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 trunk; from the comparative slender root shoot up 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 voyage of ten or twelve days. Strange as it may seem, bananas left to ripen on tie 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- icious flavor which they have here,
 When a 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 80 many punches, each cluster to be of the prescribed height seven hands up' which means so many layers of ban anas overlying each other, There are tall and little men, so there are punches of bananas, but little man may be man for all that not so 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 a 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 oYerboard, and the tide of the early morning washes the refused punches ashore like so many bodies after a slaughter.
 One often roads in books of travel that the banana is the staple article of food of the inhabitants of the tropics, but this is a 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 nota- toes, while the banana is yet green. It is the plantain which, throughout the West Indies and the mainland of Central and South America, takes the place of bread and potatoes. It belongs to the same family as the ''Musa L., but it can- not be eaten raw; it is cooked, roasted or fried like potatoes. s.-Isabel Cantini in Home Journal.