Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-09-13
THE BANANA TRADE.
Five Hundred Millions Come to New
York Alone Every Year.
THEY MUST BE HANDLED QUICKLY.
Orders Are Taken Far in Advance Of the
Arrival Of the Ships.
DANGER OF R0TTING AND FREEZING

mllllOn DananaS! InaG GB ABOUT WudI
comes to this country through the port of
New York every season. New Orleans
probably handles quite as many. 1t is only
of late that Boston, Philadelphia and Balti-
more have engaged in the banana trade.
The banana trade is the growth Of the last
10 years. 1t is true there were bananas i'm
ported previous to this, but the biggest
trade then didn't run more than 1000
punches every ten days or so Now it aver
ages upward of 100000 punches week for
this city alone. A heavy importer tells me
that the trade increased for several years
quite as rapidly as means were devised to
satisfy it. The smallest increase was for
this year, being not over five per cent over
last years product, whereas that year was
at least % per cent better than the previous
one. The slight increase this year is due to
the dry season that caught the banana far
mers and the consequent decreased produc-
tion.
SUPPLYING THE DEMAND.
Very great improvements have been
made in banana farming in Cuba
and Jamaica and other homes of the
luscious fruit. Yet, with all the rap
idly increasing production, it cannot keep
northern consumers. There has recently
been constructed in Cuba narrow gauge
railway from Givorro eastward for the ex-
elusive use of the banana and cocoanut
trade. According to Mr.. Baldwin, agent of
the Allan Line of steamers, there are now
some 26 ships engaged in the banana trade
to this port, and this number will be in
creased materially within a short time.
IF you want any idea of the demand"
said Mr. Kerr, a Murray street importer, 81
need only say that we took off 10000
punches from one of our ships yesterday
and haven't banana left to-day. There are
banana ships unloading somewhere every
day, too. There are seven houses here en-
gagged In the business, and all together run
some 80 steamers. These steamers carry
from 10000 to 10000 punches each trip.
Most of them return to the banana country
in ballast, though we own our vessels and
send them back with breadstu and pro-
visions. We handle about q million punches
year: Ihere are about million and half
more handled from piers and on this
slde, and across town on the East river, at
piers :, ana lo, perhaps 1000, 900 more. In
rouno numbers, close on to 5000, 900 punches
year come to this port These punches
wselsh from 15 to 20 pounds, and contain
from 40 to 135 bananas to the bunch.
-FOUR CROPS A YEAR.
A good many erroneous ideas are enter
tanned as to the banana trade. Some people
suppose that bananas, like oranges, appear
only within certain seasons and are pre-
served by some mysterious process so as to
last the year round. Others that they are
reproduced, crop after crop, perennially.
Neither of these suppositions are wholly
right or wholly wrong, for the Cuba
trade is only during the summer months,
opening about March and closing about Oc-
tober 1, with only an occasional stray
steamer outside of those dates Whereas
the Jamaica and Port Lemon, on the South
American coast, near Aspinwall, continue
unbroken the year round.
To illustrate this it must be said that it
takes about ten months to mature the fruit,
and that when the fruit ia matured the
plant dies; but the banana farmer permits the
growth of certain number OF sprouts at
different stages, so that one plant follows
another from the same root at short in
tervals For instance, when a plant is
about mature and the fruit ready to be re-
moved, there is a second growth of say 6
months and O third Of say months and
q fourth growth just starting-all from the
same root. The climate and other condi-
tions being favorable, the same root will
thus produce four crops a year, though the
same stalk produces but a single crop and
its usefulness is over As every oncoming
shoot is in different state of progress from
its fellows the harvest goes on all the time.
PRODUCERS GET THE LEAST PROFIT.
As may be supposed, banana farming
has proved very profitable, though the ex-
ceedingly low prices at which they are sold
by the importers and jobbers and the waste
in transit would seem to indicate that the
producer gets the smallest profit of the
whole business
The New York importer meets the New
Orleans importer at the competitive point
of Chicago. Very few New York bananas
reach Chicago and the competition is sharp
even at Cincinnati. 1t is fuctuating COM
modify. 1t must be handled quickly.
Therefore the jobbers get it into the re-
tailers' hands as soon as possible. Although
the fruit comes here green and hard it will
begin to turn yellow and soft within three
summer days and in five days is dead ripe.
In this stage a great deal of waste follows
every handling, for it bruises easily. The
slightest bruise turns black and rot follows.
All of this damaged stuff goes into the
hands of the street venders, who never con-
slider banana too far gone to sell to some
body. Of course, the damaged punches are
disposed of for whatever they will bring.
TOO MANY SHIPS AT A TIME.
'eNow and then the simultaneous arrival
of several shiploads by accident makes a
glut in the market" said the Murray street
importer, "and then we have to hustle. IF
this is in the summer time we must get
rid of our cargo at any price and right away.
In winter we can hold, and jobbers can
move more leisurely. In fact, in winter
the green bananas have to be .artifcially
ripened for the market. This is done by
hanging the punches in tight room and
employing gas stoves to maintain an even
temperature. The summer difficulty of
spelling by over-ripeness is offset by the
winter difficulty of spelling by freezing.
The punches are packed in hay to obviate
both difficulties.
"While we have lost and are always in
danger of losing entire cargoes of tropical
fruits the danger decreases every year from
the fact that we book our orders in advance.
For instance, as I said, we unloaded 10000
punches yesterday. All of these went right
from the dock, mostly on cars on floats
alongside the pier, to fill orders. We have
a cablegram to-day saying another of our
vessels with $4,000 punches sailed. We no.
tify'our customers that she'll be here Tues
day. They'll send in for what they think
they want. Jobbers used to hang back for
glut, but they often had to pay bigger
prices for doing so and now it is mostly
question of orders
ORANGES AND COCOANUTS.
"During the orange season, which is from
September to April, we handle from 1000
to 5000 barrels of oranges week in con-
junction with bananas. There is another