Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1891-04-07
AMONG THE FARMERS.
SPEED run rlo~ "

"srstp r1r rto~."
Csrr,.poaisnos on yrsc,ioai Agricultural topics
,.,, 's H., ,,,. s, ,srs,,Sss, ~ :, ,,.ss, T. ii,s
sosp, Agricultural k.iiior osiori pc~"crs''
Paris. Ne.
BANANA CULTIVATION m JAMAICA.
The cultivation of banana. In the West
India Islands and upon the Central
! American coast I. Que of thos. rspidly
developed aud decreasing indu-trie.
whose course seem. little short ~ mlrac-
ulou.. There wss q time, only q few
year. ago. aud within the memory of
men stlll Young. when a single banana
coat as much as doTen 10 them do now
In the northern rifles. Then the poor
never .aw the fruit except At distance,
and Ia the wealthy they were an unac-
cu.iomcd luxury. To-day Il l. mor
common thing to fnd banana. at the
corusr groccfy store aud In the wagons
of the street ,endcr. than apples or
| pears.
FolloN the step. through which the
i fruit has gone "a an attiCle of trade,
hack frOm the cart ot the pcddlct
OT the hand of that familiar genius
Who will "put 'cm up Ia q bsg for
you. fourteen for quarter to the
great s,ccl hull In which they have made
their long Journey from the tropics.
Twelve year. sgo "fruli.r" meant a
sailing vessel. the owners of whose ear
| 20 took great risk. of calm weather or
other DELAYS, ani Nerc fortunate to gvt
II .airly into market. The arrival ot a
schooner load Ia sound condition was,
even then, . matter which might mate
RALLY inhasncc the retail pric. of bs-
nana.. This. ot course, kept down the
demand Ia q great measure. bccauss the
| rsks of large shipments were - great,
ann the supply dd no, greatly cNcccd
the dsmaud.
wh-n some original and daring mcf.
chant ri.ks,i the venture ot steamer
load thsrv wrrv many to prophecy fall
urc. IN fact the general Impression of
those Ia that trade sc-ms Ia have been
that even II the bananas reached port
la sound condition they could not D.
wotkc,l Of rapidly enough to prevent
their spelling ca the cOnslgnec's hands.
>lnce that time the change Ia the market
IA. ben radi,al Instead ot small
consignment oncc or twic. week. New
Notk, Roston aud Philadelphia rvyciN.
from .sNeut-su Ia thirty thousand
hunchss lrr day. \ large numtsr ~
,hs.e bunche., nearly three millions a
year, cOme frlm Jamaica. The average
pri,, PAID In Jsmaica l. l.. AZ. sterling,
of o. cents per bunch. At this hgurv
80 h,Nc pad into the leland over sl,-
Urn.OJn, aud to the shipprrs, miidl.m"n,
sni r,ttilrr- At least ten time. that
amount in q ycar, for Jamaica btnanss
alou.. o. Nies of thcss facts u !. worth
shlls to aCquaint ourselves With an AK
nrultural hrld which others have c'i-
lsutly ioani .o profitable.
Thsrv afv thrvc classrs Interested la
this production. fir.t sr- the I'-a.ants
,ni .m,ll vultiyator., sho briug Ia each |
from tNu to q dorm bunchcs week, bat !
sho.s Aggregated contributions Ia the |
trade arv considerable. Next to thee in |
order, and .tili mDrv important, arv the |
gr,at companies which have pl,niatlons |
Oi fruit ~hich they Work Ia coniunyiion |
sith their stsamsr., aciing both as Cul- /
tiator.. Shipper. aud vaffier.. III. |
thiri cl.s. At the steamship vumIanics |
= ho have no plantation, or bat small |
unrs, depending uI-nn the native groScr' |
Toe their supplies. Ib~.- .snd sgvni. o. |
every part 81 th- island Nisrr thu fruit |
b. rai.e,i, ani have shipping stations AZ /
.hot Intervals alung the Cosst
Jsmska's ara j. l,laB sguarr miles.
Mugh of thi. 1. la mnuut,ia aui wood /
l,ud, bat therr are everywhere in the /
hills rich valleys, Ani even the hillside. /
tiem ..lNr. are cultivated by the u~gtu.s. /
Ul-rr arr hanir-i. of ihou.aui. ~ /
acre. that have never bc-n cultivated. |
shich arr available for bsnana culti,s-
tlan. Amoag tho.e whose energy ani /
optimism have done much fur Jamaica |
az, somr gvutlsmcn of Boston ani Ncs /
Nofk. ~lss.e ploacsf, a Ncs Enslani /
.es captain, twenty years agu took a
.choau.r load of bananas north a. Ncu- /
turv. Finding gooi market for bi, /
fruit BE- returned sul eventually s.tilg,i /
la the ISLAND. To-day hc 4. At the head /
% company which /. running halt a
,iofrn steamers, ani Osus or ls,se. Tor /
banana Cultuv twenty estates which |
range In .igs from 80 o. 800 acres. |
Another American, ayoung man srttling |
ln II. Nam. Bay, Jsm,ic., With his |
yuung Nifc, la. built up an important |
trade. The Atlss =. :. 60. 1. shipping |
an Immense amount Ot fruit, As arv alec |
the Ancbor llBc steamers, herr & Co.. |
vessels. aud others.
The estimated acrcsge Of the colony |
l. 2.sg1.O ot which :,l!l l!l acre. are |
uncultiYat-i q, the prc.snt time, and |
upoa less than a halt ot this has any |
property tax becn paid. The cost of |
pra,ti,al labor I'cf day !. J. Ia 1O ccni.,
the lo~-r rate being paid foe the scr'icc. |
of women, Who sork IA the urlds With |
the m-u. Clearing ruinate land costs |
from s!Io "a si.>J per acre, grsss pies
=. frOm - Ia yi cents, aud woodland
AFTER being cut irum T. 10 % CENTS per
Que hundred for pulling .,ump'.
The hanna plant bear. but single !
bunch of fruit aud then dlcs or !. cut
down aud 1. replaced, a. " l. hrst plant
cd, by sucker or springer. Lately
number rofcxpctimcnts have been m 'dc
With fertilizers. Act the old method of
leaving the naturally rich .oil to take
care of IA. crop without aid !. s,ill the
one generally practiccd, but II will not
do Ia the case of Lands oVertaxci by
former crops II cane or other prOiucc.
All .oIl will not do for the production of
the banana. Grower. are beginning to
r,allIe this. aud are choosing the loca-
tion of their farms aud plantations With
more care. The productivity of soll aud
the location, az we'll AZ the season of
planting have their effect upon the length
of time neye.ssry Ia produce fruit. That
planted la "ne locality, al ccrtaln time
of wear, take. nine month. to mature;
While la some other place, under condi-
tion. which seem Ia the casual observer
onIy slightly different, fruiiiou IL reach
Ell In fifteen or sixteen mouths. The
usual time l. about Que year. ~ the
banana plant require. plenty OF room In
which 10 unfold IT. long aud spreading
leaves, aud also To adj to the facility OF
harvesting. the suckers are placed AZ a
di.tsnc. OF ~ 10 Is feet apart. The lat
ter space 1. not too much for plant. of
the larger varieties. This Will give the
planter upward Of seventy plants per
acre.
According 10 the estimate of one large
grower. sJs 30 per acre Il given az low
/ annual return for the fruit. The same su-
tbority states that the cost Of production
A. so per acre when not oser threc miles
from a landing place. THIS !. certainly
e.timating very mOdestly, the fact being
that many farmers have done much bet
ter during the past few ysar.. The best
results, hOscyer, cannot BE- attained
without care In the selection OF locality.
Bu, there {. hardly point on the Island
where the beautiful plant will not grow
sxcept on the top. of the very highest