The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-05-03
BANANA CULTURE.
An Interesting Article by hr'
Giryin on the Question.

ANY one VlSlCluS t1Io Wh"1A ~
Honolulu must notice the immense
quantity of bananas which are
being shipped continually to the
Coast. 1t is an industry which
has steadily increased during the
past twenty years and is one which
is yet in it's infancy. Americans
and Europeans are beginning to
learn the value Of bananas as q
foodstuff. Like rice, which at one
time was used as a dessert and has
become an article of regular con-
sumption, bananas have in the
United States got beyond the stage
of dessert and are eaten as vege-
table. It is said that more foodstutf
per acre can be produced in bana-
mas than any other product of the
soil. It is an industry which has
revolutionized the agriculture of
the tropics. Formerly it was
thought that sugar or coffee or rice
were the only products which
would pay to raise and that for
these slave labor or contract labor
was essential. The writer visited
Kingston, Jamaica, In 1868
and saw a sugar plantation In
ruins, the negroes having refused
to work when not compelled to do
SO. One of the owners of the estate
spoke very harshly of the negroes,
and held that they were only fit
for slaves, and that the manumis-
sion of them was the ruin of every
estate on the island. Today many
of these estates are divided into
small holdings and leased or
sold out to negroes who raise
bananas and receive $4,000 per
diem for them at the port of Kings
town alone. A fleet of steamers
conveys them to all the Atlantic
ports, both of America and Europe.
1t is an industry that the small
farmer can engage in in the tropics.
The time is near at hand when
bananas will be raised cheaper,
freights will be lower, and the con-
sumption on the Coast vastly In
creased. Like sugarcane, the selec-
ton of the better kinds of which
has aided largely in bringing the
output per acre to its present high
standard, so the better kinds of
bananas will be selected. There is
an immense variety of them, some
of which are suprior to others for the
different forms of preparation for the
table. Then again, some consumers
prefer one kind to the other for the
same purpose. A banana is a
fruit, in that it is sweet or SUBJ
acid. It is vegetable, in that it
does not grow on trees, but each
plant produces, one bunch and
dies. The stalk is put to no use on
the islands but to make compost,
whereas it is mass of fibre which
would make the finest of cordage or
paper making material. The ma
jority of people see very little diff
ference in bananas, but one of our
island housewives will point out
the kinds which are best for roast
ing, boiling, baking, frying, plain
or in batter, and eating with cream
and sugar or eating out of the hand.
The China or Guiana banana APP
pears to grow the most prolifcly,
and is what is generally shipped to
the foreign market. Some punches
have $50 and more, fruit. It is
more suitable for eating from the
hand or with cream and sugar
than some others, but is very nice
when fried. The popoulu is indi-
genous, and is probably the best of
all for baking in it's jacket. The
iholena is banana which grows
very large, but should not be
cooked in its jacket, as the skin
imparts an astringent taste to the
fruit.
The lele is smaller than the tho
lena, but very fine fruit. Proba-
bly, the best banana to eat out of
hand is the Brazilian. The NOW
is short and thick, smooth and yell
low, and very few to the bunch,
often not more than twelve, and
bakes deliciously. There are two
kinds of bolabola, or nuholani, q
yellow and red, the latter full of
seeds. There is also small
banana which has the smell and
taste and flavor of an apple, and is
called the apple banana. 1t is
good any way it is served.
In raising bananas for the mar
ket, it is found that a good many
punches do not come up to regula-
ton shipping size. As the pur-
chasers do not like two small
punches in lieu of one large