The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1898-01-13

| months md my monthly periods were never
| regular. I took DR.. Fierce's Fdvorite PrcScrip-
ton and it cured l feel well thank the
| World Dispensary Medical Association"
ture hands. A few days later the ends of
the fingers bloom with small yellow flow
ers, and when these drop off the bananas
form, the central stem becoming the stem
of the great bunch which afterwards de-
velops. A bunch of fruit consists of from
4 to II 'manos," (hands) as they are
called, each hand having from to II
banana fingers on it. In shipping, bunch
of eight hands is counted as full, those
having ) to I hands pass muster for half
bunch, and those with less than hands
are hardly reckoned at all. From the root
Of each tree several shoots, or 'ssuckers,''
| sprout, every one of which becomes in
turn a tree and bears its bunch of bananas,
or may be transplanted to another cuadra.
Little skill or labor is required in cutivat-
ing bananas, for dame nature kindly does
most of the work herself. The first cost
of planting an acre of land is roughly es-
timated at $50 and the product to easily
average 500 lunches year to the acre. In
other words, the bananas may cost the
producer seven or eight cents bunch
and will sell on the plantation to the
American fruit company for from 80 to 60
cents a bunch, in American gold, and in
the United States from ST. 90 to So 90 per
I bunch. 1t is calculated that a vessel of
900 tons can carry cargo of 20 900
lunches, If the loss by decay during the
! voyage is as high as Is per cent.-the
balance sold, even at the lowest price of a
dollar per bunch, gives net profit in one
trip, Of not less than 81 600. ON the cargo
of bananas only, without incl whatudinp
may also be yielded at the same time by
carrying passengers and mails. The heavy
loss above referred to can be greatly d.
minished by proper care. Bananas in
tended fol- expectation must be cut green
and slowed in the vessel in such a way as
to permit the air to circulate freely and
prevent the rays of the sun from shining
on the fruit and ripening it before the
destination is reached The slightest
brulse on the skin of banana rapidly
develops into black spot, which lessons
the value of the fruit in market, if it does
not utterly ruin it. Great care is neces-
sary in cutting the huge punches. Ex-
perience has taught the natives to so guage
the blows when severing the stems that
the first causes the ponderous cluster to
droop till it nearly touches the ground.
Then they are carefully picked up and
placed in cart, boat or railway truck, as
the case may be, and conveyed to the near
est port of shipment. The buyers have
given orders, by telegraph or otherwise, of
the day and hour the vessel will sail, and
the grower must have his fruit on hand at
Just the right minute, no sooner, no later
So far, the supply does not equal the de-
mand, and the planter finds no difficulty
in disposing of his fruit, especially if his
place is on the bank of some river. or
otherwise easy of access. The purchasers
transport it to the United States and Eng
land on their own account, sharing the
risks with the insurance companies
Mr.. Richard Villafranca, formerly the
Costarican Consul in San Francisco, Cali
fornia, published some important bulletins
on banana growing a few years ago. As
nobody knows more about the subject
than he, | take the liberty of borrowing a
fay of H.
average plantation of 40 manzanas (about
90 acres), and takes into consideration all
the difficulties to be overcome, such as
bad roads, scarcity of labor, high price of
seed, etc, and also calculates that the
planter has not money enough to buy his
land and improve it too, but has been
compelled to borrow money by mortgage
on his property at s per cent. year.
Giving 80 acres of wild land, the cost of
cutting down the uuderbrush, clearing,
J with 270 suckers at S25 per hundred) and
five weed clearngs, would be in the neigh
borhood of 50, 070. Adding board and
expenses of an experienced overseer, at
$50 per month, and per cent. interest for
y months on the money Invested, brings
the cost of the first year up to So, 635.
The second year fewer weed clearings are
needed, but "a, 900 punches of bananas
are to be cut, portable house is needed,
plows and other agricultural implements,
all of which, together with the overseer's
wages and interest at per cent, may
bring the total cost at the end of the
second year up to IS, AS. Now for the
other and more agreeable side of the ques-
ton. Forty manzanas of land originally
planted with 270 suckers, now have at
least 800 suckers, yielding at the low
est calculation five punches each-or 81
| 600 punches. The lowest price at which
these are ever sold is so cents per bunch.