The Portland daily press., 1898-07-16
THE FRUIT TRADE OF CUBA.
Reason Why 1t Has Been Practically
Killed by American Composition.
(From the Florida Times Union and
Citizen.)

From the Florida Times Union and
a. Citizen.)
Among. the things of which but pleasant
memories remain to the natives of Cuba
may be counted the fruit industry that
was once thriving business that the
native planters fondly believed was theirs
forever and day. A change came over
the spirit of their dream when the Amer
leans decided to try their hands at rails
ing oranges and pineapples, and the
dream has been changing ever since,
until today the Cubans and the Spaniards
of Cuba would be glad to see some chance
of getting back even small remnant of
their former prosperous fruit trade. How
it came TO pass that the fruit trade of
Cuba passed from the islanders into the
hands of the American growers is told by
a produce merchant who lived in the
fruit district for many years, and. in
fact, until the loss of the fruit trade to
the island forced him to leave. ~
"When.w shall have won Cuba" said
this man, "the Cuban fruit trade will be
Cuba. The conditions of soil and climate
are perfect for the cultivation of fruit
like the orange and the pineapple, but
the people are quite unequal to the task
of taking advantage of these conditions.
1t is not quite fair to call the natives OF
Cuba lazy. Shiftlsssness Or carelessness
more aptly describes their state. They
always choose the easiest way of accom-
plishing an end, and leave the rest to
Providence.
"Now, fruit like oranges and pine
apples requires the most careful handling
from the time 1t is picked until 1T is
offered for sale in the markets. How do
the Cubans gather and market this fruit,
or rather how did they, for the market is
theirs no longer? 10 get the fruit from
the trees the Cuban or Spanish planter
shook the tree or knocked the fruit down
with long pole. 1t reached the ground
bruised by the fall and battered by the
| rap from the pole. Considering that the
| fruit was picked for Journey of
thousands of miles, it will be seen that it
| began its market life seriously handi-
capped for competition with the carefully
picked fruit of the American plan ter.
Tho next step was to transport the
fruit to the town to be packed for ship.
ment. This was done by mules. The
oranges or pineapples were bundled into
the paniers or saddlebags and away went
the mule over the rough country roads,
| jolting the fruit in tho saddlebags and
making sad havoc with tho cargo. When
the destination was reached, instead of
carefully lifting the burden from the
mules back and depositing it tenderly
on the ground, the mule-driver dragged
it off in the toughest way and threw it
down in the nearest corner of the store
house. The next man threw his consign.
ment of fruit on the top of the other, and
SO they were piled up without the slight
est regard to the consequences to the
fruit.
"Next we come to the packing process
have seen the men stand several feet
away from the barrels or hampers in
which the fruit is to be packed and actu-
ally throw it into the mouth of the re-
ceptacle, hit or miss, and in either event
adding to the bruises that tho poor fruit
had received. When the barrel was full
the lid had to be got on, and if 1t didn't
quite fit a little physical force would
make it. Have you seen an obstreperous
trunk lid forced TO close by being sat
upon? Well, that is actually what have
seen done with the oranges and pineap-
pies that where slipped from Cuba to this