The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1900-02-12
FACTS ABOUT BANANAS.
why the Red Skinned Variety Has
Practically Disappeared.

Practically Disappeared.
as to be practically rarity. The prevail
ing banana is yellow. Twenty years and
more ago the red was the prevailing ba-
mana and the yellow the rare one. The
change from red to yellow is due to COM
mercial reasons. The yellow banana 10
more profitable. /
The yellow banana requires less care
and time In the cultivation. and so costs
less in that stage. 1t sticks to the stem
better than the red banana, and 50 stands
handling better There are one-third
more yellow bananas to the bunch than
red. With all these marked advantages
in its favor the yellow banana has prac-
tically driven the red banana out.
With this great scarcity red bananas
now bring fancy prices; 1t may be ten
times as much as yellow bananas. With
yellow bananas at 81 or $3.50 bunch.
red would be worth from So to $1l, and
there would be fewer In bunch. Red
bananas sell nowadays in the fruit stores
as high as 20 cents each. The compare.
lively few lunches imported are taken
by dealers in Gne aud fancy fruits as
novelties, the rarity, in large measure.
determining the price. 1t might be asked
why, with red bananas at such prices,
more are not cultivated; to which the an
swer is that il more were raised the price
would 60 down again. and there would
be no profit in raising them for the gen.
eral demand in competition with the
more economically produced, more pro-
life and better shipping yellow bananas.
The red banana appears to be now in its
scarcity like some other kinds of compar-
atively rare fruits, or, say, like game.
Some people prefer the favor Of the red
banana, some prefer that of the yellow
1t is probable that the great majority
would have no choice, and the far lower
price at which the yellow banana can be
offered to the individual consumer settles
the question.
Bananas were never before so cheap as
they have been in cent years.
Formerly luxury tina rather costly
than otherwise, the banana is now a
cheap luxury. Very good bananas can
now be bought commonly in the streets in
the season at cent apiece. or 10 cents
a dozen, such as formerly cost two or
three times as much. Formerly bananas
were brought to this country in sailing
vessels, in slick, fast schooners, which
with any sort of favorng conditions
made quick trips. With adverse weather
il long continued the cargoes rotted
Now bananas are brought by steam in
fast steamers built especially for the
fruit trade. These steamers may of
course be held up by storms, but they are
not likely to be. Commonly they land
cargoes here in a specified time and in
the best and most suitable condition for
handling and marketing to the best ad.
vantage and with the least possible
waste and with advantage as to evcnness
Of supply. The great bulk of the banana
trade in this country is now controlled by
a company which banana importers have
organized.
The bananas eaten in this country
come from Costa kica. British aud Span
ish Honduras, Colombia, Jamaica and
Cuba-that is, from countries around the
southern part Of the gulf Of Mexico and
around the Caribbcan sea. The bulk of
the fruit from the gulf countries goes q
New Orleans FOR distribution, that from
the other countries coming to Atlantic
ports. For many years bananas have had
a more or less wide distribution from the
ports OF receipt but they were never be-
fore 50 widely distributed nor sold So
cheaply at interior points as now Ba-
nanas are now sold, not as rarities. but
more or less commonly, in all parts Of the
country, practically everywhere. the east
ern part OF the country being supplied
from Atlantic ports and the Mississippi