The Irish standard., 1900-02-03
FACTS ABOUT BANANAS.
peared-Other Modern Phases
OF the Trade.

Red bananas are SO scarce nowadays
as to be practically rarity; the pre-
vailing' banana is yellow. Twenty years
and more ago the red was the prevail
ing banana and the yellow the rare
one. The change from REQ to yellow is
due to commercial reasons; the yellow
banana is 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 SO
stands handling better. There are one
third more yellow bananas to the bunch
vantages in its favor the yellow banana
has practically driven the red banana
out.
With this great scarcity red bananas
now bring fancy prices; it may be ten
times as much as yellow bananas. With
yellow bananas at dollar or dollar
and a half bunch, red would be worth
from six to eleven dollars, and there
would be fewer in bunch. Red ba
nanas sell nowadays in the fruit stores
as high as 20 cents each. The compar-
atively few punches imported are taken
by dealers in fine and 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 answer is that if more were
raised the price would go down again,
and there would be no profit in raising
them for the general demand, in COM
petition with the more commonly pro-
duced, more prolific and better ship
ping yellow bananas. The red banana
appears to be now in its scarcity like
some other kinds of comparatively rare
fruits, or, say, like game. Some peo-
pie prefer the flavor of the red banana,
some prefer that of the yellow; it is
probable that the great majority would
have no choice, and the far lower price
at which the yellow banana can be Of
fered to the individual consumer settles
the question.
Bananas were never before so cheap
as they have been in very recent years.
Formerly a luxury that was rather
costly than otherwise, the banana is
now cheap luxury; very good ba-
nanas can now be bought commonly in
the streets in the season at a cent
apiece, or ten cents dozen, such as for
merly cost two OF three times as much.
Formerly bananas were brought to this
country i'll sailing vessels, i'll slick fast
schooners which, with any sort of IA
voring conditions, made quick trips;
with adverse weather, if long contin-
ued, 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 specified time, and in the best
and most suitable condition for han
ding and marketing to the best advan-
7 tage and with the least possible waste,
and with great advantage as to even
ness of supply. The great bulk of the
banana trade in this country is now
controlled by company which banana
importers have organized.
The bananas eaten in this country
come from Costa Rica, British and
J . pdulSu 11OuuuidS, OOlOluUlu, JdLudlCd
and Cuba; that is, from countries
around the southern part of the Gulf of
Mexico and around the Caribbean sea.
The bulk of the fruit from the gulf
countries goes to New Orleans for dis
tribution, that from the other coun-
tries coming to Atlantic ports. For
many years bananas have had more
or less wide distribution from the ports
of receipt, but they were never before
SO widely distributed nor sold SO cheap
~ at interior points as now. Bananas
are now sold not as rarities, but more
or less commonly in all parts of the
country, practically everywhere; the
eastern part of the country being sup
piled from Atlantic ports and the Mis-
sissippi valley and the western half
from New Orleans. Costa Rica ba-
nanas are now shipped from New Or
leans over pretty much all the western
country to the Pacific coast.-N. Y. Sun.