Evening star., 1903-07-01
THE BANANA SEASON
INCREASE IN THE CONSUMPTION
oRTHE FRUIT.
Spring and Summer the Best Time for
the Tradey-24, ,ooo, 600 Bunches
. imported Last Year.

From the New York Commercial Advertiser
One would think that as warm weather
approaches and irish fruits and vegetables
begin to cheaperf the banana mans profits
would begin to fall OF. But this Is just
the time Of year when they swell to three
times their winter proportions. 1t Is not
in winter, when little other fruit is to be
had, that people consume bananas In vast
quantities, but in summer. when they as
sault the eyes of the millions temptingly
without danger of freezing.
America has within the last ten years
become the greatest banana-consuming
country on the globe. Twenty-four mil
lion punches were imported last year into
the United States, an increase or ~ per
cent over ten years ago. This increase Is
due simply and solely to ventilators. The
ordinary ship has no ventilators In the
holds. The ship constructed specially for
carrying bananas has from twelve to
twenty big Ones.t' The company which con-
trolls 80 per cent of the banana trade has
seyenty-five Of these banana ships in active
service.
On the Railroad.
But care can by no means relax after
the banana lands on American soil. For
long distance hauls the national fruit OF
the tropics requires almost as much atten-
ton as it does on ShipbOard. This Is par
ticuIarly true in the west, where the mes
senger service Is an important department
of banana commerce. The banana mes
senger holds an interesting position. He
takes the cars for the western trade out or
New Orleans. on some trips having as
many as twenty under his charge. They
must be dropped all along the way from
st. Louis to the coast. and they must
reach each town in the right condition,
ripened just enough to make good eating.
This maturing takes place on the cars. and
depends on the messengers skillful manip-
ulation of ventilators. No artificial heat Is
supplied in winter. The cars are heated
with stoves before departure, and the
stoves are then removed. After that the
vast mass of moist bananas will generate
even too much heat If left to themselves.
There Is thermometer in each car, and
1t Is the messengers business to keep the
temperature regulated to a dot, so that
the man In Kansas City and the man In
Seattle will get his bananas just right. So
that in fact, westerners consume bananas
ripened by messenger service instead of
the sun. twenty-five messengers make
their headquarters in New Orleans. but In
the east the distances are so much less
that not more than five or six are kept
busy.
Banana Countries.
Bananas for New York come from ia
maica Costa Rica. Cuba, Santo Domingo
and Santa Marta, in South America. Those
for New Orleans come mostly from the
United States Of Colombia and various parts
of Central America. The fruit company
which SO largely controls the trade raises 60
per cent Of the product 1t handles on it's
own plantations. where 1t cultivates the
fruit. although 1t will grow without cultf-
vation throughout tropical America. There
are only two kinds Of bananas, the red
and the yellow. but the red one is no lon
ger handled owing to its poor transporting
qualities. Fried, 1t forms a staple dish
among the humber housewives Of trop-
ical America. Two varieties of the plan
TAIN which is kind of banana. are i'm
ported for the southern trade.
The same improved methods OF transpor-
tation which have made Americans a race
of banana eatehs have begun the same
Transforming process with the English. But
refrigerator ships .are necessary, summer
and winter, to fenaible the banana to stand
the seventeen fur eighteen day voyage to
Liverpool. as against that Of five days to
New York. The first refrigerator banana
ships from Jan1aicas TO Liverpool were put
on in 19of with b. fortnfghtly service. This
was increased to aitweexly! service last
year. each ship carrying 80, coo stems. Prob
ably 100000 stems were landed in Liver
pool last year, an increase of 100 per cent
over the yearrbefore The people of Eng
land and Europe generally do not know
what good banana is. They have been
used to eating them when the skin is green,
at which time they are not fit for food.
Under the fostering care of the banana sec
ton of the American invasion they will
probably become great banana eaters
as Americans; al of which means an eco
nomic change of considerable Importance
to tropical America. e'