The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-05-14

All foreigners have equal rights and privileges, and the government stands ready to extend full protection to all persons who will assist in the develop ment of the country Owing to the easy going nature of the natives the future of the country rests with foreign enter prise. The rush of prospective inves- tors into Cuba and Porto Rico since the Spanish war has brought an enterprise ing element within striking distance of the virgin country of Central America, and the exhibition of that regions re- sources at the Pan-American, as well as at St. Louis this year, coupled with the work upon the isthmian canal, are conditions still further directing atten- tion toward this promising country.
 Owing to the decrease in the produc- tion of apples and the high price of or anges, the demand of the masses for a palatable and nutritious fruit within their reach can be best met by bananas Tn the United States consumption of this fruit is increasing rapidly. In Chi cogo alone forty thousand dollars is spent weekly; Buffalo disposes of thirty carloads weekly or more than fifteen hundred carloads annually, whit~ amount represents an expenditure Of over seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars yearly At wholesale rates dur ing the year, S5,565,5SS worth of bananas were shipped into the United States, and the new trade rapidly springing up in Europe is being augmented now that the fruit is being transported on refrig- erating steamers Honduras produced fifteen hundred thousand punches in 19O0
 "Of all the products of the vegetable kingdom the banana is the most prolific of all food plants. Thirty-th pounds of wheat and ninety-eight pounds of po- tatoes require the same space for growth that will produce four thousand 1 of bananas. After planting, no subse- quent cultivation or care is required other than wedding at six month inter- vals. Eleven months after the original 1 jungle is cleared, burned and suckers ] planted, the first fruit is ready for cut ting,l and the plantation will bear con- tinuousy for fifteen of eighteen years without replanting.
 After the land is once cleared, plant ed and buildings constructed, labor is a small consideration to the banana planter, as the remaining work is of light nature, and the force will be small. bThe natives are frugal, patient and do- cile, and under proper management in- dustrious and reliable. They rest con tent with fifty cents a day in gold, an | of mo nI cor eay1 plot.
 Muss paradisiaca,' or Fruit of Par adise, the scientists call the banana, and legend has 1t this was the fruit which tempted Eve, and caused the downfall of Adam, in support of which is cited the appearance of the sign of the cross in the transverse section of some varieties. Musa sapientum' or Fruit of Knowledge the appellation given to still another variety also gives credenee to the belief which would make this favorite fruit as old as the human race itself.
 "The banana sprouts, from which grow with amazing rapidity the gigan- tic herb-like trees, are planted as wilted suckers that for all the world resemble black and ragged stakes. These are made up of tightly rolled leaf sheathes gradually diminishing in width until the narrow tender cream-lilxe leaves at the core are reached. Responding to the nutriment of the warm rains, the ten der leaves unroll and spread out ir width, are dried by the sun and split by the breezes into narrow ribbons. When the plant reaches between twenty and thirty feet in height the flower stem forces it's way up through the middle oi the stalk. Then at the top of the stalk appear several smaller leaves, followed by a cone of red, changing into purple which as it natures forces off the outer petals and exposes to light and air the diminutive bananas, ranged in serried ranks about the stalk. In two months the bunch attains weight of about fif- ty pounds Then comes ahe necessity of careful harvesting and shipping, so f that the heavy punches may not be bruised in falling. Bruises causing little black spots cause the fruit to rot quick 1 ly as it ripens. By long experience the natives have found that the best meth cd of taking the punches from the stalks is to cut deep enough to make the stalk bend toward the ground, and finally as the bunch reaches the earth, to sever the remainder of the branch 1 with a sharp slash of the handy ma chete. Rocky Mountain News.