Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-19

then we passed tree in blossom. Each
tree had but one; but this was from six
to ten inches long and at It's base
big around as my arm. 1t looked like a
great bud rather than a blossom, and 1t
formed the end of a bunch of bananas
which extended out from the root of the
leaves at distance OF from ten to fifteen
feet from the ground. AS | looked |
noticed that the stem of the bunch hung
down and that the bananas grow upward
instead of downward many suppose. l
counted many punches which had fifty
bananas upon them and was told that
single bunch may have as many as
hundred.
How the Fruit Is Harvested.
In cutting bananas trees are chopped
almost in half AS they fall the bunch
caught and cut off, after which the tree Is
chopped off to the ground to allow the
sprouts at the foot TO have the full
strength of the roots Bananas here Will
sprout up six, seven. eight more years
from the same roots; and sugar cane Will,
l am told. yield crops for twenty-five years
without replanting.
All bananas intended for export are cut
green. There is not a bit of yellow to be
seen in any of the fruit when ii is shipped,
and 1t takes a week or more before such
bananas are ready for eating. There are
packing sheds along the coast throughout
the plantation. where the bananas are put
into lighters and carried to the central sta
uOn 10 the steamers -Four days AFTER tHdt
they in New York, and within two
weeks are on the breakfast tables all over
the country.
rineapples and Oranges.
In another part of the estate plneappies
grow between the bananas. They seem to
dc as well there as In the open. Indeed,
saw pines by the thousands as big as a
mans head surrounded by red and green
cactus-lke leaves In another part oranges
grow among the bananas The orange
trees are of rich green. Many of them
are pure Cuban. but thousands are budded
from the best of the Florida and California
varieties.
Later 1 crossed the bay to the Tacajo
plantation, which also belongs to this same
company. This contains $4,000 acres, and
1t has even more bananas and oranges than
are on the island of Saetia l rode about
twenty miles up and down the hills through
the bananas there, and at times was so
lost, In going this way and that over the
plantation roads. that, had not the manager
of the estate been with me. 1 might have
ridden about for days and not found my
way out.
FAC, 1000 Coffee and Cacao Trees.
Among the bananas at Tacajo more than
240, 600 coffee and cacao trees have been
planted, and In addition large number OF
orange trees. The coffee trees are thrae
years of age, but they will produce this
year. and hereafter will yield about a
pound or more to the tree. They are plant
ed in rows, and they grow luXuriantly, as
do also the cacao trees, from which our
chocolate comes. | saw fruit some
of the trees, and was told that they would
all be producing within two years. Going
back to the plantation l rode for several
miles through sugar cane, which gangs of
men were cutting and loading on the plan
tat!on railroad to be carried to the sugar
MILL and saw train load after train load of
~ mo TharA ora oil
together 1900 acres in cane. The first crop
taken off about one years ago, and
they have cut the second this year. l saw
also some sea island cotton, but SO far this
has been only an experiment.
There are now 1000 men working on the
Tacajo estate, and there, as at Saetia, they
have a central village, with offices and
stores. The employees live in villages of