The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-09-10
THE c A
PI ON EARTH
carnenter Writes From its Center, With $4,000 Acres of Bananas IN
Sight, All Belonging to the Banana Trust-How the Fruit Is
Handled and Marketed-Railways On Farms.
Copyright, 1912. by Frank 6. Car
penter.)

CCopyright, 1912, by Frank 6. Car
penter.)
Panama. am
writing this in the centre Of one OF
the biggest banana plantations on
earth. The hill on wkich I am sit
ting is 500 feet high and 1t commands
a view of more han $4,000 acres OF
the ~greenest of green. The green rs
all made up of bananas and the elds
stretch as far as l a see to the
west. Beyond them is another plan
tation Of 10000 acres more. The "
plantations belong to the panama
trust, known as the United Fruit
Company, and they are only a part
of the mighty estates which this com
pany owns in Central and South
America and in the islands OF the
Caribbean Sea- 1t has taken up
about the best banana lands or these
sections and it annually ships bana-
mas by the hundreds OF millions.
Fran its farms come something like
three-fourths Of all the bananas We
use, and it is due to its good business
methods that we are able TO buy this
fruit much cheaper than the apples
we raise in our own back yaTds.
bananas from Panama are sold IN
New York, Washington and Chicago
at from fifteen to twenty cents a
dozen whereas apples of equal ex-
cellence from Oregon, New York. or
Virginia bring 2 cents and upward
apiece.
A Sea of Bananas.
But as to the extent Of the banana
busineas and the part that this fruit
hal In the American stomach. I shall
~ 10tar ct mo civ Won q view
Of the great banana sea as it is spread
out below me. AT my right are the
mountains, the upper end Of the
Andes, which at this point are about
as high as the Blue Ridge and Of
much the same color. They slope
down to the green and bound what,
as l look, seems a vast sea OF green
bushes.
Now turn and look to the left. The
sea Of green extends for fifteen miles
in that direction without a break, and
it is the same at the front and the
back. Almost as far as you a see
there is greer everywhere. except here
and there where one OF the high trees
Of tn jungle was too big for cutting.
Now take you glass and look more
closely Al the plantations below you.
The green is not so solid. You a see
that 1T is divided up into great fields
VI Idi LIS CdCA VI "n1CI CO14L04AkS
about a thousand acres, and that
there are narrow lines OF railroads
running through it. with wagon roads
here and there. Those roads were
built to get out the bananas. There
are 40 miles Of railways on this
banana plantation. and they run
through the farms like the veins OF
ones body reaching all parts. The
roads are about three feet wide. With
n ~N Dor ~-H 1891 ---lz
shining out OF the green. On some
Of the roads are cars loaded with
green punches and on the trunk line
which crosses the estate are plies OF
bananas corded up for the trains.
How Bananas Are Handled.
Now take a look at that train which
is approaching the hill. See, it has
stopped and is taking on fruit. The
gang OF Jamaica negroes Is transfer
ring the piles to the cars. They han
die the fruit carefully. The car.
nav been lined with leaves to pre-
vent bruiaing the bananas as h trai1
goes Over the rails. Each bunch il
lifted UP into the air and passed fron
hand to hand to the men on the train
There is no throwing or dropping tn
lunches. Each is raised as tenderl.
as though it were a baby, and is lai'
softly down on the car. The bunche
are packed just so and the mel
know just how many will fit into
car and how many carloads it viii
take for the steamer which is t.
carry them to the United States.
am told that 100 carloads will b
shipped off today. The trains vii
carry them down to the port an
the bananas will go from the cars O
endless belts of canvas right into tn
They are put in col
storage, and remain there until the
begin to fly out on similar carrier
into the cold storage cars at Ne
Orleans or New York. These bans
mas will go to New Orleans or t
Mobile, from where they will fly to tn
the chief cities Of the Mississippi va
ley and the lands farther west. TT
United Fruit Company aims to SUI
ply our whole country. 1t has
divided into sections and there is
qort for each section. l am tot
that the bananas from Port Limo,
Costa RIGA, which lies sixty milk
away up h coast, all go to Ne