CULTURE OF BANANAS.
A CENTRAL AMERICAN INDUSTRY OF
CREAT PROPORTIONS.
Tho Ranan ltaa the Foremoat Place In
the Importation of Tropin Frails to
This Country Kar of Cultivation
T Wl Rftnrnl to tha ttennna Fanners.
As it table delicacy and a fruit now
nnlversally sought and consumed , by
the American people, says Frank
Leslie's Popular Monthly, the banana
readily ami easily takes the foremost
place of all the rest products of the
tropica. It has been but a brief span
of years since this dainty and tooth
some denizen of Central America be,
came generally known, especially to
the vast interior cities of the United
Btates. But the intimacy which steam
navigation has established between
this country and the tropics, as well as
the rapid transit to points remote from
the seaboard, has rendered possible a
most stupendous traffic in tho most
delicate and perishable fruits.
Under snch favorable and en
couraging conditions, the banana
trade, with almost incredible rapidity,
lias increased from a few thousand
clusters, eighteen years ago, to the
enormous annual importation of over
five million bunches.
If tradition is to be relied npon, the
banana has an ancient and roved
lineage from the earliest and mythic
epochs of human career. The fruit is
also known in the East as "Adam's
Fig," which fortifies a claim made of
its having furnished, from its great
broad leaves, the primeval costumes of
our first parents. It is considered the
mnsa paradisica of the botanists, and
its vast spreading foliage would have
easily invited selection as a covering
for the nakedness of those early
dwellers in the Garden of Eden.
Contrary to the prevailing idea, the
banana is not indigenous to the West
ern hemisphere, as its first roots were
brought over to America by a monk
in 1516, and was first cultivated in
Honduras. It is natural, therefore,
rOADINO BANANAS) AT PUERTO CORTEZ,
that the first country of its adoption
ehould now be the foremost iu its
importation, and the unknown eccle
siastic, who brought over the first
germ, was the pioneer in one of the
greatest fruit industries of the new
world.
The lowlands of all tropical countries
are essentially hot, aud while not
gracious and inviting as a residence
for man, they furnish a very necessary
condition of both soil and climate for
the development and propagation of
the banana. Under such a climatie
etate, the vigor and energy of man
will decline and he would be unable
to properly cultivate tho plant and
reap the full benefit of its production,
if required to nse as much exertion
as is demanded in other latitudes.
But nature here, in her great and
beneficent economies, comes to his re
lief and has provided against the
necessity of any hard work and moder
ated all demand for any severe mental
or physical exercise. The farm work
is light, simple and easy, while it can
all be confined to the cool hours of
morning and evening, leaving the
laborer to enjoy his favorite siesta, in
some inviting shade, during the heated
term.
There is a fallacy prevailing that
the banana forma the principal and
taple food of these natives. This is
not only a mistake, but, strange as it
may appear, they often warn foreigners,
sojourning in the country, to beware
of too free an indulgenoe in this species
of fruit The natives never eat the
banana, -except when it is cooked like
the potato, and genorally while it is
green. This precaution against eat
ing the fruit is not so necessary in
temperate climes, where disorders of
the intestinal functions are not so
dangerous and where the digestion is
not weak and low, as in hot countries.
The banana grows luxuriantly
BANANA FARMEB8 OF 8ULA T ALLEY, HONDURAS.
throughout the lowlands of Brit
ish and Spanish Honduras, Guate
mala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. A
mail supply also oomes from Colombia,
Jamaica and Cuba, but the bulk of our
supply is harvested in Central America.
The most suitable soil is the sandy,
alluvial deposits, along the banks of
rivers and streams not often subjeot
to overflow, and the cultivation is con
fined to weeding, thinning out aut
molding up." Any deficiency in the
"stand" of the crop planted is easily
applied by the purohas of alios at
cue dollar par huadrad. - Just eight
months after this slip is put in the
ground it will furnish its first bunch
of bananas, and one only requires a
machete and a forked stick to gather
tho fruit. When ready to cut, the
bunch is taken four feet from tho
ground, in order to allow the moisture
to drain back into the stool of the
plant; the forked stick receives the
bunch and lets it easily to the ground
and the stalk is allowed to decay and
enrich the soil. Suckers soon ehoot
IW lialMlMi W 1
A BANANA SHED,
out from the stump and all but two
are cut away and planted elsewhere.
One average bunch will stand about
four feet in height, weigh ninety
pounds, have twelve handles or
clusters and contain 180 bananas.
An acre will produce about
2"0 bunches during the second year
after planting, aud an average yield for
the future of 300 bunches per aunnm.
The price of the fruit fluctuates slight
ly during the season, but averages at
the steamer from twenty to thirty cents
?ier bunch, and to the frugal and care
ul farmer this represents a profit of
thirty-five or forty per cent. This may
sound extravagaut, if not incredible,
to onr American farmers, but it is
nevertheless a fact, which can be sub
stantiated by a number of our citizens,
who have settled in this country and
are making small fortunes. Laud can
be obtained very cheap, and to clear
it up and prepare the first crop has
been computed to cost nine dollars per
acre. The natives care but little for
any more than their immediate neces
sities, aud consequently are mostly
the laborers of numerous enterprising
foreigners, who constitute the bulk of
the banana farmers. The opening of
new markets and the greatly increased
demand for the fruit has stimulated
the clearing and opening of many new
and extended farms during the post
three or four years. There is always
a certain and sure sale for the product,
as each farmer, at the very beginning
of the'planting season, can contract for
the sale of his entire crop to any of the
MS?"
NATIVE MESTIZO LABORERS.
competing lines of steamers which regu
larly visit the coast. If he chooses
this course the only thing that should
concern him is proper attention to make
the yield as great as possible, having
no uneasiness as to bis market. The
competition for the business has be
come very strong and many additional
steamers and new markets have been
created, as a stimulus and encourage
ment to increased production.
Tbe banana trade of British Hon
duras is not very extended, and its
product is mostly obtained from Staun
Creek, .Funta Gorda aud Monkey
River in the lower part of the province.
Nearly all of the fruit business of this
colony, including oocoanuts, is ab
sorbed by New Orleans.
Tha fruit business of Guatemala is
exclusively confined to tha Atlantio
side ana to tbe ports of Livingston,
Isabel and Tort Barios. Although the
trade has been - comparatively small a
new impetus will Je given it by tbe
oonpletioa of the railway to Port
Barios, as this will traverse the Mon
tagna Valley, one of the richest sec
tions of Central America.
The trade of Honduras, confined
also to the Atlantio side, is the most
extended of all the tropical countries.
Her leading banana ports are Puerto
Cortes!, Ceiba and the islands of Ut'l
la and Ruatan, although some frnit is
also taken from Tela, Truxillo, Irione
and Oracios a Dios. The bulk of the
imports, however, come through
NICARAGUA.
ruerto Cortez, the terminus of the
Honduras Railroad, which traverses
tbe great Rule and I'llua valleys for a
distance of forty miles. This section
is exhibiting the greatest development
of the banana industry to be observed
in Central America, and with im
proved railroad facilities is destined
to become one of the greatest fruit de
pots of the world.
The business of Nicaragua is con
fined to the ports of Bluetlelds, Grey
town and Tear) Lagoon, and practi
cally the entire product is shipped to
New Orleans or Mobile. Renewed in
terest in the industry is manifest
throughout this section, and fresh
lands are being opened to banana cul
tivation along the Rama and Escon
dido Rivers.
The banana trade of Costa Rica,
confined exclusively to Tort Limon,
shows the most rapid growth of any
other Central American country. Its
OOLD B1IICK, ONE-THIUD
product, raised mostly in the canton
of Matina, has grown from an output
of a few thousand clusters in 1882 to
1,000,000 bunches for the present
year. According to the statement of
Consul Dclgado, at New York, that
city alone has received about 700,000
bunches during 1896,- while the re
ceipts at New Orleans from Costa
Rica have been fully as much, if not
in excess of that figure. Iom calcu
lations made, on reliable statistics,
the approximate banana production
of Central America for the present
year is as follows:
Bunches.
British Honduras MiS.OOO
Spanish Honduras 1,750,000
Guatemala 4S0.000
Nicaragua 600,000
Costa ltica 1,600,000
Total.
...4,725,000
This is considered a very conserva
tive estimate, and if the amount of
local consumption, rejections and loss
from over-mature fruit is considered,
the product will easily aggregate over
five million bunches. Add to this the
amount of the fruit brought from Ja
maica, Colombia, Cuba and other
sources, and the whole will approxi
mate very close to eight million
bunches. Engaged directly in this
business are about thirty steamers and
an equal number of sailing vessels,
while double that number are engaged
in the traffio in connection with other
products of the tropics.
How to Keep Flowers tresh. -
Some people are not aware that
flowers will keep fresh muoh longer if
the stems are set in a dish of sand
than if they are plunged simply into
water. Put the flowers into a vase as
usual; then carefully sift into the vase
by means of a funnel sufficient sand to
fill it nearly to the top, shaking it so
that the sand will settle down among
the items. Gradually add water un
til it atauds a very little above the top
of the sand, and replenish the water as
often as needed. -
An ordinanee prohibiting screens in
saloons baa been adopted In Cleveland,
Ohio.
HEN KILLS A "RATTLER."
A Fierce Duel In Which "Biddy" Whipped
'the Snake.
Attorney Ben T. Hardin, of Kansas
City, Mo., is never happier than when
be has a gamecock under each arm. He
is an enthusiastic breeder of fowls, and
Jl hex wnira A rattles are.
raises nothing but game chickens.
Occasionally the chickens raise trou
ble. They raised a rumpus about a week
ago, and as a result Mr. Hardin was
treated to the novel sight of a fierce
duel between a hen and a rattlesnake.
The lawyer was proudly watching his
pets wander towards the bushes at the
further end of the yard, when sud
denly one of the hens gave a cry of
alarm. It was too late. The seven
rattles on the tail of a big snake
sounded, and an instant later the fowl
was struck. A hen by her side, In
stead of running away, got her fight
lug blood up, saw a chance for a good
battle and pitched in. She fonght
scientifically, and proved that she knew
a good deal about the vital spots of a
snake. She made a few passes, dodg
ing for advantage, and before the rep
tile realized its danger one fierce peck
at the back of its head ended its exist
ence. The hen that was bitten by the
snake died in agony. '
COLD BRICK WORTH $72,000;
A Solid Cone of the Prerlona Metal, One
Third Actual "lie, a Tlctared.
A solid cone of gold was received
in New York recently by the agency
of tha Bnnk of Montreal, from the
Caribou Hydraulic Mining Company,
of British Columbia. The chunk was
the result of about two months' work
ACTUAL 8IZE, WORT1I 172,000.
at the mine, which is largely owned by
officials of the Canadian Pacifio Rail
way Company.
The precious mass was taken to the
United States Assay Office. It weighed
4149.00 ounces Troy. In appearanoe
it resembled a sugar cone, save that
the sides were more rounded and the
apex not so pronounced. It measured
nine inches at the base, was ten inches
high, and is worth $72,000.
Tha Latest In Woman's Coiffure.
This new movable strip fringe is a
boon to wheelwomen and dwellers by
the sea. It is an English idea not yet
NEW "TRANSFORMED" COIFFUBC.
seen here. It is fixed to a eingle
strand easily concealed among the
front looks aud does not beat the head.
The Discoverer of Anmtheala,
The credit for first using aniesthet
ios, which has done so muoh to lessen
human pain, must be shared by three
men; Wells, of Hartford, Conn., who
employed nitrous oxide in 1844; Mor
ton, of Boston, who tried ether suc
cessfully in 1846, and Sir J. Y. Simp
son, of Edinburg, who introduced
chloroform a year later.
Texas ia to tax cigarette dealers to
tha tune or iqoo year, ...
BLAZERS AND BOLEROS,
FEATURES OF WOMAN'S DRESS THAT
ARE AS POPULAR A3 EVER.
Simple and Stylish Design of a Mate
That Is Suitable For Klther Ladles
or Mia H and some Bolero of White
Omandjr and Moire Unlqaely Decorated
Nothing seems to hold popular favor
more completely than the blazer,
writes May Manton. The style shown
in the illustration is both simple and
ladies' and missis' blazer.
stylish. The pattern is given for
misses as well as ladies, there being
absolutely no difference in cut between
those worn by the growing girls and
HANDSOME AND
their mammas. The fronts are with
out darts and there are straight backs,
which are laid in underlying plaits at
the waist line, side forms and under
arm gores by means of which the fit
ting is effected. The sleeves are two
seamed and show the regulation slight
fullness at the top. The fronts are
reversed to form lapels which meet the
rolling coat collar in uneven notches.
As shown, the material is light
weight covert cloth, but all-wool stuffs
as well as pique, linen, duck, crash
and cotton cheviot are well suited to
the style. Whatever the material, the
finish is an important point, and differs
according as the material is washable
or is not. All goods chased nnder the
latter bead are made unlined, the
seams being neatly bound and both
collar and revers simply self-faced
without stiffening.
Wool goods ot all sorts call for a
lining of taffetas and for an interlining
of tailor'a canvas in both collar and
revers, as well as a two-inch facing
round the lower edge and at the wrist
of each sleeve. When so treated the
blazer takes that set that nothing else
can give, and should be quite as
stylish as though made by an expert.
The revers and collar are invariably
faced with the material, but the facing
maybe either the severe maohine stitch
ing or an applique of narrow braid as
indicated.
To make this blazer for a lady in
the medium size will require two and
one-quarter yards of furty-four-inch
material.
Ladles' Bolero.
The models illustrated in the large
engraving, and described by May
Manton, show two different styles of
the ever popular bolero. No. 1 is
composed of white organdy tucked in
clusters or groups that are joined by
bands of insertion. The garment is
eimply adjusted by shoulder and under
arm seams. The back shows a straight
lower edge while tbe fronts are shaped
in rounding outline. The collar is a
close band overlaid with violet ribbon
stylishly bowed at the centre-back.
To tbe npper 'edge of the collar is
sewed a full divided ruohe of lace pro
viding a aoft and becoming fulness.
Epaulette frills bordered with ruffle
of laee, headed by a single band of in
sertion, droops over the sleeves of the
bodioe which ia composed of white
spotted muslin over violet batiste.
No. 9 is carried out in white mofrs
oniquely decorated with black satin
ribbon. It ia worn over a gown of
barege showing white and royal bine.
The jacket is sufficiently short to per
mit of the wearing of a deep girdle.
The back is slashed after the manner
of the latest models and is joined by
shonlder and nnder-arm seams to the
fronts that olose at the neck, gradual
ly separating below this point to show
the full waist beneath. The collar and
epaulettes are similar to those seen in
No. 1. Jaunty little boleros of this
description can be made of silk, satin,
velvet, moire velours, canvas and other
fashionable weaves, and decorated ac
cording to individual taste. Among
the suitable trimmings are ribbon ap
plied in straight bands, ruffles or nar
row quillings, lace, bands of insertion.
.or heavy guimpe lace applique over
'brilliant hued satiu. Spangles and
sequins are frequently seen npon
black satin, the effect being exceeding
ly beautiful.
It requires bnt the merest trifle of
material to make either one of these
charming little boleros that can be
made either to match the waist over
which it is worn or of contrasting
fabric. Remnants can be picked np
at a trifling cost, making it within the
reach of every woman to possess
a stylish little accessory that will do
wonders in smartening np last .sea
son's gowns.
To make either bolero for a lady in
the medium size will require one and
seventh-eighths yards of twenty-two-inch
material.
Kent end I'sefnl Wrapper,
A neat and nsefnl gown is here)
shown composed of polka-dot percale,
trimmed with bands of insertion. The
npper portion consists of a short yoke
that is simply adjusted by shoulder
seams, and has a straight lower edge.
The full portion has side seams, and is
gathered at the upper edge and joined
to the yoke, a single band of insertion
STYLISH BOLEROS.
concealing the seam. The'sleeves are
one-seamed and .sufficiently loose to
permit of perfect freedom of the arms,
a feature necessary in gowns of this
description. Gathers adjust the ful
ness of the sleeves at the upper and
lower edges, and a single band of in
sertion oompletes the wrists. , Tha
neck finishes with a neat rolling collar.
Percale, dimity, gingham, lawn,
batiste and all washable fabrics are
adapted to the mode, or the garment
can be made of either French or outing-flannel,
in which instance it can
LADIES' MOTHER HUBBARD W BAP PEE.
be used as a nightdress when travel
ing. Ladies contemplating a aea voy
age will find gowns of this description
exceedingly comfortable and praetioa-
ble.
To make this wrapper (or a lady in
the medium size will require eight
yards of thirty-six-inch material.
Japan, has ordered four thirty-one-knot
torpedo boat destroyers of tha
Yarrows, of England.