372 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWE 



XOVEMBEE 28, 1908. 



WEST 



INDIAN 



FRUr 



EXPERIMENTS IN FRUIT EXPORT 



FROM HAWAII. 

 With thi' increase in fruit piodiictioii in the ITawaii.in 

 Islands ett'oris ;ii-e being made to find piotitable 

 markets for tlie produce, and experiments in shipping 

 pine-apples, mangos, bananas, avocado jiears, and 

 papaws to the Western States of America havr l)ei'n in 

 progress for somt' three or four years. 



The piui_'-.i|i]ile is the chief fruit l>rii(ince<l in tl;t' 

 Hawaiian Islands, ami nearly ,'i,000 acres lia\e come n:nler 

 cultivation with this emp iu the [last few years. In the 

 shipment experiments, the pine-;ip[jle is the fiuit which 

 i.s receiving the prineipal attention. 



The trial exports of fruit have been attended with such 

 a inen.'iire of success as to warrant the hope that the trade 

 may undergo consideralihi develojiments in the near future. 

 The que.stion of shijjnient of the different fruits inider 

 refrigeration, and under ventilation rcspecti\ely, is discussed 

 in a report lately issued by the Agricultural J>".\pciiment 

 .Staii<ai of Hawaii. Refrigeration is demanded by avocados, 

 mangos, and papaws, when under tran.sjiort by sea, and the 

 trials .so far made, indicate that a temperature of from -lO'F. 

 to 50" 1'". is the must suitable for this class of fiuit The 

 pine-ap]ile may be shipped wilhout refrigeratiun, while its 

 emjtloynient is not at all adapted to the banana. 



If fruit is to be shipped without refrigeration, it is 

 pointed out that tlie primary essential is ventilation it ihc 

 .•<])ace in whidi it is stored during transport. Next tovcntila 

 tion, drynes.s, I'casonably low temperatures, nnd careful hand- 

 ling are important for preserving the fruit in good condition. 

 ,<'rates of pine-:ipples and bananas have been sueee.s.sj'ully 

 carried on the decks of .-steamers, ventilation being ensured by 

 strips of board placed between the eiatcs. 



A sample shipment of fi-uit consisting of a car load of 

 pineapples, unci a\oc:idi) [jear-s, was despatcliecl under 

 refrigeration fmm Honolulu on .August M, 1907. 'this 

 reached San f'tiim-isco on .August 21, where the tiuil was 

 exannned, rc[iaeked in a refrigerated car, and .sent birward by 

 rail to Chicago, which was reached on .\ugust '.'>]. I'npack- 

 ing did not take place until Se|)teinber .'!. A careful examina 

 tion .sluiwed that nolw ith.standing the fi-nit had been 

 under transport for nearly three weeks, tlie avocados were in 

 good condition for immediate con.sumplion, alth(uigh they 

 were not .so fnm as they should be for the market. They 

 had not deteriorated during the journey overland, however. 

 The jtineapiile.s ojiened up in excellent condition, the total 

 loss being less than 1 per cent., although it was reported 

 that sonic of the fruits showed more or less discoloration in 



ripening. The author of the bulletin points out, that the 

 results of this trial shipment suggest that under proper 

 eontlitions of transport, Hawaiian fruit may find its way to 

 a more e.xtensive market than that furni.shed by the Western 

 States of America alone, and that it may po.ssibly be sent to 

 any part of the United States or Canada. 



The variety of pine-a])ple largely grown in the Hawaiian 

 Islands is the Smooth Cayenne, and it is a kind of very good 

 flavour, although it does not ship so well as the lied Spanish 

 pine, which is so generally grown in Florida, Cuba, and 

 •lamaica. The pineapple needs very delicate hanillingif it is 

 to lie shipped abroad, and liberal amounts of packing 

 material should be used. The length of stem attached 

 to jiine-apples on sending them off was .seen by ex]ieriuient 

 to have .in iiiHuenee on tlieii- kee|iing jiroperties. The 

 fruits with stems from '_' to .S inches long kept much 

 better than tho.se with stems only 1 inch or le.ss in length. 

 Fruits cut with long stems, and also wra]iped in pa|ier, 

 showed an average saving of 22 .'i7 per cent, of the whole 

 over fruits cut with short steins and packed uith- 

 out paper. 



Two varieties of banana arc grown in Hawaii — the 

 Canaiy {.]/ii.m. C'tvendishii), an 1 the IMuefields banana, 

 iiunches of the latter variety arc always shipped abroad witli- 

 out any packing or covering, but just as they are gathered 

 from the tree. The Canary bananas are wrapped in dried 

 banana leaves or dried grass, although this method of pick- 

 ing is regarded as being nn.satisfactorv, and it is suggested 

 that some other mode of protection of the fruit during 

 transit should be adopted. In the I'nited States, a cylindrical 

 ]iackage, known as a 'banana drum ' is coming into use in 

 despatching the fruit from one part of the country to another. 

 These drums are of heavy pastelioard or strawbo.ird, with 

 three Iioojis, and have a thin wooden bottom. .'\. lining of 

 thii k wrapping paper is in.serted, which extends about a foot 

 aliove the top of the drum. The bunch of bananas i.s placed 

 within the drum, and the jiajier tied al)oiit the stem, which 

 thus makes a convenient handle for lifting the package. 

 .\vocado pears, as already mentioned, demand refri<'era- 

 tion in sliipinent but are not a ilitliiudt fruit to export, with 

 due lare in picking and packing. The best results in 

 the Hawaiian cxperinients were given when the ]iear.s, care- 

 fully picked, were wrajiped separately in paper and desi>ateh- 

 ed ia ciates, containing only a single layer of the fruits. It 

 is inosl iuiiiortant that avocados should be got into refrigera- 

 tion immediately after packing. First cla.is avocados in 

 g.io<l c(iiidition fetch a i>rice of ??2'00 jier dozen on the San 

 I'laiu-isco market, and if they are firm and of good ijuality 

 there is no difficulty in dispo.sing of them. 



