52 



'" Their scale is as follows : — 



" Full car loads., carrying from .'!< H ) to 750 stems each — 15/2 to 



26/10 per 100. up to 32 miles (including wharfage and 



shunting charges of l£ cent, per bunch), equal to 4f 



cents per bunch, average distance. 

 " When sent in less than car loads. 2/- per 100 must be 



added to the above, which brings the freight to about 



5j cents. 



" I have confined these particulars to the 32 miles freightage, as 

 approximating more closely to our local circumstances, but it will be 

 obvious at once that if 5% cents be the mean, the railage cost when 

 say 20, 30 or 40 miles are reached, becomes a rather serious calcula- 

 tion in .Jamaica. 



" Yet, the industry there thrives, and the Railways are owned and 

 worked by the Government. So far, in Trinidad, we have loaded, 

 carried and delivered bananas alongside the wharves for 3 cents per 

 bunch, experimentally, I may add, and irrespective of quantity, large 

 or small. 



" I heard of no such thing as free carriage of fruit in Jamaica, 

 nor of any other direct artificial aids to the growers. 



" There is, however, a system of agricultural instruction provided 

 by the Government, and a great deal of practical demonstration of 

 the right sort is thereby brought home to the small agriculturists all 

 over the Island. 



" 16. The actual performance of putting bananas afloat I am unable 

 to speak of from personal observation, for reasons already explained. 

 The whole process was described to me by the United Fruit Company's 

 people, and its main feature consist in heading and shouldering the 

 stems from the sheds on the wharves into the holds of the ship — com- 

 bined with the smart work done by the Expert Checkers, under whose 

 eyes every individual bunch undergoes a final inspection. These, fruit 

 vessels also pick up round the coast, and the bananas have then to be 

 handled from shore to ship in boats of various kinds. 



■• In the Boston Company's Steamers the fruit is stowed on simple 

 racks or bins, without any trash whatever, and the holds are 

 specially ventilated only. The comparatively short voyage ot 4^ to 5 

 days does not call for any other treatment : but with the Imperial 

 direct, line to Bristol, and the Elder and Fyffe's boats to Manchester, 

 cool storage on the most approved principle is provided. 



■" I do not think that many Jamaican bananas are crated. A 

 3tem of care that is never relaxed from start to finish would seem 

 to take the place of any such precautions, which are not only costly, 

 but go to reduce the carrying capacity of the ship's holds. 



" I was told that in vessels properly installed with cool chambers 

 no crating is necessary, not even trash. 



•■ 17. During my visil to Jamaica, 1 made some useful notes and 



comparisons with reference to the conveyance of Fruit over the 



.■eminent Railways there, and without going into details at this 



moment I may Bay at once that I see no special difficulty in affording 



all the conveniences necessary for handling a large traffic here when- 



the demand arises. 



