315 



BANANAS IN FRANCE. 



It is astonishing, says Mr. Consul-General Hearn (3283-152), 

 in reporting on the trade of Havre, how popular bananas have 

 become in France. Not so long ago the banana was a rarity ; now 

 it is to be found hanging up in every fruiterer's window. The 

 bulk of the bananas consumed in Eh.irope are imported from the 

 Canary Islands by British firms. The West Indian banana does 

 not appear to have reached the Continent in any great quantity 

 as yet. In 1877 only 5,000 bunches of bananas were imported 

 into France ! this rose in 1901 to 50,000 bunches, and in 1904 to 

 250,000 bunches. Paris takes about half the quantity, and then 

 the two chief consumers are Marseilles and Bordeaux. The 

 wholesale price of a bunch is, on the average, 12s. 6d. The 

 bananas are sold retail at three sous a piece, and as there are 

 from 150 to 200 bananas on each bunch, that price brings the re- 

 tail price of the bunch to from i6s. to 20s., which gives a profit 

 of from 4s. to 8s. per bunch. The bananas sold in the South of 

 France and Algeria, although sold under the name of Dahomey 

 bananas, as a rule all come from the Canaries. The highest prices 

 are obtained in the spring and autumn. Before France, encour- 

 aged by the high prices she has to pay for her bananas, takes to 

 growing them herself in the many colonies suitable to their culti- 

 vation, it would be well, Mr. Hearn thinks, for British firms to 

 stimulate the importation and taste for Jamaican and other West 

 Indian bananas, which, in his opinion, are finer than the Canary 

 fruit. — Journal of the Society of Arts, London, Sept. 20, 1907. 



COLOMBIAN BANANAS. 



Reporting upon the trade and commerce of Barranquilla and 

 Catagena (Cd. 3283, 145), Mr. Consul Gillies says that, owing to 

 an increased demand, there has been an enormous development 

 during the last few years in banana cultivation. The banana en- 

 joys great advantages over the other products of the country 

 in that it is more easily cultivated, and is not burdened with the 

 large freight expenses which makes the export 'of coffee and 

 other articles grown in the interior so expensive. A good deal 

 of land has recently been bought in the neighborhood of Santa 

 Marta for the cultivation of the banana, and both native and 

 foreign capital is being largely invested' in the business. The 

 United States is still the largest consumer, but there is now a 



