570 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



Imports of Bananas — Years Ending June 30, li)()9-19i;i — Continued 



Imported frtim 

 North America : 



British Honduras 



Canada 



Central American States — 



Costa Rica 



Guatemala 



Honduras 



Nicaragua 



Panama 



Salvador 



Mexico 



West Indies — 

 British — 



Barbados 1 



Jamaica 



Trin. and Tobago. 

 Other British . . . 



Cuba 



Dutch 



Santo Domingo .... 

 South America : 



Bi-azil 



Colombia 



Guiana — Dutch 



1000 

 Dollars 

 101,0.30 

 5,316 



2,186,.543 

 108,82.T 



1,7,'!1,51.'5 

 •J07,061 

 958,117 



35,180 



4,153,139 



891.773 



70,666 



Total 



12,538 



362,248 



. 127,013 



.11,012.100 



RECAPITULATION. 



North America 10,510,301 



South America 501,799 



1010 

 Dollars 

 101,741 

 2,048 



3,031,556 

 192,363 



1,524,843 

 222,858 

 918,331 



52,567 



4,240,343 



841,327 



' '109,666 



243,905 



161,871 



11,642,693 



11,236.917 

 405,776 



1011 

 Dollars 

 137,405 

 7,660 



2,785,758 

 363,690 



2,039,472 

 395,612 



1,784,495 



' 116,766 



4,564,680 



iii 



897,314 



5,100 



252,928 



887,928 

 136,126 



14,375,075 



13,351,021 

 1,024,054 



1012 

 Dollars 

 130.703 

 6,936 



2.713.532 

 509,017 



2,199,890 

 415,389 



2,137,890 



88 



226.836 



4,403,341 



1,893 

 942,481 



152,003 



453,271 

 66.060 



14.368.330 



13.848.990 

 519,331 



1913 

 Dollars 

 163,249 

 4,111 



2,744.813 

 600.041 



2,435,000 

 348.004 



2,082,502 



" 413,315 



3,488,498 



466 

 834,206 



222,626 



1,107,429 

 39.932 



14,484,238 



13.336.897 

 1,147,361 



World Production and Consumption of 

 Bananas 



A report upon the world production and 

 consumption of bananas, from Consul 

 Julius D. Dreher, Port Antonio, Jamaica, 

 was published in the Daily Consular and 

 Trade Reports of December 26, 1912. Ac- 

 cording to this report Jamaica was far 

 ahead of all other countries in the ex- 

 portation of bananas during the calendar 

 year 1911, having shipped a total of 16,- 

 497,385 bunches, valued by colonial of- 

 ficials at $7,088,451, or more than one- 

 half of the total value of all exports 

 from the island in that year. Costa Rica 

 ranked second, with exports of 9,309,586 

 bunches, and then came Honduras with 

 6,500,000 bunches, Colombia, 4,901,894; 

 Panama, 4,261,500; Canary Islands, 2,- 

 648,378; Cuba, 2,500,000; Nicaragua, 2,- 

 250,000; Gautemala, 1,755,704; Mexico, 

 750,000; British Honduras, 525,000; San- 

 to Domingo. 400,000; Dutch Guiana, 387,- 

 516. and other countries, 250,000, making 

 a grand total of 52,936,96.'', bunches of 

 bananas exported. It should be borne in 

 mind that the world's actual production 

 of bananas is far greater than the amount 

 exported, since there are many isolated 

 regions, like the numerous island groups 

 of the Pacific ocean, that have no for- 

 eign market tor their abundant crops of 



this fruit, and in the countries which ex- 

 port bananas the home consumption is 

 enormous. In Jamaica, as in other coun- 

 tries, the natives not only eat ripe bana- 

 nas as a fruit, but they boil the green 

 fruit and eat it as a vegetable and also 

 use it in this form to fatten pigs. 



As Jamaica is officially reported as hav- 

 ing had 82,436 acres in bananas last 

 year, when the exports amounted to 16,- 

 497,385 bunches, it appears that the aver- 

 age number of exportable bunches pro- 

 duced per acre was 200; and as the aver- 

 age market price as shown by American 

 consular invoices issued to shippers was 

 2714 cents a bunch, the average gross 

 yield for the island was $55 an acre. In 

 Panama and Costa Rica, where the land 

 is very fertile and the plants are set farth- 

 er apart, the average exportable crop is 

 140 to 150 bunches an acre; in Colombia 

 it is nearly 200. 



While .Jamaica exported nearly twice as 

 many bananas last year as any other 

 country, the United States imported 

 more than five times as many as any other 

 country. For the fiscal year ended June 

 30, 1912, the bananas imported into the 

 United States reached the enormous total 

 of 44,520,539 bunches, valued at $14,368.- 

 330, an average of 32.3 cents a bunch, as 

 the market value shown in America con- 



