26 



making known the excellent flavor of our cooking ba- 

 nanas. If the banana industry were systematically de- 

 veloped in our Islands, the tonnage of this fruit alone 

 would be enormous; and would surely appeal to trans- 

 portation companies as a matter worthy of their con- 

 sideration. Practically the only drawback thus far ex- 

 perienced in the banana business is the lack of suitable 

 transportation. Sooner or later it will become necessary 

 to have special fruit steamers for transporting Hawaiian 

 fruit to the mainland. The development of such a traffic 

 would be of immense importance, not only in the rapid 

 and satisfactory transportation of fruits, but also in fur- 

 nishing the means of bringing more visitors and settlers 

 to the Islands. The influence of the fruit steamers, ply- 

 ing between Nek York and the West Indies and Central 

 America has already become very conspicuous for this 

 reason. The United States now imports bananas to the 

 value of $8,000,000 annually; and the banana trade of 

 the whole west coast logically belongs to Hawaii. 



MANGO. 



We have forty or m6re varieties of seedling mangoes 

 of all qualities and sizes, and also many introduced varie- 

 ties from India, the Philippines and elsewhere. Some 

 of the best of these introduced varieties are "Alphonse," 

 "Mulgoba," "Totapari," etc. The planting distance of 

 mangoes is about twenty to thirty feet each way, but as 

 a rule, mangoes simply constitute a portion of the orna- 

 mental and economic trees is every dooryard. With us, 

 the regular mango season extends from June to August. 

 The trees begin to bear within six or seven years from 

 seed, and thrive best at low altitudes. Mango trees bear 

 very heavily, and the crop from a regular plantation is, 

 therefore, large. The fruit will stand shipment in 

 cold storage for a period of a month or longer, and have 

 been successfully shipped from Hawaii to New York and 

 to the Philippines. 



There is a growing demand for mangoes on the main- 

 land at good prices. Florida has already seen the profits 

 to be derived from this industry and is pushing it to the 

 fullest extent. As with bananas, and pineapples, so with 

 mangoes, the Pacific Coast trade should logically be sup- 

 plied by Hawaii. Methods have already been perfected 

 for budding and inarching seedling mangoes with im- 

 proved varieties, which are certain to make a large place 

 for themselves in any market. 



