200 



THE BANANA 



The values of " green fruit " (chiefly bananas) and 

 quantities of bananas exported for the years 1906-11 

 were as follows : 



1906 

 1907 

 1908 

 1909 

 1910 

 1911 



The increase for 1909 was due to some extent to the 

 opening of a new market in Melbourne (Australia) to the 

 banana planters of the colony by means of a subsidized 

 steam service to carry the fruit in insulated cooled-air 

 compartments. Unfortunately a hurricane occurred, 

 accounting for the decrease in 1910. 



The increase in 1911 shows that the hurricane had no 

 ill effects, and that there was no serious blow during that 

 year. Green fruit to the value of 38,145 was shipped to 

 the Melbourne market by means of the greater facilities 

 in transport during the year. The revenue derived from 

 the imposition of the Banana Subsidy and Inspection Tax, 

 levied under Ordinance XII of 1911, amounted to 

 1397 125. IId. t against which the cost of inspection and 

 subsidies on account of the banana trade amounted to 

 6133 10s. IQd. 



Previous to 1911 the cultivation of bananas for export 

 was confined principally to the Rewa Valley and to the 

 Sigatoka District, from which the produce can be easily 

 transported to meet ocean steamers sailing from Suva and 

 from Momi, a port of call adjacent to the Sigatoka River. 

 During 1911 a steamer of the Union Steamship Company 

 made periodical visits to Savu Savu Bay district on the 

 southern side of the island of Vanua Levu. This extension 

 of the company's itinerary contributed to the increased 

 export of bananas. 



SOCIETY ISLANDS. Nearly twenty kinds of plantains 

 grow wild in the mountains. The native name is " fei," 



