54 
164. The opinion was offered in evidence that Trinidad was 
too far from New York to carry on a successful trade in fruit. 
This view was not supported by the experience of Captain 
Forwood, of Jamaica, who cited the instance of a successful fruit 
trade established jat Santa Martha, a port on the mainland of 
South America, in almost the same latitude as Trinidad, and at 
about the same distance from New ork. The steamers from 
“ New York would last eight and a half days.” There has also 
been introduced a simple method of ventilating fruit ships with 
air fans worked by steam. ‘These assist in keeping the fruit 
in good order on longer voyages than heretofore. 
There is apparently no falling off in the demand for bananas in 
the American market, and the trade ig steadily increasing. The 
to justify action being taken by some of the West Indian Colonies 
to share in them. There is also the possibility of shipping West 
Indian fruit to Europe. This subject is more fully dealt with in 
E : 
166. Nutmegs have been grown to 
Trinidad. “Trees in the Botanic Gardens have yielded crops 
e 
vanilla, and possibly also in cardamoms, especially the large 
Mysore cardamoms so extensively cultivated in Ceylon. The 
nt. 
or this 
purpose. Tonga beans in transit were shipped to the United 
States from Port of Spain in 1896 to the value of 30,0007. 
