FEBRUARY, 190!).] 



Edible Products, 



a vocado, it should be picked as nearly 

 as possible to the time of the sailing of 

 the ship, lu picking the papaia the 

 stem should be cut about an inch or an 

 inch and a half long. Here there is 

 opportunity for some latitude, as the 

 length of the stem may be varied 

 slightly to facilitate the packing of the 

 fruit. This crate (indicating) is adapted 

 to the packing of the smaller papaias 

 of the long type. If the papaia does not 

 just fit here in its length, you can make 

 some slight differences in the cutting, 

 cut the stem half an inch longer or half 

 an inch shorter and this crate accommo- 

 dates tliem. The papaia should be hand- 

 led with care al;-o. The wrapping should 

 be done with rather heavy paper and it 

 is preferable to have it glazed, because 

 if any fruit begins to decay or to get 

 soft, an unglazed paper will allow the 

 moisture to pass through to the adjoin- 

 ing fruit more quickly than the glazed 

 paper will. The shipping must of neces- 

 sity be in refrigeration. Ventilatiou 

 alone is again out of the question in the 

 case of the papaia, and extreme care 

 is necessary on the part of the steam- 

 ship agents and everybody who handles 

 the fruit to see that it is not bruised. 

 Picking up a crate of fruit and letting 

 it drop an inch or an inch and a half 

 jars the fruit and bruises it. The papaia 

 is unknown in the markets, but it is a 

 taste which is rapidly acquired, as you 

 know, by almost everybody. Every- 

 body who comes to the islands either 

 enjoys the fruit at first contact or very 

 rapidly acquires the taste ; and I believe 

 that a good market for papaias could be 

 worked up, particularly during the 

 season when the cantaloupes cannot be 

 found in the market. 



The Banana. 

 The banana should be cut before it 

 becomes too "full," as the term is used. 

 You will recall that a banana when it is 

 immature has ridges — corners— on it. 

 When it becomes fully mature and the 

 fruit begins to turn yellow, those ridges 

 on the Chinese variety and also on the 

 Blue-fields or Jamaica variety dis- 

 appear. When the fruit has become 

 fully rounded it id too far advanced for 

 shipping. Nobody can describe the 

 stage of maturity at which it is best to 

 cut the fruit — that has to be determined 

 by experience. The fruit must be cut 

 while it still retains the ridges, but the 

 degree of maturity will depend upon the 

 distance to market. The wrapper.— 

 Grass has been used as a wrapper. 

 Banana leaves are more commonly used 

 and are very much preferable. The 

 banana leaves may be kept drier than 

 the grass. Grass has a tendency to 

 absorb moisture and to hold moistur e 



aud dampness, and that causes the fruit 

 to sweat aud causes the " Ripe Rot " to 

 develop, the fruit to turn black aud to 

 soften. Mistakes were made, particu- 

 larly in the Hilo banana trade, in ship- 

 ping the fruits in moist grass. On the 

 mainland last summer I found a banana 

 drum being used for the shipping of 

 bananas from the great central markets 

 into the tributory territory. These 

 drums were constructed of heavy card- 

 board, and were just large enough to 

 contain a single bunch. They are made 

 of two sizes, large enough to contain a 

 single bunch. Around the top of the 

 drum the top hoop held a strong piece 

 of paper in place, which was drawn up 

 from the top of the drum aud tied to 

 the stem of the banana, and that 

 was the way in which the fruit was 

 carried— by its stem. Whether that 

 would be practicable for our shipping 

 I do not know. I have sent fur some of 

 tuese, and we hope to have them on 

 hand and give them a closer examination, 

 and possibly we may be able to give 

 them a trial. They are also making a 

 similar drum out of veneer instead of 

 the paper. Refrigeration is absolutely 

 not adapted for the banana. Bananas 

 shipped in refrigeration turn black and 

 never ripen. The ''banana trust," as it 

 is called — the United Fruits Company — 

 ship their bananas across the hot plains 

 in the summertime with ice — in the ice 

 bunkers of the refrigerating cars— but 

 they are always watched ; frequently 

 the doors areopeu, the ventilators are 

 opened. These trains are always accom- 

 panied by an attendeut, who sees to it 

 that the temperature never gets down 

 below. The ice is simply to overcome 

 the intense heat and hold back the 

 ripening a little. 



The Bluejields versus the Chinese 

 variety for shipping. —The Chinese 

 banana, as you know, is very subject to 

 what is known as the "Ripe Rot" 

 disease. That is the fungus disease that 

 causes the banana to become spotted, 

 speckled with little black specks. When 

 the disease spreads and the black specks 

 become united, it forms large blotches, 

 which in the last stages of the disease 

 I mean the fruiting stages of the fungus 

 —produce a reddish, roseate tinged spot 

 where the black spot was previously. 

 That you may not have noticed, but if 

 you will get some bananas and allow 

 them to ripen and rot, if they have these 

 black spots 1 think you notice finally 

 this red fruiting stage of the fungus. 

 The Bluefields banana is quite resistant 

 to the disease and, as a consequence, it 

 ariives in the market in a bright yellow 

 form. Sometimes you see black spots 

 on them where they have rubbed to- 



