103 
of the question in the case of the papaia, and extreme care is 
necessary on the part of the steamship agents and everyhody 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. Everybody 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, par- 
ticularly 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 Rluefields or Jamaica variety, disappear. When 
the fruit has become fullv rounded it is too far advanced for ship- 
ping. 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 de- 
gree 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 dryer than the grass. Grass has a tendency to 
absorb moisture and to hold moisture and dampness, and that 
causes the fruit to sweat and causes the "Ripe Rot" to develop, the 
fruit to turn black and to soften. Mistakes were made, particu- 
larly in the Hilo banana trade in shipping 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 tributary territory. These drums were con- 
structed of heavy cardboard, and were just large enough to con- 
tain 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 and 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 for some of these 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 si;nilar 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 Fruit Company- — ship their bananas across the hot plains 
in the summertime with ice — in the ice bunkers of the refriger- 
