Agricultural and Commercial Society. 73 
of the banana industry, but the Captain was unable to 
come. Proceeding, the President said that it would be 
a very important matter for the colony if we could 
develop the banana industry. Hitherto, owing to the 
long passage to the United States and elsewhere, there 
had always been a <langer of bananas arriving in an 
over-ripe condition. Professor Spawn's process of 
drying the banana would to a great extent obviate that 
difficulty, enabling the banana to *' keep " indefinitely, 
and to be placed in favourable markets at long intervals 
of time. The fruit consisting very largely of water, the 
evaporation would lessen the freight, and so diminish 
one of our present difficulties. 
Professor Spawn, on rising to address the meeting, 
observed that when a stranojer came here, bringfino; to 
the notice of the community something which he 
claimed would be of value to it, the question arose as to 
where the stranger had acquired his knowledge and 
experience. From his experience during the past 30 
years, in various parts of' the world, in fruit growing, 
preserving and marketing, it would in the limited time 
at his disposal, require a dozen tongues in order to deal 
fully with the subject. It was in Queensland 
(Australia^ where he first conducted experiments in 
connection with bananas, making his own machinery. 
Since then he had visitei Jamaica, Costa Rica and 
Mexico, and had demonstrated in various parts of the 
United States, and the unanimous opinion of every one 
who had sampled the articles he had made from bananas, 
was that they were good. Some time ago he gave a 
dinner, consisting of banana products, to some of the 
principal wholesale merchants of New York, and 
£ 
