26 
THE PAN AMERICAN UNION. 
HANDLING BY THE JOBBER. 
The successful banana jobber is on the lookout for his shipments, 
unloads them quickly, and devotes great care to the physical handling 
of the fruit in order to avoid scarring and bruising. When the rail¬ 
road car is unloaded at a distance from the banana rooms, the wagons 
or trucks which are used for transporting the fruit are provided with 
straw or hay. In case the car is placed at the jobber’s unloading 
platform, an overhead track with trolley hooks is frequently used to 
convey the bunches separately to the banana rooms. 
In winter, protection is given against chilling by thoroughly straw- 
ing the wagons in which bananas are transported, and by covering 
each load with blankets or tarpaulins. In most of the northern ter¬ 
ritory vans, somewhat resembling those used for carrying furniture, 
heated with small stoves, are used for unloading, and stoves are often 
placed in the cars. When the car is placed at the jobber’s unloading 
platform, canvas windshields are employed to protect the fruit while 
moving from the car door to the interior of the building. 
A part of the jobber’s distribution is represented in the shipment 
of single bunches of bananas by freight or express and special crates 
of various sizes and designs are manufactured and used for this pur¬ 
pose. The returnable crate is constructed of oak slats with a burlap 
bag suspended within and so tied to the structure that the bunch 
can not be bruised by contact with the outer frame. The nonreturn- 
able crate is made of light slats in which the bunch of bananas 
placed in a paper bag manufactured for the purpose is packed with 
hay or straw. The jobbers handling the smaller classes of fruit 
frequently use cylindrical cardboard drums strengthened with wooden 
bottoms and hoops. 
BANANA ROOMS. 
The care and ripening of the green fruit in the banana rooms of 
the jobber form an important link in the long chain of operations 
extending from the plantation to the retail distribution, and the pres¬ 
ent advanced type of banana room has been designed to simplify 
handling and to place the banana on the market as a matured 
product at its highest intrinsic value. 
The bunches are hung systematically in the banana rooms from 
ceiling hooks with proper spacing to permit the requisite air 
circulation and with a view to convenience in handling. 
As ripening is recognized as a vital phenomenon resulting from 
changes taking place within the cells of the fruit, it is necessary to 
have normal, wholesome conditions in the banana room. Provision 
is made for fresh air circulation and for the maintenance of the 
required degrees of humidity and temperature. The room is well 
insulated and fitted with special heating and refrigerating apparatus 
