THE STORY OF THE BANANA. 
25 
therefore melting more slowly and producing a cooling effect over a 
longer period. Convenient icing stations are established by the rail¬ 
road companies at various divisional and junction points, and the 
cars are quickly iced in transit on advance notice given through 
the messenger service. 
In the winter season the banana cars are papered and more or less 
heavily strawed according to the weather conditions so that the tiers 
of firmly stowed hunches may be well fortified against the northern 
cold. At seaboard points during the winter months the cars are 
given an initial heating before they are loaded. At eastern sea¬ 
board points the cars are again heated after being loaded and before 
the cars are started on their way. For winter emergencies great 
fruit houses equipped with heating plants are placed at convenient 
points, the largest, located in southern Illinois, handling 72 cars at 
one time. If unusually cold weather prevails and produces lower 
temperatures in the cars than desired, they can thus be heated on 
the way to destination and the fruit warmed to the required degree. 
For the further protection of some of the shipments destined for the 
northern part of the United States and Canada, car heater stoves 
are provided by the railroad companies at convenient points. With 
these stoves the required temperature can be maintained during 
extremely cold weather and in emergency when trains are snowbound 
or otherwise delayed. 
The distribution of bananas throughout the United States is, 
generally speaking, as follows: The fruit imported through the Gulf 
ports is distributed all over the Southeast, south of the Ohio and 
Potomac Fivers, the Central West, and through the great territory 
lying west of the Mississippi River, including western Canada, while 
the fruit imported through the Atlantic ports is distributed mainly 
in the Eastern States, north of the Ohio and Potomac as far west 
as Columbus, Cleveland, and Detroit, the New England States, and 
eastern Canada. 
SELLING THE BANANA. 
The larger portion of the bananas imported is marketed through 
sales branches, located in all the important centers of the United 
States and Canada, which solicit and receive orders for the fruit from 
the jobbing trade in their territory. These orders are telegraphed 
or telephoned by the branches to headquarters at the seaboard for 
acceptance and are usually received before the cargo of bananas is 
discharged, although orders are taken at times for cars which have 
already been shipped from the seaboard. A large portion of the fruit 
arriving at Atlantic ports is sold locally by auction in truck lots. 
Bananas are sold to the jobbing trade on the weight basis and many 
retailers have now adopted the practice of selling by weight instead 
of by quantity. 
