Industrial Cuba : being a study of present commercial and industrial conditions with suggestions as to the opportunities presented in the island for American capital, enterprise and labour . ttle has been done with theother fruits, and the possibilities are wonderful. The banana, of which millions of bunches are shippedannually, easily leads its competitors, in point of value. Itis scarcely necessary to comment upon a fruit so well knownto every American. As usual with fruits shipped out of thelatitude of their growth, the banana of commerce is not thebanana of its native garden, although it s
Industrial Cuba : being a study of present commercial and industrial conditions with suggestions as to the opportunities presented in the island for American capital, enterprise and labour . ttle has been done with theother fruits, and the possibilities are wonderful. The banana, of which millions of bunches are shippedannually, easily leads its competitors, in point of value. Itis scarcely necessary to comment upon a fruit so well knownto every American. As usual with fruits shipped out of thelatitude of their growth, the banana of commerce is not thebanana of its native garden, although it suffers much less bythe transition than other fruits, as it ripens almost as welloff the tree as on. It is much more wholesome for theforeigner in his own home than in Cuba. The banana hasthree stages of usefulness: in the first, roasted or boiled,it is nourishing and a good substitute for bread; at three-fourths of its growth it is sweeter, but not so nourishing;and at last it takes on an acid, bitter taste, healthful andpalatable. Bananas of various kinds grow wild in manyparts of the Island, and the poorer people practically liveupon them free of cost. The fig banana, which is much. CUBAN FRUITS. Timber and Fruit Trees 345 more delicate than the common kind, is used as a desserteverywhere, and is very fine, but it cannot be the past eight years, shipments of bananas from thefour ports handling the business were as follows: Baracoa 7t57°»547 bunches Gibara 7,369,193 Banes 4,751,000 Cabonico 3,118,007 The war wiped out the banana business at Baracoa. Theshipments fell from 1,552,700 bunches in 1894, to 2000 in1896; but at the other ports the effect was not so sent away 1,305,000 bunches in 1896 to 1,671,000 in1894; Banes, 755,000 in 1896, to 1,028,000 in 1894; andCabonico, 550,000 in 1896, to 643,000 in 1894. The plant-ain, another variety, may be called the vegetable banana,and is of very general local use as a food. Cocoanuts are raised in the
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidindustrialcubabe00port
