BEGINNING OF A LONG JOURNEY
Such discontent might be aggravated by consideration of the differences which exist between the results obtained from the chief eight crops of the United States and those shown by the foregoing summary of banana farming. These differences are illustrated by the following figures, those for the crops of the North showing the yield and values for the year 1897. The last column shows the difference in favor of bananas per acre:
| CROPS | Yield per acre | Value per acre | Difference, favor of Bananas |
| Barley,bushels | 23.11 | $12 34 | $93 59 |
| Buckwheat,〃 | 16.08 | 9 69 | 96 25 |
| Corn,〃 | 24.62 | 9 51 | 96 43 |
| Oats,〃 | 27.19 | 8 29 | 97 65 |
| Potatoes,〃 | 80.44 | 39 45 | 66 49 |
| Rye, 〃 | 13.30 | 8 22 | 97 72 |
| Wheat, 〃 | 12.78 | 10 11 | 95 83 |
| Hay, tons | 1.26 | 10 93 | 95 01 |
| Tobacco, pounds | 797.30 | 55 81 | 50 13 |
| General averages | $18 28 | $87 66 |
From this it is evident that bananas give five and one-half times as much as the principal crops of the United States give the farmer for his toil.
Many native planters seem content with the returns their bananas give, and appear to have no thought of increasing that income.
“Why don’t you plant more bananas? See how well this little patch has paid,” I have said to many of them.
“Why should I do that? Have I not plenty to eat? I have enough money; if I plant more I shall have to do more work to get more money which I don’t need,” is the substance of their replies.
Years ago U. S. Consul Burchard complained of the banana business of the Honduras coast, that “A large proportion of the fruit-growers were formerly vacqueros in the interior, working on a salary of $30 to $40 a year. They are now owners of plantations, and have a steady income of $30 to $300 a month. The large amount of money distributed along this coast in exchange for fruit would make any civilized and temperate community prosperous and happy. There would be public and private schools, churches and banks, newspapers and libraries, parks and carriages, and handsome dwellings supplied with every comfort and luxury, surrounded by gardens of flowers, fruits and vegetables natural to this climate of perpetual seedtime and harvest.”
So it soon will be, for already Italian and German, Englishman and American have accepted the invitation of a most kindly Nature, and the sincere welcome of friendly natives, and cottages peep here and there from out the glossy greenery, hammocks swing beneath the never-ceasing rustle of the palms in the blessed trade winds, and the fruit of Paradise gives to all a most generous support.
But those who have good lands back from navigable water and remote from railroads, are not without hope of profit from bananas. For they may dry the fruit, pack it in dainty boxes with a liberal dusting of sugar to fill vacant spaces, and send it to the hungry millions of Europe. This has been successfully done by planters of Trinidad and of Jamaica, who, in at least some instances, found that they could sell the dried fruit at 16 to 20 cents a pound. Green bunches average nearly 60 pounds in weight, two-thirds of which is lost in peeling and drying, leaving about 20 pounds, which, at 15 cents, will give $3 per bunch. If the production of the green bananas and the drying should cost $2 a bunch, the income from an acre of bananas would be $288 yearly. In practice it has been found that the total cost and income of dried bananas give a net return of $2.72 per bunch, which equaled about $783 per acre.