Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 October 1898 — How to Tell a Good Banana. [ARTICLE]

How to Tell a Good Banana.

When you are buying bananas never purchase the long thin ones unless you want fruit that will pucker your mouth. No matter how well ripened these thin bananas may appear to be, they will always be found both soar and acrid. This is because the bunch which contained them was picked too soon. The banana grows faster at first in length. W T hen It has reached its full development in that direction, It suddenly begins to swell, and In a few days will double In girth. It is at the end of this time that it begins to ripen nautrally, and the effort of the banana importer is to have tbe fruit gathered at the last possible moment, and yet before the ripening "has progressed even enough to tinge the bright green of the fruit witb-yellow. difference of 24 hoars on the trees at this time will make a difference in the weight of the fruit of perhaps 25 per cent., and all the difference in it* fine flavor, between a pnckery sour and the sweetness and smoothness which are characteristic of the ripe fruit. To get the bananas to onr market in good condition requires fast steamers, which must be provided ■vfrith ventilation and other means of keeping the fruit from ripening too fast in the hold. Much of the finest fruit does ripen in the few days of passage, and this is sold to hucksters for street sale—Boston Traveler.