The Tropical Fruit Trade

The vesacls engnged in culleoling and bringing fruit to this port aro mcntly British bottoinrt, and are uot all rcgulur traders. Some of these peculiar craft I are rcpresented to be wiecktrs fmm Nassau, Cub, Windward Island. &c. and they art) larga dealers in o'd junk. Wreek goods, vesels, cotton and iron work are thoir customary plunder, thu supply of whiuli proviüg short they betako themselves to the fruit-growing dietriets, nud load their vosselrf with bauaims, pinoapples cocoa-nuls, omues and lemons. Louded with a rich cargo of these edibles, the vesscls put for New York, or wliatever port seems most deairable to them, and forthwith put thetnselvea and their freight iuto the hauds of commission merchantw, who see to the disposing of ths carg). A number of Americiin vessels are hoever, yoarly chartercd by the merehauts dealiug in such commodities. aod these lattor trade regularly and in an orthodox maurar. Paynienta fo' fruits at tho plantations are genrally made in specie, ocoa.sionally varloë. bovvtíver, by barteriug of goods, wben a CBptüin goes out on a epeeulatiug tour of bis own. Iq such cases flonr, sugar, tea und New Er.gland rum fo:ni thu leading articles of uierchandisa - the ruin prepunderating. Soma few cotton and giug'uims lor the nativos foïm a part also. These vessels tradt) along (ho South Americau coast, touching at Cuban and West Iridian porta, noludirg Kingston, Jamaica. Bananas mostly come from Baracoa, Rustan aiui Matanzas ; cocoa-uuts from Brazil ; pinenpples frorn Cuba, Matanzas aud ÑasBtHli The fruit from theso climes is represauted by dealers as being unusuuüy poor, owing to au iinpreuedeuted drouth of over three inonths dunitidii. The pineítpplea aru especiully lacking in quality, as well aa sztt, somu speoimcts not being sogood us secoad cuttings of fornier years. Bananas are middling, wbile scarcely any ohango is to be geen n cocoa nuts. lu fact tbo tradc is brisk, but tbe 6upply is very short. It ia astonisliing how much waste eusues from the iruit deoaying wliile in transit í'or tbis port, whole cargóos sometimos being lost in this inanner, and the crow are alvvays engagud wbilo on the voyage homeward, in eulluig out tbe diseased fruit ; still sometimos they do not suoceed in checking tliis great drawback to a cbeap supply. Each vessel carries from 3,000 to 5,000 bunchos of bananas, aad from 12,000 to 45,000 dozen oí pine-apples or cocoa nuts oü oaoh trip. Tbcy frequently bring a few barrels of rare soa-sbells, half a dozen or go of turtles or terrapins, aud in the case of foreigu ves.seb already alindad to, a considerable quantity of junk and oldiron coustitutos a poríiou of ilieir cirgo. The voyage of a fruit drogher generally consista of teu to fifteen days, although from Cuba the trips are naturally 8horter. Box fruits - consisting of orange.", lemons and limos - come most from the Islund of Sicily, and the vesseia are mostly laden at Palermo and Mesoina, and the fruit is convcyud to this port in tSLlllHJ VCMSCIf) UI U1U liUm ClilöS, UUU steam vesaels. Thu Montown lemons, usually know in the trade as " Frendi lemons," gonerally begin to come in about tho middlo of February, and their Boatiou enda the latter part of Juno or the first of July, sometimos laating until August, in unusually prosperous so.isona. The Mulagu oranges aud leinons come into inarket about August, and last till Jutmary, thus c0114.lei.ing the yar. Iu Cubau fiüfts tho trade b always lively on account of thu rogularity of the suppüea and tho roady sale ahvtiys found for such fruit. Havana orangos generalij uiake their fii-at appeariince in November, and last through the winter uutil March. Limes algo sirive iu lurge quantities from Ouba, and form no ineoi.siderable part of the trade. 13aracoa bananas and eoeoa-nu'g havo their eouijou from Maroh to July, wlien the CiiFthagenian fiuit assumes full away. Matanz-.is pino-applcs last from to July, and tho Nassau fruit, iho ' sugar loaf" specie como in from ilay uutil tho end of August. An instruoiivu lessou might bu learned, regarding tho mystory of ths cheiip fruit constiatly lmwked about tli ■ streeta of the city, by a visit to one ot the schooniirs disoharging itsf-ag-ant cargo. Pioe-apples now ranga from f 10 to èl6 per hundred, acoording to the quality and size. But it is oasily seon how tho appie wotnen manage to m ke a living, wheu the ppeotator observei sevcral p these enterprisiug di alera buy 'spucks' at SU and $8 pur liundred. A little lower grade is reacked by paying $2 por bushei for piue-applos aimost halfroltun. Bananas aru culled aud eold iu tho same manncr.