LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Ripening Bananas

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 292, 5 September 1931, Page 9

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Ripening Bananas

Sir, —The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research has stated that “it has always been known that bananas from these islands (Samoa and Niue) do not ripen satisfactorily.” This appears, at first sight, to be borne out by the fact that in the Wellington shops to-day, just one week after a visit of the Maui Pomare, there is scarcely a tempting-looking banana to be seen. Your correspondent “Luscious” (a term which aptly describes a prime, well-rip-ened Samoan banana) recently drew attention to the fact of the Samoan banana “having the best ripening tendencies under ordinary, sensible conditions”; and seeing that a proportion of every shipment by the Maui Pomare, to my own personal knowledge, arrives in a prime, well-ripened condition, why is it that the remainder requires special conditions to effect the same result? It is obvious then that the somewhat wild statement emanating from the department is open to serious challenge and ill becomes a body one of whose chief tenets should be accuracy. It is also obvious that the conditions causing poor ripening obtain prior to the fruit reaching the ripening rooms and are not inherent in the fruit itself. The department makes it appear that Niue and Samoan bananas have special qualities requiring special treatment, whereas “ordinary, sensible conditions” of treatment in cutting, packing and transit would eliminate much, if not all, special consideration at the ripening end. To obtain these, however, drastic reforms are necessary in the administration of the trade. To anyone knowing the cost of operating the Maui Pomare, together with the poor quality of the fruit reaching the consumer, the question arises, “Is the game worth the candle?" To sum up, the need for special ripening research and the serious losses involved in running the Maui Pomare eould be largely, if not wholly, avoided by more businesslike administration, .better facilities for handling, and more expert control of operation.—l am, etc., C. GIBSON YOUNG. Lower Hutt, August 27.