Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
reliedonloanswith'veryhighinterestrates'Revenuesfromharvests
''barely'' covered interest payments and the ''bare essentials.''
64
The re-
port's anonymous author urged the establishment of an agrarian bank to
provide loans to cultivators.
65
In 1895, more than 150 persons, including at least 17 women, created
the Sociedad Bananera Gremio Agrario de Omoa in order to ''protect the
interests of fruit growers.''
66
The statutes of the five-year charter laid out
administrative structures and membership requirements similar to that
of the San Pedro Sula association.
67
The Omoa growers' association out-
lived its initial charter. A circular from January 1, 1901, announced that
the association had yet to sign a purchase contract for the year and urged
potential buyers to send a representative to discuss terms.
68
The notice
provided monthly production figures for 1900 and added that the associa-
tion was anticipating a larger harvest as a result of expanded plantings.
69
The circular also exalted the quality of the Omoa banana: ''The fruit that
has garnered the best prices on the foreign markets and that will earn
a superior grade this year at the Buffalo Exposition in New York State,
U.S.A., is high quality fruit meticulously cared for, unblemished and not
over-exposed to the sun. Qualities guaranteed in our fruit.''
70
The con-
tents of the society's promotional material reveals the firm connection
between production and marketing: quantity was important, but so too
was quality, the standards of which were determined not onlyon wharves
alongtheHondurancoastline,butalsointheexhibitionhallsoftheUnited
States.Themerefactof havingbeenwrittenin1901makestheOmoaasso-
ciation's circular significant. Designed to attract ''interested parties,'' the
notice calls for potential buyers to send a representative to negotiate a
purchase contract. Such contracts were usually entered into prior to the
beginningofacalendaryearandestablishedfruitpricesforaperiodofone
or moreyears.The Omoa circular suggests that growers in Honduras con-
tinued to benefit from the presence of multiple shipping firms following
theformationofUnitedFruitin1899.In1902theDevelopmentCouncilof
Atlántida called foran end to shipping subsidies on the grounds that they
were no longer necessary in light of the active trade. Other sources indi-
cate that several steamship lines served key ports as late as 1906, a year in
whichHondurangrowerssucceededinnegotiatinghigherpurchaseprices
for their fruit.
71
But important changes were taking place on the North Coast that
would have far-reaching effects on banana production. In 1902, U.S. citi-
zen William Streich received a concession to build and operate a railroad
in the municipality of Omoa. The terms of the concession also granted
