Daily Republican., 1885-06-16
LIFE IN COSTA RIGA.
Fruits and spices OF which We
Buy enc Poorest ana Earepe the

Fruits on0 ophOee OH Wnbcu W0
Buy she poorest ana Earepo the !
hest.
Three hundred and eiahty.fonr years !
ago an old man, broken in health and
spirits, borne down by Disgrace and
the cruelty of those who should have
bonored him--a hypoohondriac and in |
along the Northern
shore of Central America, and touch |
ing At this place, wrote the name " Ii.
mon upon his chart, because he found
here some juicy lines, whose fragrant
tartness WAS 10 welcome to the thirst Of
long and lonesome vOyagers. There Is .
little island mile or 30 from the shore,
where the lines grow ss plentifully as
then, and whore lighthouse now
stands Is beacon TO coming and pass
ing vessels.
1t was In January, 1903. few miles
east Of Port LimOn, that the conquest
Of America WAS begun and the lead
ing characters wers Bartholomew. the
brother Of Columbus, and . Carib chief.
Port Limon to-day L. q collection OF
cheap wooden housed, like those of q
frontier town In North America, great
wharves and warehouses and railway
shops-all surrounded by the most
luxurious and brilliant tropical foliage,
filled with birds Of gorgeous plumage
Of gold and green, venomous reptiles
and beautifully spotted tiger cats.
Here and there about the places are
patches of sugar cane and groups of co
cOanut trees, coming close to the edge
of the sea; the beautiful breadfruit tree,
which God gave to the tropical savage
as he gave maize and rice to his North.
ern neighbor for sustenance, spreads
it's glossy verdure over dark shadow,
and the waxlike leaves glisten in the
sun. As far as one can see the banana
plantations, with their pale green foli-
age, stretch along the shore, sheltering
the palm-thatched huts of the negroes
from the blistering heat.
THE TROPICAL FOLIAGE.
Above all this rises mountain
! range, as savage, rough and bare as
Alpine crags, in which deep clefts
allow the Western sun to pour u blaze
of fire down to the sea Ularge, and give
glimpses Of strange and stately trees,
draped with long moss and slender
vines, like the rigging of q shin, and
| covered with the wonderful orchid, the
| flower which tries to initiate the forms
and plumage OF the birds which nestle
| under its far spreading leaves. The
picture is half covered with veil of
mist-miasmatic vSpor in which the
| lungs of men find poison, and IRON
which pes'ilence ia ored-reaching from
| the SUBMITS of the mountain TO the
foam fringed shore, and broken only by
the tleecy clouds which hang motionless
in the burning air, as If they, with all
the rest of animate and iDapimate TIA
ture, had hreatbed tho fragrance Of the
poppy and sunk into slumber.
But it is a busy place; dwarflsh en-
gines, with long trains of cars, come
winding out from the interior like mon.
strous serpents, bringing coffee and
bananas TO load the steamers at the
whatves and in the harbor half-nake ed
boatmen and stevedores, with bags OF
coffee on their backs and punches OF
bananas looking like great green cen ii.
,pedes, file back and forth across the
lgangways, loading the steamers of New
York, London and New Orleans The
coffee is allowed to accumulate in the
warehouses until the vessels come, bu,
the bananas are never picked until the
last moment, at telegraphic notice, the
, day before the steamers sail, when
trains of cars are sent to every siding
along the road and are loaded with tn,
half-ripe fruit. There are often az many
AZ 10000 punches, or 5000, 900 bananas
in a single steamships cargo, but they
perish rapidly, and onef1urth of thu
quantity usually goes overheard befor'
their destination IL reached.
This shipment of bananas is some
thing new from Costa Rica, but il
3 reaching enormous proportions. Las
= year over 100000 punches, with a,
: average of 100 bananas to the bunch
= were shipped TO the United States from
( Port Limon alone, and, although TIT
0 risk is great, the profit is enormous
!, for the price is only from 20 TO 40 cents
bunch here and they bring from 8.
3 to So III New York.
;, THE RAISING OF BANANAS.
: An acre OF bananas will produc
. about 800 punches annually, which ar
= worth from $3.50 to $500, according I
their quality and the demand OF tn
A market. 1t costs about $50 an acre t
y clear and plant the ground. The land
practically free, for the Coy ernmen
I, sells it at a nominal price per acre, an
g allows long credit for payment. Larg
numbers of people from the States an
the West India Islands are coming I
~ occupy the country, and two men frof
Iowa arrived for that purpose yestel
= lday.
II The coffee of Costa Rica is OF superio
T. quality to that OF Rio, but here, as il
IOther States fronting the Caribbean Sea
} the best grades are shipped TO Earope
and only the poorer quality to tie Uni
h ted States.
The natives think we have quse
= taste in North America to bu,their bana
n Has and let their besL cotteeho 70 Europe
IS 1t requires four years Tor coffee plan
!. tation to reach productive condition
and ak years for it to yield generou
revenue, but the ,iants will bear
= Quarter of a cer'dry without being
X replaced, and ~ me young shoots re
10 anire protection rom the sun the rul,
4. ia TO set out bsnana and coffee tree,
together, the ,wift.erowing and broad
lesyed barsaa furnishing shade, and
ID at the SAND time, yielding a revenue
until the more slowly growing plant
lcomss - maturity.
Tbecofiee plant resembles the Usage
Is orape in appearance, and bears a red
y" beYY like the cherry. This is carefully
N ,,ired from the little trees and placed
l.; ir~ater to rot. When it has soake for
u. Certain time the planter puts it into a
4 flushing machine, which griuds off the
pulp AID leaves the seeds, which are
II carefully assorted into their proper
grades by bright-eyed, and swift fin.
eered girls. Although Costa Rica has
but 100000 Inhabitants, the coffee
product last year was 40. 500, 600
pounds.
The quality is said 10 DO the best
produced IN Central America, and the
product greater here in proportion TO
the number of trees than in the otter