The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1897-02-18


months from planting. The trees reach
maturity in the second year; and there
after, by proper management of the fruit
stalks, constant succession in the crops
may be secured and fruit gathered eyerv
week throughout the year. 1t is said
that plantation of 40 manzanas, (about
6S English acres), will produce, during
and after the second year, "a, 900 punches
per annum. The lowest price paid for
bananas for many years past, has been
thirty-seven and one-half cents per bunch.
Reckon it to suit yourself. An approx
mate return of more than twenty thou
sand dollars per year, is not SO bad.
Very much more profitable than this is
cacao-and that grown in Nicaragua is
the best in the world. But considerable
capital is necessary to start a plantation,
as the trees do not begin to bear under
! years. When once well established
and in full bearing, little further
outlay is necessary, and the fortu-
nate owner is sure of large, and
steady revenue for the next 40 or so
years. Sugar cane grows in Nicaragua
with extraordinary luxuriance. A crop
can be secured within twelve months
after planting, and thence forward two
crops a year, and in some places
even three crops, for an indefinite number
of years. There are mary cane planta-
tons in the country, so old that nobody
great deal of the sugar manufactured in
Nicaragua is of a coarse brown quality, the
juice being merely boiled until it crystal
ICES, without being cleared of the molas-
ses. In this crude state it is poured into
moulds, forming small cakes, which are
sold to the poorer classes. A very large
quantity of sugar cane is also used in the
manufacture of aguardiente, or native
rum. The sale of ''spirits'' being Gov
eminent monopoly in Nicaragua, the dis
tillation can only be carried on by license.
and is confined to the larger producers.
In the department of Granada alone, by
the primitive and imperfect native meth
DDS employed, the yearly yield amounts
to an average of $500, 600 pounds. At
Pital and San Rafael there are number
of plantations under English management,
which are said to yield enormously. Not
long ago a company of North Americans,
with capital of $500, 600, started to work
large plantation in the Chinadega dis
trict. 1t is intended to use first class
plant and all modern improvements in
machinery and cultivation, and to produce
at least 300 tons of sugar every year. An
other company of foreigners Germans,
have taken in charge large plantation in
the same district, and with newly import
ed machinery expect to produce 500 tons
of sugar annually. Two other important
plantations in the department of Leon
produce together something over 600, 600
pounds of excellent vacuum pan sugar.
Cotton wool, as Peter Heylyn called
it's indigenous in Nicaragua and the finest
quality can be produced in limitless guam
titles, When Columbus discovered the
country, he found the natives dressed in
garments of cotton cloth, and to this day
the Indians manufacture their own cloth
tug from home grown cotton, besides
hammocks, sail cloth. etc. A consider
able quantity is raised, but entirely for
/ home consumption. Instead of being an
annual plant, as in the United States, Mic
araguan cotton is perennial, and growing
much larger, Yields double the quantity
that it does in the most favored localities
in our country. All the tobacco used in
Nicaragua, land that means a great deal,
as everybody smokes necessarily, is rails
ed in the country. 1t is said to be of good
quality, and lange tracts of land are we'll
adapted to its cultivation. Corn tiourishes
luXuriantly here, and is literally the s'staff
of life for both man and beast Three
crops Of it can be raised from the same
ground every year. Rice is another abund-
ant and extensively used product. The
yucca, yam and the sweet potato are also
eNAAs'i'
tato produces enormously in the more ele-
waited regions Frijoles, the little brown
beans that form such an important article
of diet throughout Spanish America, are
produced abundantly; vegetables of the
temperate zone thrive astonishingly in the
| uplands, and all the fruits of the tropics
in the low lands. Indigo and cochineal
were formerly produced in large quaint
ties, but since their use has been largely
superseded by mineral dyes, their cult
walton has been almost abandoned, OF
the cocoanut tree we need not speak, for
everybody knows that this is it's home,
par excellence. The bread fruit tree also
grows to perfection here, and though the
natives do not seem to appreciate it's full
value, no foreign settler is satisfied until
he has one growing in his dooryard. The
beautiful and massive tree with it's spread
ing dome of glossy, dark green leaves can
be easily raised from the slip, and comes to
maturity within three years after plant
ing. 1t yields two annual crops, one lasting
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