Evening star., 1898-09-03

tiOl All are uSe1ul. ana doubtless, with
improved methods of cultivation and horti-
culture, and with the experiments that
Yankee proprietors will introduce. they will
yield vastly more in the future than they
have yielded yet.
The cocoa palm alone has been made TO
contribute to CO nmerce, and more than
3,oD,NHi, the statistics show are shipped
from Porto Rico annually. For the young
planter, who may go to this island with
the intention of settling there there can
be no better side product than what may
eventually be derived from the planting of
cocoa palms. A nut a hole in the sand
plenty of salt water and little care after
ward is all that is needed to make a be-
ginning, with patient waiting, of course, for
eight or ten years; after that the returns
are sure and the crop is increasing an
nually.
Then there are bananas, which flourish
all over the lowland coast region and far
up the hills. According to the last avail
able statistics 200, 900 900 bananas are ship
ped annually from this island and there
are no plants requiring less attention and
less time than bananas and plantains. All
varieties may be grown here, and there is
no reason why Porto Rico, under American
protection and with the stimulus of Amer
lean enterprise, shall not rival Jamaica in
its production of these delicious fruits One
planting OF d banana shoot will last for
years as 1t practically renews itself. and
after the 'econd year the owner of q ba-
mana plantation has only to pick and ship
the fruit, and await the returns in cash.
With Little Cultivation.
Oranges, lines, lemons--au products of
the citrus family, in fact-fourish here with
little cultivation. and have not yet been
considered of sufficient Importance to merit
attention; but there is no doubt that they
can be made ~ profitable. There are no
frosts here, as occasionally in Florida;
transportation to our eastern seaboard
being by ship and steamer, would be less
than railroad freights from California; so
far as known there is no obstacle to the
free cultivation of all these fruits. The
same may be said of pineappes-an uncer-
tain crop in frosty countries-which grow
almost spontaneously here, and to enor-
nous size. with delicious flavor. The pine
is Indigenous here, having been found in
cultivation by the natives when Columbus
and Ponce de Leon came here plundering
and killing
Would you know what fruits may be
raised here? Well. besides those already
mentioned, the grape. melon, date, fig, sap
adilla, shaddock, citron, guava, mango,
pomegranate, avocado pear, plum, lamar
ind, cherry, star apple. mamie apple,
granadilla. water lemon. bread fruit. Gus
tard apple. sugar apple. sour sop and 9TH
ers which grow wild, the beach plum,
the Sea grape. etc, etc
The native vegetables are the yam. eddoe,
sweet potato, cassava, cucumber pea
beans. carrot. egg plant, tomato, corn
(maiZel, ochra, yucca, pumpkins, arrow
root; in the higher regions potatoes, straw
DerrleS, CaDDdSeS ETC. AS q rule, northern
vegetables do not do well here. unless high
up the hills. and then should be raised from
northern-grown seeds.
Products of the Lowlands.
But tie vegetable kingdom is rich enough
in plants, native and introduced which
grow perfectly well in a tropical climate
without going far afeld for other cultiva-
tions The main products of the lowlands,
sugar and tobacco require such skill, cap
ital and attention that novice would very
likely fail IL he were to attempt their cul-
uvation, let alone the probable impossible
ity of obtaining the necessary lands; for
Porto Rico is not a wild country sparsely
populated, but has a rather dense popula-
ton. of about 100000, which at present oc-
cupleS, II II does not utilize, the greater
portion of its $500 miles of area. The meth
obs of cultivation, SO far as sugar is con-
cerned, are those in vogue in Cuba but
there are fewer great 'ingenios." with per-
feet appliances for crystallizing and refin-
ing, and more of the ''trapiche de buey."
or one-ox mills, here. St!n, the annual ex-
opportunity, when peace reigns, for ex-
pansion OF territory cultivated and of out
put The annual export of tobacco reaches
i,Vp,oOo pounds, and the two staples con-
stitute s. per cent of the islands exports
experts say that there is no reason so far
known why Porto Rico cannot produce to-
bacco of as good quality as Cuba, even in
the Vuelta Abajo region so famous
throughout the world. But tobacco Is Ca
prichioso" o"-capricious-the Spaniards saw
and the right combination of soil and cli-
mate can be found only by experimentation.
The Porto Rican products thus far mem
uoned are those of the lowland region