The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1898-09-28

the West Indies, shat of Grenada, has
been raised from poverty to compare
tive afluence by the abandonment of
sugar as an exclusive cultivation and
the substitution of cacao
The same locations are also favorable
to the growth of all the native spices,
as we'll as those long since introduced,
such as cinnamon, nutmeg and pimento.
Vanilla will grow in the damp forests,
and ginger, citron and arrowroot may
becultivated pro6tably. The last named
has made the fortune of many farmer
in Bermuda and st. Vincent, and there
is noreason why it will not do as we'll
in this island. Like the native cassava,
from which -four and cassareep are OBJ
tanned, the arrowroot grows best in the
fertile soil of the many steep activities.
It is estimated that our imports OF
fruits and nuts, t'nearly all of them Of
tropical growth and many of them from
these very islands, % amount to $17.-
o00,0 900 peroyear; of fbers CUTE, sisal
hemp, ETC. about $12, 600, 600, and of
cacao, S3, 1000, 900. The fbers can be
produced in such barren spots as the
Bahamas and yucatan, where the soil
is too poor TOR anything else, and it is
doubtful if they could be made a profit
able cultivation in this island. But
rice, of which we import to the amount
of 50, 900, 900 annually, grows we'll,
though most of it is of the SO called
mountain variety and is consumed
here.
Two Of the great staples, sugar and
tobacco, should not be overlooked,
though it is believed that lands suita-
BILE fer their cultivation have been
mainly occupied. Sugaris at its best in
the coastal lowlands 1t was introduced
early in the sixteenth century, probably
from the Canaries. and has found here
as congenial home as in Cuba, and
the methods Of cultivation and manu-
facture are the same. There are more
''trapiches de buey''-ox or bullock
mills-run by natives of small means
than there are vast "haciendas" and
"ingenios, as in Cuba.
There is, of course, no region like the
famed Vuelta Abajo Of Cuba for the
raising Of high grade tobacco, but the
weed of Porto Rico is said to press
it close in quality. The peculiar soil of
the Abajo is found here in many rich
valleys, such as Palmas, Cagnas and
Cidra, and the climatic conditions are
similar and favorable. AS most Of the
tobacco raised on the 300 ''estanoios"
goes to Cuba, there is more than sus
picion that Porto Rico's product may
be found incorporated IN not a few OF
those genuine havanas' for which the
gilded youth Of our country pay fabu-
lous prices.
To recapitulate the chief products Of
Porto Rico and their zones Of cultiva-
ton: Along the coast are the cocoa palm,
pineapple, banana, nearly all tropical
fruits and vegetables The palm will
bear in six OF seven years from plant
ing, and continue at least 60.
The sugar cane, like the banana,
fourishes in this zone as TAR up as
thousand meters above sea level. UCder
favorable conditions it natures in from
II to IA months, and reproduces itself
during five years thereafter. The cotton
plant hourishes within the same belt.
produces in from seven to nine months,
and endures FOR three or four years
The yucca is likewise in the coast belt.
living for years.
Maize, found everywhere up to 5000
1eet above the sea, ripens in from three
to FIVE months and must be planted an.
nually.
Tobacco, which fourishes within the
same area, also requires annual plant
ing and natures in from four to six
months.
Coffee and cacao flourish anywhere
above 500 feet. The latter is best at
1000 or !, 500. 1t requires three or four
years for frat fruits, and endures for
40 years, G the average length of mans
life. FREDERICK A. OBER