Evening journal., 1900-03-01
PORTO R|CO'S GllNDTI0N
What a Government Agent
Says About 1t,
CULTURE OF BANANAS
A Wide Range Of Tropical Products
Coffee culture-No Man Should Co
There Who Has No capital-The
Climate and the People.

Climate and the People.
Mr. o. +. Cook special agent In
charge of the Department OF Agricul-
ture. has returned from Puerto Rico
and has made preliminary report to
the Secretary. Notwithstanding the
numerous books and magazine arti-
cles which have been published. there
was still very little definite informa-
tion available concerning the agricul
tural conditions and economic plants
Of that island.
At present very little in the way of |
plant products is exported from Puer- |
TO Rico out side OF coffee. sugar and |
tobacco All other crops are desig- |
mated minors" and these being con- |
sidered unworthy of the serious at
tention Of the planters. their cultiva-
tion is generally left to he desultory |
efforts of the poorest and most ignor. |
ant of the population. AS a result |
there has been little attempt at the
improvement Of varieties either by Sc
lection or by the Introduction of SUI
periOr seed. Much of the fruit and
vegetables sold in the markets of
Puerto Rican cities is of very inferior
quality and quite unsuitable for ex-
more enterprising farmers, both
Americans and Puerto Ricans. in ex-
periments, which many of them have
already undertaken, in order to find
out what new crops suitable for our
markets can be grown there
AS already pointed out in Secretary
( Wilson's annual report, we are paying
over 5000, 900, 600 for tropical plant
| products. a part of which could be
/ furnished by Puerto Rico. Instead
u however. of entering upon too many
| suggestions at once, it is desirable to
4 settle upon a few of the more promis-
< ing crops and encourage the produc-
1 tion of these articles on a scale suffi-
cient to give them a recognized place
in commerce. For bananas. for in
stance, we paid in 1898 over S5,000,-
600, mostly in Jamaica and Central
America. In Puerto Rico the banana
has scarcely beenf considered as a
source of income or an article Of eX-
port. II has been planted principally
for shade in the coffee plantations
and as one variety was as good as
!, another for this purpose, most of the
bananas are unstable. The variety
almost exclusively imported into the
United States is not generally culti-
waited. AS the conditions for com
merciai banana growing are very fay-
orable, it may be expected that at
! tempts in this direction viii soon be
made. It is necessary, however, that
{ at least five hundred acres be put
= under thorough cultivation, for the
product of less land can hardly be
e marketed to advantage. Unless a
r company with ample capital viii un
q a.
o made only through an organized effort
/ by the landowners of some favorable
e locality.
d In the meantime It is Of great i'm
!. portance that the existing industrie:
i Of Puerto Rico be improved. Sugar
lands are receiving attention from
d American capitalists. and large factor
u les with the most modern facilities
, are being built. Coffee has however
,e been the chief product of the island
II and is. perhaps. that in which th'
- greatest expansion is possible Owe
s13 900 600 worth of coffee has beer
exported in a single season from
Puerto Rico, in spite Of the fact tina
methods of cultivation are of the mos
~ primitive character. Instead of seed
lings grown in nurseries, those whicl
y sprung up by chance in the heavil
shaded plantations are used. Thes
7r are already weak and spindling, i
u order to keep them alive heavy shad
De is necessary. and this is continues
lg throughout the life of the plant. This
to together with the overcrowding an
IN lack of proper care, brings the ayel
age crop down to one-third or less q
re what might be obtained through bel
o. ter methods of cultivation. There
Sc also a large amount of land suitabl
r for coffee culture, but not now plan
OF ed. so II is not unreasonable to b.
ee lieve that if this industry were prOpe
i'm iy developed Puerto Rico might SUI
is ply at least half Of the enormou
no quantity consumed by the Unite
al States, our imports In 1898 bein
- valued at over S65000, 600.
10 There are. however few American
interested in coffee growing, and th
~ capitalists. who have canvassed Pue
De ro Rico for profitable investment
IT, have been giving little attention
'us the possibilities of coffee doubtle.
ed because of the depressed condition
OF the market, the result of overprodu
N tion of inferior grades in Brazil an
elsewhere. The superior quality
lp- the Puerto Rican article has, howeve
ass fnng been recognized in the EurOpef
he market. and there is every probabili
9as that an increasingly large amoul
ice will be required in the United State
lay For men without capital or expe
an. ence in the industries Of tropic
ne. countries. there are no openings
Puerto Rico, but with the improy
ment Of means Of transportation the
will be much to encourage the sett
ment of farmers Of sufficient ent'
zen prise and intelligence to carry on
sht versifed farming and profit by {
ret, advantageous local conditions.
100. But from information gained fre
wn the most reliable sources, we mt
1n- take exception to some of Mr.. Cool
and statements. He says the soil and {
ain mate is exceedingly diverse. This
hardly so. The soil is simply divid
into upland and lowland, and is le
diversified than that of any New FL
ton land state. The climate is hot, and I
ton one that the average citizen OF
sIla United States can Withstand for
ella long period.
Mr.. Cook also says the island IS
thiclxly populated, and here perha
Hon