The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-06-25

high as twenty five cents 3 bag of 30
pounds
Tobacco in Puerto Rico has been raised
only in small quantities and has been
badly cured. The largest amount ever
exported was 6.o94 tons, in 1850. Most OF
the Puerto Rican tobacco smoked in the
United States Is labeled by Cuban firms
whose crop has failed. San Juan has d
cigarette factory with capacity Of 1@,o0ls
a day.
OF the total area Of Puerto Rico, IS per
cent is divided up into farms and q peS
cent is under cultivation The average
farm contains IS cuerdas, of which u are
improved. Rice, sweet potatoes, bananas,
vans pineappleS, corn and manioc are B.
few of the things raised on these farms
Bananas, of which there are eight varie~-
ties, form a large part of the natives
diet Oranges are OF two kinds both OF
which could easily be raised for the
American market. Pineapples are excel
lent; lines and lemons are not very
good; cocoa trees grow well. but they
take eight years to mature; fig trees havs
immense crops of fruit; alligator or avo-
cado pears. mangoeS, papayaS tama-
rinds and breadfruit are very plentiful.
There are two kinds each of plums. qua
and manioc, which is mealy tuber
whose outer skin is very poisonous. Co
coanut raising cannot compete with Gu
GA, where there is SO much more suitable
land. The nispero is delicious fruit toe
fragile for expectation; the grosella is g.
small yellow fruit which makes a fine,
transparent jelly, and the gedtana ia a.
small bush which produces beans that
make better substitute for coffee than
, ehicory. Many medicinal plants grow
wild and are used by the natives.
\
grazing The Guinea and Para grasses
grow very well the former attaining g.,
height of six feet more. Oxen are
/, used mainly draught animals, as they
are good travellers and are stronger than
the ponies. The yokes are very heavy
and are bound to the bases of the horns
The Indian population of Puerto Rico,
at the date of its discovery by Columbus
is said to have numbered about 10000
souls According to Historian Fray Inigu
Abbad, the aborigines were copper-color-
ed. short in stature, well proportione0
with fiat noses and narrow heads, fat IN
front and behind, the result of pressure
applied in infancy. They were governed
by caciques who ruled by divine decree
consulting the Buhitis, or medicine men
who declared the will of the Cemi, wipes
was their only deity If their prophecies
were not fulfilled, they declared that the
Cemi had changed his mind for gooG
reasons of his own. They wore no
clothes, but painted their bodies with
great skill and made elaborate head
dresses with feathers of exquisite colors
When the Arawaks saw that the sick
were nearing death, they suffocated
them, and, opening the bodies. dried
them by fire before interring them in
caves The aborigtnes were exterminated
very rapidly, and the recent census die
not reveal any pure-blooded descendants.
Their huts, which were often On piles to
avoid the damp ground, were made OF
canes, grass and the leaves of the royal
palm. They had windows, door be
ing the only orifice, and hammocks and
calabashes were the only articles Of fur
nitare. These dwellings were just the
same as the peasants use in the country
districts today.
The recent census shows a population
of eo3. 24o, which Is about the same
that of West Virginia. and density OF
264 persons to a square mile, nearly equal
to that of New Jersey, More than three
hfths of the population are pure white
and nearly two-ffths are partly or en-
tfrely negro.
Puerto Rico and Cuba are unique
among the West India Islands IN having
a majority OF whites. The census re-