The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1902-05-01
THE ISLAND OF PORTO RICO.
The Fertility OF it's Soil and the
Variety of it's Resources.

The Fertility OF it's Soil and tn,
Variety of it's Resources.
The P'ro Rico Tradc u,,d Agricul
, trol Journol is published in Englisl
and Spanish, and is devoted to tho in
tcrests of commerce and agriculture
The following extracts from it's column
alc valuable and interesting
The Island Of Porto Rico has beer
correctly termed the richest island OF
the West Indies.
TO the marvellous fertility Of its sol
is added untold riches in minerals
which, if scientifically mined ant
handled with improved processes viii
| greatly add TO it's most enviablc rcputa
ton as Il wealth producer.
| Among the many kinds of minerals
to be found in Porto Rico, lhe most
important, both as to quality and
quantity, are gold, copper, iron aDd
silver. The existence of these minerals
has been established beyond doubt by
official data, and the vcstiges of the
work done centuries ago by the Span.
iarls. Lead, peroxide Of manganese,
hsnitr, quicksilver, suIphurrt Of lead
bismuth, jet and sulphur are also found
in quantities OH the island.
The first Spanlards to arrive on the
shores OF BorinIucn, approaching the
proper tees Of the King of Metals, un-
dcr took the task of Kidding the island
of its gold and, with this end in Wow
they set about washing the sands of
tho rivers and streams and sinking
shafts IN the hills. Notwithstanding
their primitive and most imperfect
methods of mining, the results were
quite satisfactory and, according to
authentic documents the production of
gold from 1909 to 1886 was 3,l95 500
dollars.
1t must be borne in mind that these
results were attained by the first set
tiers Of the island who knew almost
nothing of the land and were hamper
cd In their labors by ignorance of
mining and deficient methods. In
view of these facts the question
ariscs-what arc the results to be
obtained by modern machinery and
scientific mining?
The island is travcrsed by Il range Of
mountains running from cast to west
which extends through the Winuwara
Islands on The east and to the Descchco
lslet on the west. The most noted
ridge Of this range is called lLluuill0,
about $500 feet above the level of the
sea and down whose sides flow a series
of rivers and creeks, the most impor-
tant of which are Mameycs, Rio
Prieto, Sabana, Fajardo, Gurubo,
Espirtu Santo, Rio Grandc, Fiipna,
La Maquina, Tabonuco, Cajones, Qua
lagua and Anon. In the beds of all
the foregoing rivers gold is found, as
much as two pounds OF this metal hay
ing been washed from the Anon in one
day. The most abundant stones III
the Mameyes river bed are lcld-spar
and porphiry, striped with veins of
quartz and iron pyrltcs, the aIluv;um
land occupying the low and midway
part" OF these rlVer-beds.
SECRET or TIE SEASONS.
The question 4" when to plant " is II
pnZzlcr TO the Porto Rico agricullurist
1t seems to make no great difference
when Il crop is planted, the result is
always The samc--a good harvest.
Some years ago, one Of the islands
most enthusiastic aSriculturists, in ell
dcavoring to force nature to djvuIgo
her season secret, planted a patch of
corn each month consGCutivcly for a
year with the result that sixteen months
from the time of the first planting he
was rewarded with his twelfth good
crop. There was a slight difference in
the height Of the December crop from
the other eleven and it was a few days
longer in ripcning, hut, aside from
these Two differences, there was moth
ing TO show that Nature favored one
crop more than another.
Another prominent grower, in cx-
perimcnting with pineapples, produced
an abundance of this fruit in March,
fully three mOnths before its "seasOn."
These two citations of the many like
experiments that have been male on
the island make it easy to understand
how it is possible for the people in the
United States to have fresh fruit and
vegetables 800 days in the year.
THE CULTURE or COTTON.
During the Civil War and as late as
1869, cotton of a very fine quality was
raised on the Island of Porto Rico. At
this time, when the planters of the
United States had once more given
their undivided attention to the raising
Of cotton, Porto RICO cotton-mcn trans
formed their cotton fields into cane
fields and cotton raising in Porto Rico
has since been Wocfully neglected.
That tins industry could be made a
money maker can be seen from a few
figures obtained from statistics of va
rious kinds and from the books of an
old-timC cotton raiser.
There are oximatcly 300, 900
acres Of IDLE land on the island of
Porto Rico upon which cotton could be
raised. This land will produce $50
to 1000 pounds of cotton per acre.
The land can be purchased for $l5 to
$50 per acre. IL will cost no more
than s. to plant an acre and the best