The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-04-30
THE ISLAND OF PORTO RICO.
The Fertility of it's Soil and the
Variety of it's Resources.

turat Journal is published in Englis
and Spanish, and is devoted to the il
terests of commerce and %agricultur,
The following extracts from j 8 column
e are valuable and interesting
n The Island of Porto Rico has bee
correctly termed the richest island
the West Indies.
Z, To the marvellous fertility of its 30
is added unfold riches in mineral,
which, if scientifically mined an
handled with improved processes wi
4 greatly add to its most enyiable reputa
: ton as a wealth producer.
Among the many kinds of mineral
4 TO be found in Porto Rico, the mos
, important, both as to quality an,
/, quantity, are gold, copper, iron an,
silver. The existence of these mineral
has been established beyond doubt b,
, official data, and the vestiges of tn
work done centuries ago by the Span
iards. Lead, peroxide of manganese
ignite, quicksilver, sulphuret of lead
bismuth, jet and sulphur are also fount
in quantities on the island.
The first Spanlards to arrive on the
, shores of Borinquen, approaching Tho
properties of the King of Metals, un
dertook the task of Kidding the island
of its gold and, with this end in view
they set about washing the sands OF
the 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 3,495 800
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
ed In their labors by ignorance of
mining and deficient methods. In
view of these facts the question
arises-wliat are the results to be
lobtained by modern machinery and
scientific mining?
y The island is traversed by a range of
lmountains running from east to west
(which extends through the Windward
Islands on the east and to the Desecheo
lIslet OH the west. The most noted
ridge of this range is called Luquillo,
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 arc Mameyes, Rio
Prieto, Sabana, Fajardo, Gurabo,
Espirltu Santo, Rio Grande, Filipino,
La Maquina, Tabonuco, Cajones, Qua
lagua and Anon. In the beds of all
HILforegolng rivers gold is found, as
l'uIgs ont"v0 pounds of this metal hav-
n'sd from the Anon in one
~; The most abundant stones in
y Mameyes river bed are feld-spar
Aer porphiry, striped with veins of
P.\z and iron pyrltes, the alluvium
Atee, occupying the low and midway
0th Of these river-beds.
Teo\ECRET OF THE SEASONS.
,er question when to plant " is a
81 TO the Porto Rico agriculturist.
LTYns to make no great difference
N III a crop is planted, the result is
NE|s the samoa good harvest.
~syears ago, n of the islands
N1p| Enthusiastic agriculturists, in en-
dfng to force nature to divulge
Jheson secret, planted a patch of
Jcoiach month consecutively for a
! lyeaith the result that sixteen months
troihe time of the first planting he
Wasswarded with his twelfth good
crop There was a slight difference in
! me light of the December crop from
q,ehe cher ele1en and it was q few days
iiohgG in ripening, hut, aside from
t<nese two differences, thore was moth
ing 10 show that Nature favored one
crop more than another.
another prominent grower, in ex-
pe%rimentiHg 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 made 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 1865 days in the year.
THE CULTURE OF 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-men trans
formed their cotton fields into cane
fields and cotton raising in Porto Rico
has since been woefully neglected.
That this 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-time cotton raiser.
There are approximately 300 900
acres of IDLE land on the island of
Porto Rico upon which cotton could be
raised. This land WILL produce $50
Ito 1000 pounds of cotton per acre.
The land can be purchased for $15 to
$50 per acre. II will cost no more
thtn So to plant an acre and the best
labor is procurable at 40 cents o day.
Cotton machinery is c%omparatlv ely
inexpensive and silk cotton, the kind
which seems to do best in Porto Rico,
Tin quality about the same as upland)
is worth 8 cents f. o. b. San Juan.
From the above IL should not be diff
icult to see a good thing in cotton rails
ing in Porto Rico.
CATTLE AND HORSES.
There is no spot on the globe where
they raise better milk COWS and beef
cattle than In Porto Rico.
1t may not be generally known tina
Lord Durham, took with him to Europe
in the 18th century a number of Portt
Rico COWS and bred them TO Holster
stock, thus producing the fomous Shor
Horn Durham, but such is, neverthe