Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-07
AVIATION IE RoRT2 RIc8 THIS Is RART q Az

This was formerly one OF the chief RI
sources Of the island. but In 1850 there
was a terrible hurricane which uproote(
the trees and practically destroyed th1
plantations. Since then new coffee tree4
have been set out and the exports las
year were over 100000 in value. whict
is about five times what they were In 1901,
The best coffee Is raised in the highs
lands at an elevation of from 1Io "a
1900 feet above the sea. The climate u
so hot that the coffee has to be grows
under shade and II Is growing the shad4
trees that has caused the delay in the
reproduction of the plantations.
Another difficulty is the rains, which
are so frequent that the coffee is liable
to be wet when drying. The trays upoa
which the beans are laid have to be
watched, and taken in whenever II rains
They cannot be left out at night on acs
count of the dew. For this reason IL
costs more to raise coffee in Porto Rico
than in Brazil. but the coffee Is far bet.
ter, and il ought to bring almost doubts
the price Of Brazilian coffee.
/ understand that the Porto Ricans are
about organizing a campaign to intro
duce this coffee into the United States.
They have already established Offices in
New York. and will probably have exhi-
What is doing more for Porto Rico than
dHylnIUS else Is tie W system oE
new roads. which has been built SO that
nearly every part Of the country has
easy access to the sea. or this | will
write in another letter.
Another big public works which has
to do with the agricultural wealth of
the island is the retaining of something
like 5000 acres Of land. This scheme
relates to the southeastern end OF Porto
Rico, where the soil Is exceedingly rich.
but where. owing to the high mountains
at the north. there Is a scanty rainfall.
The moist winds strike the cold mountains
and the rain drops on the northern slopes
The average rainfall Is only forty-two
inches, ranging from twenty to sixty
inches per year. The land is excellent
sugar land and will be worth, IL II has
plenty of water, about 500 per acres. "A
il is now some of il is planted to sugar.
This crop requires abundant moisture
and when the rainfall is scanty il fails
and millions Of dollars are lost.
In order to irrigate this section the
insular government has issued bonds to
the amount Of $J,O00.000 and they VIII
probably need $1,000 90 more before the
work Is completed. The first $3000.V0
worth of bonds have been seld. and Q
the work. The project is now under the
charge of Chief Engineer Beardsley. tho
man who did so much for irrigation In
the Philippines. Among the dams he q
constructing Is one On the PatlIlaS rivers
which is 13o feet high and 1000 feet long.
Another is the CARTE dam, which Is los
feet high. and third, the Guayobal dam.
which will be liz feet high and over 2O0U
feet long. There are also several great
reservoirs and tunnels. and altogether ir-
rigation works which will compare IA
vorably with some in our arid lands OF
the west. Engineer Beardsley finds that
his men cannot do as much work az
those he has employed In the United
States. and he attributes their lack OF
strength to lack Of good food. He is now
giving the men three meals a day free OF
charge, believing that he will be repaid
in the additional work done
FRANK G. CARPENTER.