Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-01-07

round. They drop off themselves and
the men have only to go daily from tree
to tree to pick them up. There is a steady
market for them, great quantity being
dried for copra.
Another big crop OF the future is COT.
fee. This was formerly one Of the chief
resources of the island but in 1899 there
was terribly hurricane which uprooted
the trees and practically destroyed the
plantations. Since then new coffee trees
have been set out, and the exports last
year were over 100000 in value. which
Is about five times what they were in
1901
The best coffee is raised In the high
lands at an elevation of from 1900 to 5000
feet above the sea. The climate is so
hot that the coffee has to be grown under
shade, and II is growing the shade trees
that has caused the delay I'm the repro-
duction of the plantations.
Another difficulty is the rains. which
are so frequent that the coffee is liable
to be wet when drying The trays upon
which the beans are laid have to be
watched and taken in whenever It rains.
They cannot be left out at night on ac-
count OF the dew. For this reason II
costs more to raise coffee in Porto Rico
than in Brazil, but the coffee is far bet
ter and 1t ought to bring almost double
the price OF Brazilian coffee.
l understand that the Porto Ricans are
about organizing a campaign to Introduce
this coffee into the United States. They
have already established offices in New
York and will probably have exhibition
rooms in our different cities.
Reclamation I'm Porto Rico.
What is doing more for Porto Rico than
anything else is the wonderful system OF
new roads, which has been built SO that
nearly every part of the country has
easy access to the sea. OF 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 scanty rainfall
The moist winds strike the cold mountains
and the rain drops on the northern stones
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 SEQ per acre. As
II Is now some of II Is planted to sugar
This crop requires abundant moisture
and when the rainfall is scanty II fails
and millions OF dollars are lost.
In order to irrigate this section the
lnsular government has issued bonds To
the amount OF 100000 ana they win
probably need 100000 more before the
work Is completed. The first 5000 600
worth OF bonds have been sold, and a
large part OF the money has gone into
the work. The project Is now under the
charge OF Chief Engineer Beardsley, the
man who did so much for irrigation In
the Philippines. Among the dams he Is
constructing is one on the Patillas river
which is l2 feet high and LOCO feet long
Another Is the CARTE dam, which Is los
feet high, and third, the Guayobal dam.
which will be he feet high and over 1000
feet long. There are also several great
reservoirs and tunnels and altogether ir-
rlgation 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 as
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 C. CARPENTER.