Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-06-04
COFFEE OF PORTO
RICO IN DEMAND
Finds Profitable Sale Abroad,
Though Americans Do
Not Like It.

session, Porto Rico, is in great de
mand abroad and the foreign market
places it at the top of the price list
! of coffees from all over the world
according to experts at the United
States department of agriculture Por
to Rican experiment station. How
ever, the people of the United States
have developed a taste for dinereni
kind of coffee, and the preference OF
a great many people will have to be
changed in order to obtain larger
market for Porto Rican coffee in this
country. The cost of changing the &C
quired taste of the American seems
too great to justify the attempt so
long as such excellent prices are OBJ
tainable elsewhere for the product.
During the last year, says the newly
issued annual report of the depart
ment's station in Porto Rico, the value
Of the exports of coffee amounted to
a great deal mere than they ever have
since the American occupation. Bet
ter cultivation and higher prices have
enabled the coffee industry to show
great progress, and planters are now
following better practices in the selec-
ton of their seed for planting. The
departments station is introducing So
called Java" and other coffees which
are yielding better than native coffee
and giving a higher percentage of
large and uniform grains. The coffee
is grown for distribution to planters
on the island and has been resulting
in greater yields as well as in better
prices for the planters.
OF the coffee exported during the
last year, sS,37S,346 worth went to
foreign countries, while only S132,970
worth went to the United States. AL
though today there exists benefit of
tariff, the coffee is still following the
old lines of trade established by tariff
laws during the Spanish regime. 1t is
a marked indication of the truth that
trade established upon preference of
taste for a certain product is a most
difficult one to change. However, as
sociations and individuals are still
to extend the market and to
gain even a higher reputation for the
coffee of Porto Rico.
The grapefruit industry which start
ed from nothing 10 years ago is now
thriving in Porto Rico and promises
good returns to the man with perse-
industry, and personal super
vision. Porto Rico is safe from frosts
that threaten the industry on the main
land and at the open door of the
best market in the world-New York
and the eastern seaboard. The grape |
fruit industry represents me highest |
type of intensive farming, and is
N fn a tnr oY-
tent in Porto Rico as the trees which /
Are already planted come into bear |
ng.
The value of the exports of grape |
ruit last year (S726.6S7) was exceeded !
~ the exports of two other fresh-fruit
which have been established
or a much greater period in the is
and. Oranges were exported to the
-alue of $4,000, and pineapples to II
he value of S1,142.OO7. s151 .6S1 worth
f canned pineapples was also export
d.
There is considerable planting of CO.
oanuts in Porto Rico and there are
Extensive areas yet where these trees
nay be profitably set out. a cocoanut
rove, properly cared for, yields
ure and steady income. Better cult
alton, the growing of vegetables
mong the trees, the utilization of
eaweed and other manures, yield ex-
client returns over cost.
The value of exports of cocoanuts for
he past year amounted to 1852, 800.
esides being interested in cocoanuts,
lie departments agricultural station
as a number of other tbearing |
'ees on trial, both edible and oil-bear-
lg, and it is hoped that some will
rove profitable for cultivation there.
Although the other agricultural
-oducts show such great promise, SUI
ar and tobacco still continue to lead |
l others by a big margin. The ex-
,rts of sugar during the last year had II
total value of s27,226,905, while the II
Ilue of the tobacco exports were: II
s5,S24,O3O; unmanufac- II
red, S3,1SS,227. n
Planters are now introducing i'm II
owed varieties of cane, while the II
ltivation and fertilization of the II
op has been vastly improved. On II
e other hand, lands not well suited III
the crop have been planted and 9TH II
S have been continuously planted to n
ne. so that yields have been reduced II
a minimum. Many OF these lands. II
II now go out of cultivation II
Porto Rican tobacco, as well as su- III