Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1922-08-23
COLON|STS TOO
BLAME FOR RAIDS
ISLE OF PALMS
Continued from Page one.)

(CCHttnueQ from Page one
his land, clear it and plant it to
cocoanuts and wait eight or ten
years for a return ON his invest
ment, DR.. Browne declared. Co
coanuts, he says, are the only crop
that can be grown on the island
in which there are any CONNER
cial possibilities at present, and,
so far as the Americans are CON
cerned, the planting of cocoanuts
has just begun. 1t will be seven
or eight years yet before they are
in bearing.
Temperate Crops Useless.
"If man has not got the mon
ey the best thing for him to do is
to stay away" said DR.. Browne.
When man starts to farm on
the island he wants to forget all
about the temperate zone products
and remember that he Is In the
tropics, according to the Scio doc
tor. Corn and beans are the only
temperate zone products that can
4 be grown successfully on the is
land he said. The corn is planted
at the opening CT the rainy sea-
son, about July /, and the beans
between the corn about two
months later. The first crop
grows to maturity and is harvest
ed before the beans are, ready.
There are in planting this year
approximately 200 acres of corn
and beans on the island, DR..
Browne reports. About 400 acres
are being planted to cotton he
says.
These crops, because they are
not perishable, can be grown pro
fitably by the colonists, Dr.
Browne says, for they can either
be transported to the railroad on
the mainland and then shipped to
market, or they can be held until
ship makes the island port and
shipped out that way.
Island Not Paradise.
The statement that ships do not
and cannot stop at the island is
false, DR.. Browne declares. Coast
ing schooners call there every
time there is sufficient incoming
freight to warrant it, he says. The
Development of this method ofI
transportation must come when
the cocoanut industry has reached
the stage where nuts are being
produced on large scale he holds
To provide enough cocoanuts,
beans and corn to make it worth
while for coasting schooners to
make the island a regular port OF
call is part of the plan of the col
onists.
While somewhat of an enthus |
last over the possibilities of the
island for persons who can be in
dependent of any need for imme
diate returns on their, investment
there, DR.. Browne does not claim
the island, to be the paradise that
1t was pictured by the promoters
He denies that the climatic condi-
tions are ideal, and says that
while it is true that the tempera-
ture seldom rises above 80 de-
grees, the humidity is so great as
to make the heat almost unbear-
able at times. Cold water, he
said. is never to be found on the
island.
Land Slashed, Not Stumped.
On the island are two classes of
land, the forest and the prairie.
The prairie land, he says, is rich
and easy to cultivate with little
or no preliminary work. The for
est, however, presents some diff
culties, as the timber is thick and
the underground thicker. All of
DR.. Brownies 80 acres were heav-
lily timbered, but the clearing, he
said, is simple. At the close OF
the rainy season the land is slash |
ed and the slashings allowed to
dry thoroughly under the scorch-
Ing sun. When they are thorough
ly dry they are fired, and with a |
crew of men working behind the
flames to gather up and pile in
small fires the fire brands and un-
burned limbs and loose wood the
burning is usually accomplished
IN a single day. Where the land
is to be planted to cocoanuts no
stumping is necessary, he says.
The stumps are simply left in the
ground. The soft wood rots ano
slowly crumbles away, but the
hard wood stumps send out new
shoots continuously that have to
be cut away every year.
The land cleared in this man
ner cannot be cultivated Dr.
Browne admits, but he says that it
s so loose and fine that it does