Evening star., 1925-04-29
PORTO RICO SOIL
WEALTH PRODUCER
Productivity Largely Aug
mented by TorrentiaI
Streams That Score Hills.
BY GIDEON A. LYON.
III

j III.
When Columbus touched the shores
of Porto Rico in November. 1893, he
was seeking FL Dorado. the land OF
gold. He had found gold mines il
HiSpaniola, now known as Santo Do
minso, the year before, but he still
was hunting for the great continent
of limitless wealth So he passed
Porto Rico by with only a brief stor
to rewater his ships and 20 rest his
crews. 1t was just as we'll as far as
precious metals were concerned. fol
Porto Rico has but a small store OF
mineral wealth. though the Indian;
undoubtedly mined it and used it for
ornaments. 1t is occasionally mined
today in the torrential streams thai
score the hills.
Those streams, however, are a
source of far greater wealth than the
glittering particles of gold they bring
down into the valleys. They are
working increasingly to multiply the
products of the soil, and if present
plans of development are carried into
effect they will work even harder and
more effectively hereafter They have
yielded infinitely more wealth tn IN
Columbus or his immediate associates
discovered.
Porto Rico lies in the path of trade
winds prevailing generally from the
East and Southeast. A great ridge
Of hills. rising to heights of more
than 1000 feet in some places, rough
ly divides the island into two sections,
the northern and the southern. The
winds bring moisture from the At
lantiC and condense it in the form
of clouds upon the slopes of the
mountains, giving an abundant rain
fall. Little rain. however. is precipi-
tated on the southern sides. though
the clouds break almost evenly on
both slopes, the rivers flowing sou,h.
ward as we'll as northward. Thus on
the north the soil IS we'll watered by
the rains, while on the south the fields
are arid.
Many years ago the Spanish planters
undertook by irrigation to feed the
naturally fertile southern land. Their
methods, however, were comparatively
crude. Some Corsicans settled in
Porto Rico during the early part of the
nineteenth century and somewhat i'm
proved the system, adapting the irri-
CATION processes used in their own
unevenly watered island Relics of
these early irrigation works are still
to be noted. Some of the conduits,
indeed, are even today in use, so sub
stantially were they built.
Porto Rico's Problem.
At present the problem in Porto
Rico is to make every mountain
stream work to it's fullest extent.
Sugar, the big money crop of the
island, its chief source of wealth, is
voracious consumer of water 1t
needs at least 72 inches a year. Upon
the amount, and more specifically the
distribution, of the rainfall, therefore,
depends the prosperity of the island
Coffee, which grows mainly in the
hills, gets enough moisture in the or
dlnary course. Tobacco makes small
demand for artificial irrigation The
citrus fruits are mostly grown on
naturally watered soil. Sugar is the
greedy claimant that must be salts
fed or Porto Rico languishes. And the
water that 1t needs must be given in
Just the right quantities at the right
stages of growth to produce the de-
sired result of a heavy stand of cane
with a high percentage of sucrose.
The island is ideally configured for
water-power development. The ridges
do not run with geometric smooth
ness, but cross and recross in eccen-
trio lines, forming many deep valleys.
The high hills are dented with al
NAV
be damned to form storage lakes, The
problem is one rather of finance than
OF engineering. VIII it pay to build
a dam here, or there? Will the precip-
itation and the average water flow
justify the expenditure?
These questions belong to the juris-
diction of the Department of the In
terror, whose chief commissioner.
Guillermo Esteves. is a remarkably
capable man, an engineer of ability
and an executive with inexhaustible
energy. He has organized a highly
efficient staff of assistants, mostly
graduates of continental technical in
stitutions.
Water Power Ample.
There is sufficient water power in
Porto Rico, Mr.. Esteves believes, to
produce all the electricity required for
municipal purposes, for traction needs
for a far greater industrial develop.
ment than the island now enjoys. and
for the irrigation of every acre of DO.
tential agricultural land. If money
can be provided for this work the
plants can be established. 1t is only
question of how rapidly the funds
will become available.
To illustrate the ingenuity with
which this problem is being solved it
may be noted that plans are now
under consideration to maintain the
water supplies on the south side OF
the island, where they are most ur.
gently needed, by building dams OF
the north side of the main watershed
and feeding the southern reservoirs
by means of tunnels cut through the
mountain walls.
A trip taken with Commissioner
Esteves. to the CARTE dam, on the
south side, near Guayama Guayama
gave me a vivid impression of The in
tenSive manner in which Porto Rico's
streams of gold" are being worked
to yield the wealth that Columbus and
his followers in the exploration of the
new world overlooked. CARTE is one
of the most important, though not the
largest. of the water power develop
ments in the island. 1t feeds an area
that is particularly arid, and yet is q
heavy producer of big money crops
The lake formed by a relatively small
dam lies some 1900 feet above sea
level The water is first brought dowr
by a 750-foot fall. in two 30-inch pen
stocks to a powerhouSe, where it de
yelOpS 500 horsepower in electric