272 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 



produced nearly two million English pounds of sugar, 

 valued at $25,000,000, besides valuable crops of indigo and 



move codec limn is now exported. Under favorable con- 

 ditions the capacity of the island for production is almost 

 incalculable. There is no article produced in the tropics 

 that is not found or that could not be raised in Haiti with 

 profit. It would seem that almost anything could be 

 grown either in the uplands or the lowlands of this beau- 

 tiful country. Even pineapples, peaches, strawberries, 

 blackberries, and other fruits are found in the uplands. 

 Those who have watched the rise and remarkable growth 

 of the export of fruits from the neighboring island of 

 Jamaica within the past few years, and who have any 

 knowledge of the fertility of the soil of Haiti, assert that 

 no argument need be used to show that under reasonably 

 favorable conditions the exportation of fruit could easily 

 be made profitable. Oranges (sweet and sour), citrons, 

 plantains, bananas, lemons, shaddocks, pineapples, cocoa- 

 nuts, mangos, artichokes, alligator-pears, sapodillas, and 

 the like abound. It is said that mango is so common that 

 during the height of its season, from May to June, the sale 

 of breadstuff s falls off as much as fifty per cent. 



Absolutely nothing is known of the geological and 

 mineral resources of Haiti, although gold, platinum, silver, 

 copper, iron ore, tin, manganese, antimony, sulphur, rock- 

 salt, bitumen, asphaltum, and phosphates exist, some of 

 them in quantities. Mining interests have hitherto been 

 entirely neglected, and there are no laws on the subject in 

 the country. It has been the policy of the government 

 not to encourage enterprises that might tend to prostrate 

 or impair the agricultural spirit and industry of the people. 



Communication in Haiti, where there are thirty-one 

 post-offices, is maintained entirely by overland roads and 

 coasting-vessels. Most of the highways are notoriously 

 bad, especially those leading from the central valley over 

 the mountains to the northern and southern coasts. The 

 roads in the interior are, in most cases, little more than 



