PORTO RICO EXPERIMENT STATION. 458 



RENOVATING OF OLD COFFEE PLANTATION. 



Plat No. 13. All coffee and shade removed; plowed, harrowed, and 

 planted to soja beans. 



Plat No. 14. All coffee removed, shade left. 



Plat No. 15. All coffee and shade removed; plowed, harrowed, and 

 planted to alfalfa. 



Plat No. 16. All coffee and shade removed; plowed and harrowed 

 and planted to cowpoas. 



Tlio soja beans, after comini^- np nicelv, were damai^od b}' heavy 

 rains, l)ut afterwards recuperated and are now doino- fairl}^ well. 



The alfalfa was entirely destroyed b3" heavy rains after having come 

 up nicel}. 



The cowpeas came up ver}- nicely and grew luxuriantl} , and were 

 plowed under before the beans had entirely ripened. After some 

 further preparation the plats will be set to new coffee trees from the 

 nursery beds. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH NEW COFFEE. 



The object in view is to improve upon the present condition of 

 coffee trees in Porto Rico. Generally speaking this may be done in 

 two different wa3's — (1) improvements in the Porto Rican coffee and 

 shade trees themselves, and (2) improvements in the Porto Rican coffee 

 by cross ))reeding, )»udding, or replacing by foreign coffee and shade 

 trees. 



In order to make experiments along these lines possible, a part of 

 the y.o acres of virgin forest mentioned in last annual report has been 

 cleared and a road made through it. Two houses for the foreman 

 and laborers have lieen l)uilt. An imaginary line running north and 

 south through the center of the tract divides it in two parts. To 

 the east of this line experiments are conducted with Porto Rican 

 coffee and shade and to the west with imported varieties of coffee 

 and shade trees. 



Seed and nursery ])eds have })een constructed, in which seeds from 

 differcMit sources have been planted. Among these were seven kinds of 

 coffee imported from Brazil, which, however, owing to having })een sent 

 in ))ulk. and, in general, in a ver}' bad and poor condition, did not 

 come up at all. Several kinds from the Hawaiian Islands and Cej'lon 

 came up with fine results and have been already planted in the field. 

 Coffee seed from Porto Rico, well prepared, all came up with exceed- 

 ingly good results. To continue experiments with imported coffee it 

 is desirable to secure as rapidly as possible seeds of a large variety of 

 foreign matcM'ial, and I would recommend giving the procuring of this 

 material special attention. 



K\})eriments with diflerent plant distances have been l)cgun by 

 planting coffee at distances of 12 by 12, 10 by 10, 8 by 8, 6 by 6, and 



