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at No. 91 Wall Street, New York City, and it is the duty of the 

 agent in charge to correspond with the coffee planters and dealers, 

 and other producers in Porto Rico, with a view of putting such 

 growers and producers in direct communication with purchasers 

 of such products and to promote in every way possible the 

 opportunity for growers and producers to market their products 

 directly with purchasers. All products consigned to the agency 

 will be disposed of to the best advantage and without charge to the 

 shipper other than for cost of transportation, storage, and actual 

 expenses incurred in marketing the same. 



Coffee can be grown profitably on nearly all kinds of soils, 

 provided there is a good drainage. Virgin forest soil on the 

 mountain sides, however, is the best, and much of this land can 

 still be had for about $10 per acre. In order that the Porto Rican 

 coffee may command the highest prices it must be able to compete 

 with the fine grades of Java coffee. With this end in view the 

 Coffee Experiment Station is now experimenting with fine coffees 

 from all parts of the world. Samples of these and their breedings 

 will be sent to the United States markets, and after it has been 

 demonstrated which best suit the American taste, these selected 

 varieties will be recommended to the coffee growers and, if 

 possible, seeds or seedlings will be placed at their disposal. 

 Experiments are also under way to increase the production per 

 acre, which now averages about 250 pounds as against a far 

 larger output in other countries. Until quite recent years the 

 cultivation of coffee was conducted in a very primitive way, but 

 the cultivation now is conducted along up to date lines and seed 

 and nursery beds are found in the coffee districts where a few 

 years ago only volunteer plants were used. 



TOBACCO. 



The poor prices paid for ordinary leaf tobacco on the field 

 during the past two years, disheartened the farmers, and, in con- 

 sequence, the 1905 crop was a very small one. There was a good 

 demand this season and much higher prices were paid, and the 

 few fortunate farmers who had not exchanged their crops for 

 provisions or sold their field of tobacco before picking, made very 

 fair profits. It was a somewhat unusual occurrence for the bulk 

 of the profit to be made by the farmers, as they usually sell to 

 speculators, who, in turn, sell to the factories. The farmers have 

 been greatly encouraged by the rise in price and knowledge that 

 in future the factories will buy direct from them, and as a result 

 a large crop is being prepared for 1906. 



The new system of picking the leaves for wrappers from the 

 standing plants and drying separately from the stalk, has given 

 very good results, and wrappers treated in this way have greatly 

 improved in quality and have brought a much better price. 

 Tobacco grown under cheese-cloth continues to give good results ; 

 this method of planting is gradually extending and proves very 

 profitable if carried out on a large scale. 



The cuhivation and curing of leaf tobacco in Porto Rico is 

 still in a very crude state : the land is badly prepared and the 



