no 



seed not judiciously selected ; for instance, some districts whose 

 speciality is fillers use the same seed as those that grow tobacco 

 for wrappers, and vice versa : there is no uniformity of leaves 

 among the plants, the seed principally used is mixed, and there- 

 fore, gives a variety of plants ; and finally, practically no fer- 

 tilizing is done, although an increase of from 25 to 30 per cent, can 

 be obtained by its careful application. It is worthy of note, how- 

 ever, that the stimulus of this year's good prices has made the 

 farmers more careful in the selection of seed, in cultivating and 

 in fertilizing. 



The style of barn in which the drying is carried on (very little 

 curing being done by the farmers) is responsible for the spoiling 

 of half the tobacco brought in from the fields, they are usually 

 open at the sides and the tobacco is at the mercy of the wind and 

 rain. Very fine tobacco is often destroyed by careless handling 

 and improperly built barns, and tobacco which would be worth 

 $15 to $18 per quintal if properly dried, will not bring more than 

 $10 or $12 if carelessly handled. The barns should be so con- 

 structed that they may be immediately and tightly closed, or 

 opened for ventilation. 



There is a great future for leaf tobacco in Porto Rico, especi- 

 ally for light wrappers, if modern methods are adopted, but it is 

 difhcult to persuade the average farmer to give up his old way of 

 doing things. 



CATTLE. 



Cattle raising in Porto Rico has always been a profitable busi- 

 ness, as there is a continual demand both for beef cattle and for 

 draught animals. Some few American mules and horses have 

 been imported for ploughing and other agricultural work, but, 

 while they accomplish more in a given time, they are more ex- 

 pensive to keep, as they require grain if used for heavy work. 

 Oxen, on the contrary, feed entirely on grass, and, although slow, 

 are steady workers and accomplish a great deal of work. Practi- 

 cally all the hauling to the towns in the Island which are not 

 connected by railroad, is done by bullock teams which draw im- 

 mense loads. While it is true that, owing to the increased area 

 which is being devoted to the raising of cane, the available pas- 

 turage has been greatly reduced, still there is plenty of land in 

 the interior of the Island suitable for cattle raising, which can be 

 bought for from five to ten dollars an acre. Prior to the American 

 occupation there was a large export trade to Cuba and adjacent 

 islands, but this has been gradually falling off, as is shown by the 

 fact that 13,110 cattle were exported during the fiscal year 

 1903-1904, while only 8,185 were exported during the fiscal year 

 1904-1905. 



The native horses, though small in size, are tough and wiry, and 

 as they live exclusively on grass they are inexpensive to keep. 

 They make good coach and saddle horses and almost all the travel 

 from one part of the island to another is done either by coach or 

 on horseback. 



