Ill 



The native mules, although small, make very satisfactory pack 

 animals, and are used extensively for the transportation of coffee 

 from the mountains to the shipping points. 



All the livestock in Porto Rico has deteriorated greatly owing 

 to the continual in-breeding, but steps have been taken to improve 

 the breeds by crossing with good stock brought from the United 

 States. 



CITRUS FRUITS. 



It is estimated that there are 7,000 acres under cultivation at 

 this time in citrus fruits, of which about tSI. is planted in oranges, 

 257' in grape fruit (pomelo) and %% in lemons. This acreage is 

 continually increasing and there will be approximately 1,500 

 acres more planted during the next twelve months. Among the 

 varieties of oranges most commonly planted here are the Parson 

 Brown, Ruby, Washington Navel, Pineapple, Hart's Late, Val- 

 encia Late, Enterprise Seedless, Jaffa and the native : and among 

 the grapefruit are the Duncan, Walters, Bowen, Marsh Seedless 

 and Thomson Seedless. This acreage has all been set out in 

 citrus fruits since the American occupation, and although sufficient 

 time has not yet elapsed for the marketing of a full crop, yet 

 some shipments were made from these groves last winter which 

 reached New York in good condition and brought a fair price. 

 This has demonstrated that Porto Rican oranges, if intelligently 

 handled, have the necessary keeping qualities and will bring good 

 prices. In past years shipments were made of the native orange 

 gathered from trees scattered around, but they were shaken from 

 the trees, carried to the point from which shipment was made in 

 baskets on pack animals, and then packed promiscuously in boxes 

 and barrels without any attempt at sorting. Naturally this fruit 

 arrived at its destination in poor condition and required so much 

 re-handling and sorting that there was very little margin for 

 profit, and the Porto Rican orange acquired the reputation of being 

 a poor shipper. Now, however, that the oranges can be gathered 

 from the groves where they receive intelligent supervision from 

 the time they are picked until they are placed aboard the steamers, 

 it will take but little time to overcome any bad impressions that 

 may have been created. 



The present rate of freight from Porto Rico to New York on a 

 box of oranges is about 28 cents, as compared with 35 cents 

 freight and 56 cents duty from Cuba, 98 cents freight from Cali- 

 'ornia, and 72 cents freight from Florida. This allows quite a 

 margin in favour of the native fruit as far as the question of 

 freight rate is concerned. While it is true that the two steamship 

 companies running between Porto Rico and New York do not at 

 this time provide adequate facilities for the shipping of fruit, yet 

 they have made every assurance that as soon as there is a suffi- 

 cient quantity of fruit to warrant it, they will undoubtedly meet 

 the situation. 



A careful study of the conditions in Porto Rico would seem to 

 indicate that in order to obtain the best results, oranges and grape- 

 fruit should be budded on the native rough lemon stock. In a 



