14 



tance warrants. At present the ])lantinijs of upland rice consist of 

 small ])atches about the cabins of the })oorer classes, who harvest the 

 «rrain with the sickle and pound it out with hand mills. 



POTATOES. 



During tlu^ past v^inior (1904-05) a number of experiments were car- 

 ried out in growing potatoes from northern-grown seed ; five varieties in 

 all were tested, the best results being obtained from Bliss Triumph and 

 Early Kose. The yields were fair and the quality very good. The only 

 serious pest developed was a blight which was kept in check with Bor- 

 deaux mixture. Some of the potatoes produced were shipped to San 

 Juan and New York. As Porto Rico im])orts large quantities of pota- 

 toes every year, it is probable that prices will be better on the island 

 during all seasons except late winter, when it may be profitable to ship 

 to the States. During the coming winter (1905-06) several acres will 

 be planted to potatoes, and shipments will be made to the principal 

 cities of the island and to New York. The experiments made during 

 the past winter indicate that under proper conditions potatoes may bo 

 grown successfully in a commercial way in Porto Rico. It is not 

 thought that the section represented by the experiment station is 

 favorable to this crop, owing to the heavy nature of the soil and the 

 excessive rainfall. It is probable that the higher altitudes are better 

 suited to the potato. There are no serious hindrances to growing 

 potatoes that are peculiar to Porto Rico while the local demand is good 

 and constant, large amounts of the tubers being imported annually 

 from Spain and the United States. In growing potatoes in the island, 

 however, the planter is advised to fertilize heavily and to spray often 

 with Bordeaux mixture. 



FORAGE CROPS. 



The principal forage crops of the island are malojillo grass and 

 Guinea grass, the former growing on low ground and the latter on the 

 footliills. These are both very nutritious gi-asses, but they make 

 heavy draughts on the soil, and the primitive methods of cutting and 

 feeding by hand are expensive and crude. It would be far better for 

 the soil if leguminous forage crops were grown instead of these grasses. 

 The sterile and inhospitable condition of many soils is often due to the 

 repeated removal of these grasses from the land. Fields are some- 

 times kept in cane from three to six years and are then allowed to 

 grow u]) in malojillo grass. This grass is then cut for a number of 

 years and sold off the land. Such a system of agi-iculture must ulti- 

 mately result in a very poor ])hysical condition of the soil. Even 

 with the application of large amounts of commercial fertilizers they 

 lose much of their usual effectiveness because the physical condition 

 of the soil is so poor. 



