245 



The Luqiiillo Forest Reserve^ Porto Rico^ by John C. Giiford, 

 D. Oec. Agent, Bureau of Forestry^ Washington, ipoj, S vo., 57 

 pages, 8 plates. 



This publication, which constitutes Bulletin No. 54, of the 

 Bureau of Forestry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, has been 

 received from Dr. Gififord and is interesting to Hawaiian readers 

 on account of the comparison which it suggests between the for- 

 estry conditions existing in Porto Rico and our own islands. 

 Speaking of the animal life in the former, the writer says: 



''Injurious animal life, in fact animal life of any kind, is 

 strikingly absent. One can spend a long^ time in the reserves 

 without seeing any wild animals except small lizards, tree toads 

 and a very few birds. Even insects, such as butterflies, are very 

 scarce. The absence of many forms of animal life is often ac- 

 countable for by the presence of the mongoose, which was intro- 

 duced to exterminate rats on sugar plantations, and he has suc- 

 ceeded in exterminating most of the animals within reach, but is 

 so wary that he is rarely seen." 



Trade winds, as in Hawaii, blow throughout most of the year, 

 and being laden with moisture, allow the sheltered portion of the 

 reserve to be clothed with luxuriant vegetation. As a rule, rain 

 does not fall continuously, except during severe storms, but as a 

 rule drenching showers alternate with bright sunshine. These 

 showers are usually very local and one can often watch and hear 

 them in the distance. So sudden and heavy are the downpours 

 in the mountains at times that a quiet brook becomes a ragjing 

 torrent and subsides again to its normal condition in a couple of 

 hours. There is less rain in the daytime than at night. Parts 

 of the island are drenched with water most of the time and other 

 parts within a half a da3^'s ride are dependent upon irrigation. 

 In parts of the island the rainy and dry seasons are pronounced, 

 but on the reserve it is rainy throughout the year. 



The highest temperature recorded in Porto Rico for 1902 was 

 98°, and the lowest 60°. T'he annual mean temperature for the 

 year was 77.8°. 



The density of the jungle, the abundance of worthless weeds,, 

 the absence of roads and trails, the frequent rains which soften 

 the soil and render the mountain paths impassable, all add to the 

 difficulty of work upon the reserve. The heat and rain interfere- 



