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to such an extent that with the best workers only a small part of 

 which is accomplished in more salubrious climates can be expected. 

 The water, however, is good and the region is free from mos- 

 quitoes, flies and other obnoxious insects. Danger to health lies 

 in three sources, exposure to the sun, lack of proper food, and 

 most serious of all, the impossibility of keeping one's clothing 

 dry. In the wake of this last come inevitably malarial fevers, 

 dengue and tropical dysentery. 



Successful cultivation of coffee, fruits, cacao and similar 

 products is dependent upon windbreaks, and only in sheltered 

 sites is luxuriant tree growth developed. Hurricanes are ex- 

 perienced during August and October when the eastern trades 

 become uncertain. 



In those parts of Porto Rico which are free from excessive 

 winds, and where the rainfall is plentiful and unifonu, a heavy 

 growth of timber is developed. The most prominent character- 

 istic of the Luquillo forest is its diversity and the great number 

 of little-known species in mixture. It is rare to find trees of the 

 same species in considerable number together. The tree which 

 is most gregarious in habit is the mountain palm (Acrista uioiiti- 

 cola, Cook). This tree is of no commercial value whatever, and 

 has complete control of extensive areas. It grows thickly and 

 produces an immense amount of seed which germinates quickly 

 on the wet ground. In looking down upon the forest it appears 

 like a sea of palms covered with islands of dark-leaved hardwoods. 

 The mountain palm is a true forest weed. With its tall stem and 

 broad leaves it presents a beautiful and tropical appearance, but 

 if the reserve is ever to be of value, the extinction of the palm 

 will be necessary. 



Excluding the palm and brush areas, there is left a belt of 

 mixed timber close to the lines of the coffee plantations, in which 

 are found quantities of the best timber, but the utility of these is 

 as yet undeveloped. 



The industries of the reserve are almost entirely agricultural. 

 Except for sugar, hides and coffee, which are exported, the region 

 barely yields enough to support the native population, which sub- 

 sists mainly on bananas, yautia, rice and other similar products 

 raised in little patches on hillsides. When the fertility of one 

 patch is exhausted, another is cleared and the old one allowed to 

 be taken possession of by weeds, brush and grass. 



A few people are engaged in lumbering. The trees are felled 



