u 



JOUENAL OF AGRTCULTUEE OF P. R. 



fruit greatly exceeds that of cultivated oranges. The continued 

 heavy marketing of the so-called wild oranges will explain the large 

 total of the orange exports. The basic reason for the change from 

 orange to grapefruit in the cultivated groves has been economic, 

 better returns at lower cost of production having been realized from 

 the latter fruit in the opinion of most growers. 



The progress of the industry, and the relative importance of the' 

 two fruits is graphically shown by the following table, which gives 

 the value of the exports from 1901 to date: 



' Value of Exports of Citrus Fruit from Porto Rico.' 



Year 



1901 

 1902 

 1903 

 1904 

 1905 

 1906 

 1907 

 1908 

 1909 

 1910 

 1911 

 1912 

 1913 

 1914 

 191;-) 

 1916 

 1917 



Orange 



1, 



884,475 

 51,364 

 230,821 

 352,646 

 125,422 

 295,63^ 

 469,312 

 630,720 

 401,912 

 582,716 

 703,969 

 584,414 

 740,091 

 752,180 

 378,181 

 790,797 

 009,737 



Grapefruit 



$7,586 

 44,535 

 76,310 

 162,749 

 309,698 

 525,048 

 762,811 

 751,769 

 834,440 

 837,014 

 939,677 



I From Report of the Governor of Porto Rico, 1917. 



Limes, lemons, or citrus varieties other than oranges and grape- 

 fruit, have, as already notecl, never been grown on any extensive 

 scale, the trees being limited for the most part to individual speci- 

 mens for domestic purposes only. At no time liavc shipments been 

 sufficient to warrant separate statistics. 



In the early years of the industry, lemon culture was tried by j 

 a number of gr-owers, and some quite extensive groves were set out, j 

 but on the north coast at least no success was attained. This was 

 due to the ravages of foot-rot and scab, and to cultural conditions, 

 lemon growing requiring considerable skill. The growing of this | 

 fruit could beyond much doubt be carried out most successfully in ; 

 the irrigated sections of the south coast by anyone possessing the ' 

 requisite knowledge. . , 



