499 



will last for even a longer time when cultivated with the intelligeuce and experience 

 of the foi'eign planter. Besides the cane, which grows to the height of 18 and 20 feet, 

 and thick in pro^iortion, some of the most valuable products of the world are produced 

 spontaneously ; for instance, vauiUa beans, tobacco, gum-elastic, cedar, fustic, mahog- 

 any, sarsaparilla, jalap, anacahuite, and many other articles useful as medicines and 

 dyes. Besides these, which grow naturally, there are in cultivation cotfee, the best in 

 the world; cotton, which, if left alone, grows to be quite a tree, bearing cotton for sev- 

 eral years without replanting; tobacco, corn, beans, pease, and other vegetables; ba- 

 nanas, plantains, pine-apples, orauges, lemons, grapes, mangoes, and mauj' other of the 

 tropical fruits. So fi^ir does nature lend itself in aiding cultivation that when a native 

 farmer commences work on a piece of land he cuts down the trees, lops off the branches, 

 cuts down the weeds, and when dry burns the latter off, leaving the trees with the 

 larger limbs as they fell in cutting, which lie there rotting for years. As soon as the 

 burning is done, without plowing or harrowing, with a pointed stick, he makes a hole 

 in the ground, into which the cane, corn, or other seed is planted. Should a few weeds 

 spring up in the course of the year, they are cut down with a kind of cutlass called 

 " machete." When the weeds become troublesome, he cuts down more woods, and 

 abandons the old place. With no more cultivation than this the cane gives from 2,000 

 to 5,000 pounds of sugar to the acre ; corn gives oO to 35 bushels to the acre, and two 

 crops a j'ear, worth 75 cents to l|l per bushel. There are times when it runs up to .$1.50. 

 As corn can be planted every month in the year, one can always have green corn to 

 eat. With nearly every other vegetable it is the same, as there are no frosts, the ther- 

 mometer seldom falling below HP, and rarely rising over 90° in the shade. From so 

 little attention being given to these things, potatoes and onions generally retail at l'2i 

 cents per pound, and other vegetables in proportion, all of them producing about the 

 same quantity to the acre as in the United States. Beans are sold generally from §2 to 

 |3 per bushel. 



In starting a new plantation, and, of course, before one has time to cultivate a field 

 of grass for his animals, he linds in the woods a tree which gives him all the forage he 

 needs. The tree is called " Ojite," the leaves of which give more nourishment than the 

 best clover. It is only necessary to cut down the small branches and twigs with their 

 leaves on, and all the animals will eat it. As the tree grows wikl, it is found every- 

 where, and an acre of woodland may have a hundred trees upon it. In clearing land 

 they are generally left standing. 



The grass most used here is called " Sacateparrol." It is a jointed grass, and grows 

 to be 4 or 5 feet high, and can be cut five or sis times each year, and when once planted 

 cannot be killed out. Where planters have many animals they are allowed to run on 

 the grass, which saves the cutting. This, of course, requires a much larger space, and 

 must be divided into five or six acre lots, and by changing the animals from one lot to 

 another it gives time for the grass to grow. Allowing animals to run upon it gives a 

 chance for weeds to grow, which must be cut off every two or three years. I have 

 seen this grass growing among trees, and supported by the branches, attain the height 

 of 15 or 16 feet. 



The vanilla-bean (properly called vaiuilla) grows on a vine which, although growing 

 from the root, is a parasite, as it will grow even cut from the root, for it takes its sub- 

 stance from the tree around which it clings by means of its thousands of hue tendrils. 

 Like'all parasites there are trees which are particularly adapted to its support. They 

 are planted about 10 feet apart, in rows, at the foot of small trees which are lefc in 

 clearing the laiuls. They begin to bear the third year, and in favorable years give 

 from $400 to i§l,000 per acre. No cultivation is needed but to cut down the grass and 

 weeds; no plowing or spading being necessary. The beau is often gathered in Sep- 

 tember and October, but as it is not yet ripe the vanilla is of inferior quality and 

 sells for a low price ; but if left till the end of November or December it comes to per- 

 fection. It is then gathered carefully and spread out in the suu on mats, if the weather 

 be favorable, but if otherwise it is placed in ovens, which processes change the color 

 from a pale green to a deep rich brownish or purple and at the same time develop the 

 oil which on pressure exudes from the bean. They are then packed in blankets while 

 warm and put into large tin cases to go through a sweating process, again put in the 

 sun and again in the blankets until thej' attain the proper color. They are then placed 

 in a dry room upon shelves made of some open material so that the air can circulate 

 around and under them. This evaporates all the watery part of the bean. When suf- 

 ficiently dried they are put into large cases ready to be assorted into sizes and quali- 

 ties. The person that raises the beans seldom cures them, for that requires a good 

 deal of care and special attention. There are about fifteen difterent classes, but they 

 are sold by the packers at one round price. Four years ago the value here was $60 to 

 $70 per thousand beans ; now they are worth from $130 to $180 per thousand, such has 

 been the increase in the consumption without a proportionate increase in the cultiva- 

 tion. The people will work only about one hundred days in the year, which provides 

 them with all they need, and as they will do no more there is very little increase in the 

 production of anything. When the beans are assorted they are tied up neatly in 



