ISLAND DEPENDENCIES 



ISLAND DEPENDENCIES 1689 



Majraguez 



horticultural possibilities of the North American con- 

 tinent north of Mexico, and of the tropical territories 

 that have become attached to the United States. They 

 depict a surprising range of natural conditions and 

 resources, and indicate a very real horticultural con- 

 quest of a relatively new part of the earth's surface. 



Porto Rico. 



The island of Porto Rico (Fig. 1981) is rectangular in 

 form, about 100 miles long and 35 miles wide. Its area 

 is about one-twelfth of that of Cuba and nearly the 

 same as that of Jamaica. It lies in 18 north latitude and 

 65 to 67 west longitude, which places it 600 miles due 

 east of Jamaica. Although Porto Rico is mountainous, 

 the mountains are low and rolling, but few of the short 

 ranges exceed 2,000 feet in elevation, making prac- 

 tically all of the area suitable to some branch of agri- 

 culture. The low plains extending a few miles inland 

 from the sea and reaching for the most part around the 

 island, and the numerous plains and low rolling areas 

 between the ranges of mountains, afford a variety of 

 rich soils, of temperatures and of elevations, which has 

 developed extensive horticultural interests and opera- 

 tions. The rainfall is generally considered heavy, although 

 the sea-breezes and varying temperatures of different 

 elevations cause a great difference in rainfall between 

 different sections. In all 

 parts of the island, except- 

 ing the western and south- 

 ern areas, the rainfall is 

 fairly well distributed 

 through the year, although 

 the season for heaviest 

 rainfall is from May until 

 December, which is the 

 only season when the 

 western and southern sec- 

 tions have an abundance 

 of rain. In sections in 

 which drought continues 

 through the winter months, 



irrigation is often employed. The elevated sections 

 are well supplied with rains and are drained by numerous 

 ravines, creeks and small rivers, which afford an abun- 

 dance of power and opportunity for irrigation. In 

 inches, the annual rainfall varies from 37, in the south- 

 western parts of the island, to 135 on the higher moun- 

 tains in the northeastern part, the average for the 

 island being 77. 



The climate is healthful and delightful, the tempera- 

 ture being almost ideal. Because the island is small 

 and has a moderate elevation, and lies in the zone of 

 the trade-winds, the climate is uniformly warm and 

 comfortable. The coolest month is January, which has 

 an average temperature of 73, while August, the warm- 

 est month, has an average of 79. The mean daily 

 temperature is quite constant, the change from day to 

 night temperature being 20 to 25. The average daily 

 maximum temperature along the coast in summer is 

 87 and the daily minimum temperature in inland 

 sections is 65. 



The population of the island, according to the census 

 of 1910, was 1,118,012, which allows 320 persons to the 

 square mile. All persons but a small percentage are 

 engaged in agricultural pursuits. 



The soils of Porto Rico are of many types, and grade 

 from very heavy clays to light sandy loams. The hills 

 and mountains are, for the most part, red clays, while 

 the valleys between them and the coastal plain are 

 heavy dark loams, grading in some places into sandy 

 loams. While the soils are usually fertile, many crops 

 respond to a complete fertilizer. There are practically 

 no swamps in Porto Rico, although during the season 

 of excessive rains ditching is necessary to drain large 

 areas of the level coastal plains. Except in areas near 



the sea surface, drainage is good; however, poor drain- 

 age of the subsoil in some areas is a hindrance to horti- 

 cultural crops. 



Horticulturally the island is divided into three 

 sections: The narrow sandy plains which skirt the coast 

 are well adapted to coconut culture. The slightly 

 elevated plains and low rolling lands between the flat 

 coastal plains and the more elevated portions of the 

 island on the north have been proved to be well suited 

 to pineapple and citrous fruit-growing, while the highest 

 mountain ranges that traverse the central part of the 

 island are devoted almost entirely to coffee. Sugar- 

 cane growing is confined mostly to the heavy soils of 

 the coastal plains. 



The leading horticultural crops are citrous fruits, 

 coffee, coconuts, pineapples, vegetables, bananas and 

 other tropical fruits. The agricultural industries are 

 sugar-cane, tobacco-growing and stock-raising. 



The most attractive field for the horticulturist in 

 Porto Rico is citrus-culture. This industry has made 

 wonderful progress since the American occupation, 

 over 3,000 acres now being given up to it, while there 

 were no commercial groves at the time of the occupa- 

 tion. Grapefruit, oranges, lemons, limes and other 

 less important citrous fruits are cultivated, although 

 attention is given mostly to grapefruit and oranges. 

 In the area adapted for citrus-culture, the tempera- 



SAH 



1981. Porto Rico. 



ture is ideal for tree-growth and fruit-production. 

 Care must be taken, however, in selecting the orchard 

 site to secure subsoil which will drain well and areas 

 protected from the winds. The trade-winds are in 

 some places constant enough to hinder a normal tree- 

 growth and to prevent the best development of certain 

 fungi which prey on injurious scale insects. Where 

 there is not natural wind-protection, a belt of tall-grow- 

 ing trees is planted on the windward side of the grove 

 for shelter. Several leguminous crops, such as jack 

 beans, velvet beans and cowpeas grow to perfection and 

 are used extensively as cover-crops and green-manure 

 crops. 



Four ship lines furnish excellent transportation 

 between the island and New York, the ocean rates 

 being much less a box to New York than from Florida 

 or California. 



Grapefruit seems to be especially well adapted to 

 Porto Rico conditions and is receiving first attention 

 among horticultural crops. The trees are very vigorous, 

 come into bearing early and are very prolific. The 

 quality of the fruit is excellent and Porto Rican grape- 

 fruit is throughout the year a favorite product in the 

 northern markets. The fruiting season for this crop 

 is very long. The main crop is harvested during the 

 winter and spring months but each week throughout 

 the year Porto Rican grapefruit is offered on the mar- 

 ket. Varieties "Duncan" and "Marsh Seedless" are 

 the most popular. 



Oranges have been more extensively planted than 

 grapefruit though they do not seem so well adapted 

 to the conditions, and the planting of them has prac- 

 tically ceased. Like grapefruit, the trees bear early 

 and are prolific, and the fruit is of a high quality. Dis- 



