NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 2151 



was .in a state of desuetude. Oranges, bananas, avo- 

 cados, and the like, were sometimes gathered wherever 

 it seemed expedient, without a definite policy of man- 

 agement, till October, 1914. 



At present (1915), even, it is uncertain how far the 

 Supply Department is warranted in going with the 

 upkeep of the hundreds of small and large plantations 

 expropriated from the Panamanian and West Indian 

 settlers, and how many new plantations are actually 

 required, first, in the interest of financial economy, and, 

 second, as a safeguard measure: i.e., a meat, fruit and 

 vegetable supply in loco in case of a sudden isolation 

 of the Zone. (In fiscal year ended June 30, 1914, the 

 Land Office settled 1,903 claims of squatters, aggrega- 

 ting $147,452.50). 



Corregidor Island, at the entrance to Manila Bay, 

 according to report, has enough food-supplies in store 

 in dry and refrigerated vaults to last the entire Ameri- 

 can population of the archipelago for more than one 



2486. The Canal Zone. B, Bananas; Ca, Cacao; Co, Coconuts; 

 F, Fruits; S, Sugar-cane; V, Vegetables. 



year; a week's blockade of the Canal Zone would, 

 under present conditions, cause considerable trouble, 

 and three weeks with no commissary stock from over- 

 sea might be disastrous, since the contiguous Panama 

 territory could supply only the cities of Colon and 

 Panama, and then only a few things. Theoretically, 

 nearly all the food required by the 30,000 or more 

 employees and their families, who are almost entirely 

 dependent upon the Supply Department for their daily 

 food, may be produced in the Zone; practically, how- 

 ever, the daily quotum of 92 to 108 barrels of flour, 

 about 285 bushels of potatoes, and the temperate fruits 

 and some of the vegetables in like proportion, will 

 always have to be imported. 



At the beginning of 1915, there were practically no 

 vegetables or fruits (except bananas and plantains) 

 raised in the Zone, with the exception of a square mile 

 or more of native fields near Colon which have not yet 

 been expropriated, and the Hospital Farm at Corozal; 

 the latter institution produces fresh eggs, milk, and a 

 fair supply of radishes, okra, lettuce, papayas, and 

 other things for Ancon Hospital. 



At Las Guacas, 12 miles up the Chagres River from 

 the lake, i. e., some 6 miles beyond the east boundary 

 of the Zone, but below the "100-foot level" (land along 

 water-courses leading into the lake, up to 13 feet above 



its mean water-level is also by treaty included in Zone 

 territory) there are two small banana and plantain 

 "walks," which, when fully under cultivation, will turn 

 out not only all of these fruits required by the local 

 commissary stores, but will also supply, nearly at cost, 

 all the steamers in port and in transit through the 

 Canal, a very considerable demand. 



At Juan Mina, also on the Chagres, just within the 

 Zone limits, a citrous grove is now being established; 

 with water transportation (forty minutes by launch to 

 Gamboa railway station), good soil, and phenological 

 suitability, as demonstrated by the few scores of very 

 prolific native orange (seedling, of course) trees now in 

 evidence there, it is thought that by 1918 or 1919 the 

 absurd necessity of importing thousands of dollars' 

 worth of pomelos, oranges, mandarins, limes, and other 

 fruits from Florida, Costa Rica and Jamaica will be 

 absolutely and permanently removed. 



At Chocolate (formerly the Las Cascadas Plantation 

 Co., Ltd., a British-capital concern), on the conti- 

 nental divide 5 miles from Culebra Cut, over six tons 

 of dry cacao "beans" from only about 15,000 trees in 

 "run-down" condition have been turned out in the 

 first ten weeks of operation by the Supply Department. 

 This estate boasts of having the oldest Castilla trees, 

 planted as a crop, in the world. The unfortunate 

 Castilla boom actually started, it is said, from these 

 now 30-centimeter to 40-centimeter, moribund, worth- 

 less specimens, and an optimistic German scientist 

 who happened to come by a dozen years or so since. 

 The semi-abandoned cacao trees here broke the world's 

 record, perhaps, for rapid maturing of the year end 

 crop; six heavy pickings had to be made the first six 

 weeks, instead of the two or three normal ones. 



A grove of over 500 avocado seedlings, one of the 

 largest in the world, has been set out at Frijoles; and 

 mangoes, citrous fruits, pineapples, yams, sweet pota- 

 toes, and maize (for table ears) are going in, bananas 

 and sugar-cane are also in evidence. 



At Manawa and Puerto Escondido ("Condio," in 

 local dialect), two native villages some 3 miles to the 

 east of Colon, there are endless problems for the inves- 

 tigating horticulturist; from major crops, like sugar- 

 cane and cacao, through hundreds of acres of half- 

 tilled patches of bananas, yams, and cassava, to fussy 

 little questions of economy regarding the rejection or 

 retention of small lots of coconuts, bread-fruits, avoca- 

 dos, limes, roselle, guavas, native squashes, ginger, and 

 even cola. 



At Venado, there are 20,000 non-bearing coconuts 

 mostly in good condition. This plantation, if kept up 

 under modern methods, will yield annually by 1925 

 sufficient oil to make some 300 tons of soap, enough 

 to last the War Department a long time. At Sweet- 

 water, there are several thousand coconuts in bearing, 

 but in heavy bush and consequently in unprolific 

 condition. In all there are twelve plantations now under 

 some form of management by the Chief Quartermas- 

 ter's Supply Department; the condition of these will be 

 improved as rapidly as circumstances will permit; some 

 may be extended, and a few more will probably be 

 added. 



As to the jungle: near the Canal there is no virgin 

 forest left intact and, in fact, the better timbers have 

 been culled out all along the Panama Railroad. The 

 forest within sight of the steamers and trains is mostly 

 second growth; this, however, is usually more dense than 

 the old stand. Here is an opportunity for the Govern- 

 ment to practise modern forestry and develop, say, 100 

 square miles of timber reserve. 



As everywhere in Central America and the West 

 Indies, the silver-lined leaves of the trumpet-wood 

 (Cecropia) and the crumpled leaves of the also ugly 

 companion Didymopanax are ever before the eye, just 

 as some one of the four or five Heliconias is always in 

 the way. Numerous Bombacese are to be found in or 



