412 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



to the value of about $400,000 annually in order to supply home needs. 

 Onions are also imported, as indeed are quite a variety of vegetables. 

 Rice is the heaviest import, and amounts to considerably more than 

 $1,000,000 annually. Many small patches of rice are grown in the 

 interior of the island on the hillsides, but none is grown on the low- 

 lands about the coast. There is considerable low, swampy land about 

 the coast that might be devoted to the growing of lowland rice. The 

 time of seeding and manner of cultivating would, of course, have 

 to be determined by experimenting, but much knowledge could be 

 obtained from Louisiana, where rice is grown on an extensive scale. 

 Many of the methods used there would no doubt be applicable to 

 Porto Rico. 



Corn is grown to a considerable extent, and is used as food for both 

 man and beast. The variety grown is a smooth flint, very similar to 

 that grown in the New England States. It is shelled and ground, as a 

 rule, by hand, although a few use hand shellers and grinding mills. 



Wheat, barley, and oats are practically unknown, so that corn forms 

 the chief grain that is fed to animals. Very few of the horses are fed 

 any grain, and practically no grain is given to the cattle or work oxen. 



FORESTRY. 



It is said that Porto Rico was once covered with a beautiful virgin 

 forest. Only a few remnants of such forest now remain to indicate 

 what were the former condition^. It would seem advisable to protect 

 and preserve these remnants, and in some instances to plant new 

 forests. 



AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY. 



Very little agricultural machinery is used. In the cane fields plows, 

 harrows, carts, hoes, spades, and machetes constitute nearly the com- 

 plete list, while in the coffee district the hoe and machete are about 

 the only implement used. In the latter case the steepness of the hills 

 prohibits the use of much horse machinery, but in the cane fields 

 modern plows, harrows, and cultivators can and should be used. 



LIVE STOCK. 



The live stock of Porto Rico consists mainly of cattle and horses, 

 together with a small number of mules, asses, swine, sheep, and goats. 

 Following is the total number of each class as ascertained by the census 

 of 1899: Cattle, 260,125; horses, 58,664; mules, 6,985; asses, 1,085; 

 swine, 66,180; goats, 15,991; sheep, 6,363; and fowls, 265,499. 



Of the total number of cattle, 28 per cent are given as milch cows 

 and 22 per cent as work oxen, the remainder being classed as calves, 

 steers, bulls, young bulls, heifers, and yearlings. Of the various dis- 

 tricts Bayamon leads in all classes of cattle except oxen, in which Ponce 



