1412 
grown 
grown here than the varieties with lobed and very white- 
bottomed (and sometimes variegated) leaves. 
Var. nivea, Wesm. (P. nivea, Willd. P. argentea, 
Hort.). This is the commonest form of white Poplar in 
this country. It is known by the snow-white under sur- 
faces of its foliage and the 3- or 5-lobed maple-like 
leaves. It is far too frequent about old yards, where its 
inveterate brood of suckers make it a perpetual nui- 
sance. It is sometimes called Silver Maple, from the 
resemblance of its foliage to that of the maple. As a 
street tree in cities it is particularly offensive, for the 
cottony covering of the under side of the leaves and of 
the shoots holds soot and dust, and it looks repulsively 
dirty. Useful for foliage effects in large plantings. 
var. bolleana below (x1/3). 
Var. canescens, loudon. Fig. 1919. Leaves broad or 
nearly circular in general outline, prominently notched 
but not lobed, the under surfaces and the young shoots 
very gray-woolly. This tree is met with occasionally. 
Its horticultural value is not greatly different from that 
of var. nivea. by some thought to be a hybrid of P. 
alba and P. Tremula. 
Var. bolleana,lauch. (p.bolleana). BOLLES' POPLAR. 
Fig. 1919. A very tall, narrow-topped tree, with cottony 
ivs. rather mire deeply lobed than those of the var. 
nivea. The tree was introduced into Europe in 1875 
from Turkestan, and it was named for Dr. C. Bolle, an 
arboriculturist. It bears about the same relation to 
populus alba that the Lombardy Poplar bears to Popu- 
lus nigra. Its fastigiate habit, combined with the white 
foliage and shoots, makes it a most emphatic tree, and 
there is great danger of planting it too freely. Seems 
to be short-lived. L. H. B. 
PORTO rico as a Field for Horticulture. Porto Rico 
(Fig. 1920) is a land of perpetual summer, awaiting only 
the skill of the experienced grower to blossom into an 
exotic fruit garden for our eastern states. It is our 
only bit of tropical soil on the Atlantic side of the con- 
tinent, and now possesses tariff protection for the fruit- 
grower and vegetable - gardener which amounts to a 
handsome profit in itself. As compared with Florida, 
the climate and the soil are in favor of Porto Rico, while 
PORTO RICO 
in the matter of transportation, San Juan already has 
the advantage of most Florida points. 
climate.-porto Rico is more healthy than most other 
regions of the same latitude, because it has 
has more 
numerable 
and 
mountains, 
mountains, 
mountains, the more 
breezy, and because of its in- 
numerable streams of pure water, 
the seasons are marked by the spring rains beginning 
about may 1, and the fall rains closing about Nov. 1, 
although in some parts rain falls every month in the year, 
in the absence of irrigation, planting depends on these 
periods. Tobacco and vegetables succeed best when 
planted in the fall, as the direct sun and pouring rains, 
liable to come in the summer months, injure them. A 
sharp range of mountains, from 2,000 to 3,500 ft. high, 
traverses the length of the island a few miles from the 
south coast, and all the remainder of the area, except 
the river bottoms, and a coast fringe of alluvial plain, 
varying from a mere beach up to five miles in width, 
is intricate mountain and hill, threaded by countless 
streams. 
This topography creates great local climatic differ- 
ences, a cooler and more moist temperature in the in- 
terior, with bright, clear weather on the sheltered 
coasts. At sea-level the mercury rarely falls to 60° in 
winter nights and in summer days rarely exceeds 95°. 
The yearly average night temperature is about 70° and 
that of the day about 8.5°. The nights are always com- 
fortable for sleeping. Lack of food and medicines and 
exposure to rains are responsible for most of the illness 
in Porto Rico. 
products.-coffee, sugar cane, stock-raising, the cul- 
tivation of vegetables, and fruit-growing are the leading 
industries of the island, their relative importance being 
in the order named. Coffee and tobacco are not, strictly 
speaking, horticultural products, and yet, as their cul- 
tivation is more nearly that of the orchard and garden 
than that of the field, a few observations about them, of 
a general character, seem to be in place. 
coffee.-the growing of coffee presents some attrac- 
tions to the American horticulturist commanding, say, 
$20,000, or upwards. The climate of the hilly and 
mountainous interior, where coffee luxuriates, is cooler 
and more refreshing than that upon the low cane belt 
bordering the sea. Coffee is a staple. It improves with 
age and can be transported over a mountainous trail, 
and hence is sure of a market. The disadvantages are 
the low value of the product under present market con- 
ditions, the considerable cost for machinery if the price 
for cleaned and assorted coffee is to be obtained, and 
the fact that coffee is on the free list. A new market 
will be opened in the United States when the fine aroma 
of Porto Rican coffee becomes known. Better system 
in cultivation and a cheaper means of transportation 
will improve the status of the business, but the writer 
is convinced that this industry will not advance as will 
that of the higher-priced, protected products like sugar, 
tobacco, oranges, pineapples and vegetables. 
tobacco.-the backwardness of the tobacco business 
seems to be largely due to the fact that it has been 
chiefly in the hands of the peasant class, lacking the cap- 
ital and special knowledge to perfect it. The curing, as- 
sorting and marketing of tobacco have not been reduced 
to a fine art as they have in the Vuelta Abaja district of 
Cuba. There can be no doubt of the fact that there are 
districts in Porto Rico where climate and soil are ad- 
mirably adapted to the production of a high-grade leaf. 
This is proved by the fact that in years of shortage of 
the tobacco crop in Cuba, Porto Rico tobacco has been 
extensively exported to Havana, re-cured and re-sorted, 
and the finer quality sold as Havana leaf. Cayey is the 
center of the best tobacco section of the island. There 
are a number of tobacco farms and very many small peas- 
ant's patches in this vicinity. Caguas and Comerio, not 
far distant, are lesser centers of the business. There is a 
bright future for the experienced, progressive tobacco- 
grower. Success may be expected with a moderate capi- 
tal, as returns are quick, the value of an acre's prod- 
uct is large, and the tariff conditions are extremely 
favorable for the Porto Rican as compared with the 
Cuban. Sumatran or Mexican grower. 
fruit-growing in general.-probably the most invit- 
ing field for the horticulturist in Porto Rico is the cultiva- 
tion of the various tropical and subtropical fruits, particu- 
