12 



BULLETIN 354, V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



We find 91.34 per cent of all farms have an area less than 100 

 acres each, which would, mdicate a wide popular distribution of the 

 land in small holdings. But the average area per farm iq this group 

 is only 21.4 acres; so that by far the greater number of individual 

 holdings must be much less than 20 acres. ^ It is not surprising, 

 therefore, that the remaining 8.66 per cent of the whole nmnber of 

 farms covers 55 per cent of the total farm area, or that these farms 

 have an average of about 280 acres per farm. 



With 93 per cent of the land in private ownership, the success of 

 any reforestation work attempted by the Government wUl depend 

 in a large measure upon the cooperation which can be secured from 

 the private landowner. The conditions are the most imfavorable in 

 the mountain region, where there is a considerable proportion of 



Acreage Groups 



I to too Acres (9/.34-%) ^ 



/O/ to 200 Acres ( 5.0 27o) % 



aOltoSOO Acres (/.63%) T 



ZO I to 500 Acres (/. /4-%) f 



50/to/500Acres( .67%) [ 

 snd over 



Number- of Farms - Per cent 



10 20 50 ^0 50 60 70 80 90 



Acreage Groups 

 / to /OO Acres (44.72%) 

 /Of to200Acres(l6.Z6%] \ 

 201 to500Acres{9. 19%) ^ 

 SOI to 400 Acres (5.56%) 

 40/ to 500 Acres (4.67%) ^ 

 601 to/OOOAcres (10. Z7%o) 

 1001 to l500AcrGs(4. Za%) 

 1501 andover (5.09%) 



10 



Area of r<arms-.Percent 

 20 30 40 50 60 70 60 



90 /OO 



Fig. 3. — Distribution of land o\^iiership in Porto Rico by acreage groups and number and area of farms. 

 From data compiled by bureau of property taxes, Government of Porto Rioo. 



small holdings, from which as a class very little cooperation can be 

 expected. In addition to the small farms, there are a few coffee and 

 tobacco plantations. Much of the land, however, is not even imder 

 small-farm cultivation. Vast stretches of it are nothing more than 

 grass land, which is classed for assessment purposes as "pasture." 

 In the coastal country the holdmgg are larger and offer better possi- 

 bilities for cooperation. Many of the coast hiQs are already wooded, 

 while others have been cleared for pasture. Here the need for forests 

 on account of their protective influence on water and soil is not of 

 importance, but the demand for wood is obviously urgent. Forests 

 are needed in this particular section also as a refuge for birds, which 

 are an important factor in controlling insect pests in the cane fields, 

 besides being of esthetic value. 



1 According to the census of 1S99, 51 per cent of all farms were less than 5 acres in extent, while the Thir- 

 teenth Decennial Census (1910) reports 72 per cent of all farms less than 19 acres in extent. 



