FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 23 



very difficult. Exposure to excessive and constant strong winds, 

 abnormally heavy precipitation, and extended cloudiness have pre- 

 vented the region from being invaded to a greater extent by the 

 coffee planter. These same conditions also have doubtless not been 

 entirely to the liking of the "conuco" farmer, at least so long as there 

 were other lands available. This tract has an aggregate acreage of 

 between 35,000 and 40,000 acres, including several thousand ac^es of 

 low gnarled growth on its summits and wind-swept slopes. A part 

 at least of this forested area is in government ownership. 



Other tracts, more or less limited in extent, of virgin or only lightly 

 culled high forest are to be found near Maricao, in a deep ravine at 

 the headwaters of the Rio Maricao, near Jayuya, on Mount Morales 

 and Mount Mandios;^ near "La Isolina" on the Rio Limon between 

 Utuado and Ciales,^ and in Barrio Angeles between Lares and Utuado 

 on the Rio Angeles.^ The aggregate of all such areas, aside from the 

 Luquillo, is beUeved to be well witliin 5,000 acres, making the total 

 area of high forest scarcely 2 per cent of the total land area*^ 



There are besides about 400,000 acres assessed as "timber and 

 brush lands" and a few thousand acres additional classified as 

 swamps and largely under mangrove. Of the timber and brush 

 areas the bulk will be found in the southern, southeastern, and south- 

 western parts of the island, on the dry limestone hills and other land 

 of little or no agricultural value. On the north side such areas will 

 be found almost exclusively on the thin-soUed, conical limestone 

 hiUs. 



Thus, including virgin forests and all, the total wooded area 

 amounts to approximately 20 per cent of the total land area. In aU 

 probability not more than from one-fourth to two-fifths of this area 

 (5 to 8 per cent of total land area) is now under forest capable of 

 yielding a wood product other than charcoal and fuel wood. If now 

 there be added the 168,000 acres in coffee plantations and the 6,500 

 acres under coconut palms which are in effect artificial forests, the 

 grand total of all lands under a forest or brush cover will approximate 

 600,000 acres, or 27 per cent of the insular domain. 



FOREST FORMATIONS. 



The term "virgin forest" was formerly applied by travelers in 

 the Tropics exclusively to the evergreen forest found in constantly 

 humid regions or those of similar luxuriance along the watercourses; 

 in other words, to the tropical forest jungle. Not only are these not 



1 Reported by N. L. Britton in Journal N. Y. Botanical Garden, May, 1906. 



2 Reported to the writer personally by the director of the U. S. Weather Bureau at San Juan and by 

 L. M. Underwood la Journal N. Y. Botanical Garden, Nov., 1901. 



8 Reported personally to the writer by the lieutenant ot police at Utaado. 



