FORESTS OP PORTO RICO. 49 



emajagua, which might be planted as a soil protector and yet be so 

 managed as to yield a regular amount of fiber and fagots each year. 

 The poma rosa could be made to furnish a continuous supply of hoop 

 material for baling tobacco, fruit boxes, and the like, as well as fagots. 

 The growing and tapping of tabanuco for its resinous sap likewise has 

 possibilities. These and many others, the bamboos especially, are 

 worthy of careful study and consideration 



While recognizing the larger and more purely economic aspects of 

 tree planting, it will not do to neglect esthetic and utilitarian con- 

 siderations. No country can afford to be ugly or to neglect the 

 comfort, both physical and mental, of its own or a visiting people. 

 The roads of the island, particularly those through the lowland 

 country, are usually hot and unattractive for lack of proper shade. 

 There are some notable exceptions to this, but their occurrence serves 

 rather to heighten the discomfort after they are passed. Such a one 

 is the avenue of flamboyan bordering the military road between 

 Caguas and Cayey. The kind of tree is of nearly as much importance 

 as the fact that there are trees at all. Thus the almacigo and jobo, 

 to mention two of the most common, have little to recommend them 

 for roadside planting, except their ease of propagation and rapidity 

 of growth. In the open country, trees that are tall and carry their 

 branches high on a straight, clean trunk offer little obstruction to the 

 view or to the circulation of air, yet they protect the roadway during 

 the midday hours from the beating sun, and relieve the monotony of 

 cultivated fields and pastures. 



There is much concern about the scarcity of bird life in the cane 

 country and the consequent prevalence of destructive insects. An 

 occasional grove of trees would help this situation by furnishing the 

 birds a refuge and nesting place; yet what few patches of woodland 

 there are are constantly being cleaned up to get a few more square 

 feet in cane.^ 



Systematic tree planting could be carried on in the pastures, even 

 those which are actually utihzed for grazing. There are several of 

 the leguminous trees the pods of which are very nutritious and very 



1 In this connection the followiag from a letter of the U. S. Biological Survey to the Board of Commis 

 sioners of Agriculture published la its second annual report is of interest: 



" In connection with the increase of island birds Mr. Wetmore suggests the great desirability of providing 

 them with more shelter than they now have. The grackles and yellow-shouldered blackbirds, for instance- 

 nest and roost in the palms. Can not the individual owners of plantations be sufficiently interested in 

 the matter to plant royal palms along the roads leading through the cane fields? The island kingbirds 

 appear to be very useful, and they need small perches from wliich to watch for insects. Bamboo planted 

 along the streams and the drainage ditches would not only favor the three species mentioned above, but 

 would also provide shelter from the sun for the green heron and the anls. For mocking birds, small brushy 

 areas are essential, but these need not be of any great size, and if hilltops ixnfit for cane or other crops be 

 left and not denuded of brush they will answer well the purpose. 



"Mr. Wetmore further suggests that along the coast restrictions should be placed upon the total clearing 

 of areas of mangroves by the charcoal burners, and special care should be taken not to disturb the rookeries 

 of herons— the snowy, little blue, and little green species." 



21871°— Bull. 354—16 4 



