VoL. LX. No. 2676. 
NEW YORK, MAY 11, 1901. 
*1 PER YEAR. 
A FRUIT GROWER IN PORTO RICO. 
WIIAT THE COUNTRY LOOKS LIKE. 
Chances in the Fruit Business. 
TllOPICAT. FRUIT COMPETITION.—Fruit grow¬ 
ers and eonsumers are interested not only in the fruits 
grown in the temperate zone, but also in those from 
the tropics, for with modern transportation the fruits 
and products of all climes, except those of a perish- 
al)le nature, are brought to our markets and sold at 
our doors. Perhaps it will not be right to say that 
they are sold in competition with our northern fruits, 
for I do not know as a fact that the vast quantities of 
oranges, bananas and pineapples, consumed by the 
people of the United States actually compete in the 
markets with our apples, pears, peaches and grapes. 
I am inclined to believe that tropical fruits do not 
diminish the sale or limit the use of northern fruits; 
they simply round out the season, and give greater 
variety, so that the people 
consume a larger quantity. 
At any rate a kind Provi¬ 
dence has provided a va¬ 
riety of luscious fruits, 
some that can be grown 
only in the tropics, and 
some only in the temper¬ 
ate zone, but all evidently 
intended for man’s enjoy¬ 
ment and use, and all have 
become a necessity in mod¬ 
ern times. 
FROSTED FDORIDA.— 
Since 18!)0 1 have had the 
pleasure of spending seven 
Winters in Florida and 
other southern States, I 
have gained some knowl¬ 
edge of the orange indus¬ 
try there, and, living on an 
orange grove on the banks 
of the Indian River during 
the disastrous freeze of 
1891 and 189.'!, 1 have seen 
the results of the freezes 
since then. I remember 
looking at the ruined 
groves, considering Flori¬ 
da’s uncertain climate, and 
saying to myself what a 
desirable thing it would be 
if J’orto Rico or some oth¬ 
er of the West Indian isl¬ 
ands could become part of 
the Fnited States, and 
make a fruit gaialen for us 
that would be truly trop¬ 
ical, where there would never be any danger of 
freezes. I never expected to see the day when this 
would be the case, but I have; our flag now floats 
over Porto Rico. Last Winter I visited the Island, 
spending nearly two months there, looking up its 
fruit growing possibilities, especially the orange in¬ 
dustry, as well as I was al)le. 1 found the Island 
healthful, with fertile soil, a sufficient rainfall, ex¬ 
cept on the south side, and a tropical climate, a 
quartette of valuable characteristics. 
WILD FRUrr.—As a commercial industry fruit 
growing was never developed under Spanish rule. 
Enough fruit was produced for home use, but little 
or none for export. Oranges and lemons grow wild, 
seldom receiving care or cultivation. All are seed¬ 
lings; so far as I can learn there is not a grove or a 
single bearing Uee even, of grafted or budded im¬ 
proved orange or lemon on the Island. The wild 
oranges may be divided into two classes, the Mi- 
rangha or sour rough orange and the China or sweet. 
The latter are juicy and sweet, and do very well for 
insular use, but are not very attractive. They have 
too many seeds, too much rag, and too poor keeping 
qualities to make them valuable for export. At pres¬ 
ent the business of up-to-date fruit growing is some¬ 
what of the nature of an experiment. No one has yet 
demonstrated by actual trial just what a well-cared- 
for orange grove of improved varieties will do. There 
is no such grove on the Island, but it seems reason¬ 
able to conclude that if the wild fruit flourishes with¬ 
out care the improved will certainly thrive when 
properly cultivated. Nothing is being none by the 
native Porto Ricans to develop commercial fruit 
growing; they are watching to see what the Ameri¬ 
cans will do. If a few groves are started that prove 
to be successful and profitable they will naturally 
follow and imitate. At present very few know any¬ 
thing of the art or grafting or budding, or know that 
there is any outside market for choice fruit. 
STARTING ORCHARDS.—There are not many 
American fruit growers on the Island yet, but a few 
have been there two years. Their first attempts at 
orange growing were made by obtaining wild seed¬ 
lings from the hills, planting them in rows, cultivat¬ 
ing them and budding later. This plan has not been 
very satisfactory. Later quite a large number of 
trees of improved varieties were imported from 
Florida; many of these are growing nicely, but they 
seem to require some time to become acclimated. 
Some trees had apparently become somewhat stunted 
by being frozen back several times; some were 
ruined by heating while en route. After looking at 
the matter on all sides those best qualified to judge 
have decided that the best way to obtain Citrus trees 
for planting in Porto Rico is to sow the seed of the 
sour orange to grow stocks on which to bud im¬ 
proved varieties like the Washington Navel, Hart’s 
Tardif, Sanford’s Mediterranean, etc., and lemon seed 
for stocks to be budded with lemon, grape fruit, Tan¬ 
gerines, etc. Seedlings of the sour orange and lemon 
grown from seed planted a year ago on suitable soil, 
properly cultivated, are now fine, vigorous little trees 
large enough to bud. Of course this takes time, but 
i^ is the plan I adopted on my own farm purchased 
last year. It is located near Bayamon, nine miles 
from San Juan, the capital. The largest colony of 
American fruit growers on the Island has purchased 
in that locality. When I visited the Island again in 
January of the present year I decided to prepare 4% 
acres properly by plowing, cross-plowing and harrow¬ 
ing. This was planted early in March, using 220 
quarts sour orange and 17 quarts rough lemon seed. 
The drills are feet apart, seed one-half inch apart 
in drill. There has been plenty of rain, so that the 
seed can germinate readily. A quart of seed ought 
to produce more than 1,000 trees for grove planting. 
Other Americans have also planted considerable seed, 
so the prospect is that there will soon be a supply of 
home-grown trees. 
SOIL AND WEATHER. 
—The per cent of land 
suitable for growing or¬ 
anges and pineapples pro¬ 
fitably is comparatively 
small, but at present such 
land is mostly unproduc¬ 
tive, and can be bought 
near good roads within a 
reasonable distance of the 
seaports at a cost of from 
$5 to $20 per acre. The 
weather is remarkably uni¬ 
form through the whole 
year. This can be account¬ 
ed for by the fact that the 
great body of water sur¬ 
rounding the Island modi¬ 
fies the heat and cold, so 
that July is only a few de¬ 
grees warmer than Janu¬ 
ary. q’he United States 
Weather Bureau report for 
1899 states that the high¬ 
est temperature for that 
year at San Juan was 91 
degrees in June, the low¬ 
est 05 degrees in Novem¬ 
ber. People from tne 
States will be likely to find 
the steady warm weather 
depre.ssing if they reside 
there for a long time, but 
from my own experience I 
can say that a visit of a 
few months during the 
cold of our northern Win¬ 
ter is delightful, 'the rainfall at San Juan in 1899 
was 81 inches, being the greatest in August, Septem¬ 
ber, October and November, and least in February. 
There are very few factories there to employ labor; 
nearly all the work is agricultural. There is a great 
surplus of farm laborers. The people are kind- 
hearted and wiliing to work. Employers are annoyed 
by many more applicants for work than they can use. 
The regular wages for al)le-bodicd farm laborers an; 
35 and 40 cents per day, without board, boys 20 cents, 
oxen 50 cents per pair. Travelers who have visited 
the different West Indian Islands tcli us the natural 
resources of Porto Rico are equal or superior to any 
of the other islamis. It is the general opinion of 
those who know the Island best that fruit growing, 
especially oranges and pineapples, will soon become 
a leading industry. I think this the most promising 
business investment the Island offers. A word of cau¬ 
tion may be needed here. It takes money to start a 
grove and care for it till it comes into bearing. The 
SCENE ON A FLORIDA PINEAPPLE FARM. Fie. 136. 
