exports from Puntarenas are much lower than those from Limon, about an 
equal amount of imports are received in each. Steamers from the Pacific 
coasts of North and South America call at Puntarenas and airplanes operate 
regularly out of the civil airport, about 10 miles east of the city. San Jose is 
only 40 minutes away by air. 
Heredia, capital of the Province of Heredia, is the chief center of a large 
coffee region. The city is situated about 6 miles from San Jose on the Costa 
Rica Railway and has a population of around 9,000 inhabitants. 
Alajuela, also on the Costa Rica Railway and the center of an important 
sugar-growing district, is 14 miles from San Jose; its population is slightly 
over 8,500. Located at an altitude of 3,000 feet, Alajuela has a somewhat 
A PARK SCENE IN HEREDIA 
warmer climate than the capital and is famous for its beautiful flowers. Near 
the city is the volcano Poas, which boasts the world’s largest crater, about 
a mile in diameter and several hundred feet deep. Weekly cattle fairs are 
held at Alajuela and it is a business city of considerable importance. 
AGRICULTURE 
Agriculture, the basic industry of Costa Rica, is mainly dependent upon 
three crops: coffee, bananas, and cocoa. Coffee is the predominating product 
and yields the highest returns to the country. Bananas are a strong supple¬ 
ment to coffee as a money crop while cocoa, although an important export 
item, is grown on a much smaller but rising scale. Coffee and cocoa plant¬ 
18 
ing have been on the increase for several years while banana planting has 
tended to decline. It is estimated that more than a million acres in Costa 
Rica are devoted to agriculture, an area which may be greatly expanded when 
a more comprehensive transportation system makes new planting regions 
available to growers. There are about six million acres of grasslands in 
the country, on a part of which some cattle raising takes place. 
Coffee was first introduced into Costa Rica from Cuba during the early 
years of the nineteenth century by 4 omas de Acosta, then governor of the 
Province. In a short time it became the leading agricultural crop, outdistanc¬ 
ing within thirty years after its introduction the staple products of bananas 
and cocoa which had been cultivated in the country since the opening of the 
colonial period. For many years the economic well-being of Costa Rica was 
almost entirely dependent upon coffee, the increasing production of which 
Drought a corresponding development of the nation’s prosperity. 
Most of the cafetales or coffee fincas, largely in the hands of Costa Ricans 
and in small estates, are found on the central plateau in the highland 
Provinces of Heredia, Cartago, San Jose and Alajuela where the rainfall, 
temperature and soil conditions are ideal for coffee culture. The crop is 
also cultivated to some extent in sections of every other Province except 
Puntarenas. Estimates place the number of coffee trees in the Republic at 
37,000,000. Drying and fermentation of the coffee beans take place on the 
plantations themselves or at concentration points in the towns. Shipments of 
coffee from the highland region to the seaports of Limon and Puntarenas are 
made via the Costa Rica Railway and the Pacific Railway, respectively, the 
shipping point usually dependent upon the proximity of the plantation to the 
port, and the ultimate destination of the shipment. 
The coffee is of an exceptional quality and has a fine flavor, characteristics 
which have kept its price at a high level. Most demand for the Costa Rican 
product comes from Europe, especially England, which takes the greater part 
of the nation’s crop. Since 1855 Costa Rican coffee exports have increased 
from about 3,000 tons in that year to 24,000 tons in 1935. Although occasional 
setbacks have been encountered, nearly every five-year period since 1855 has 
shown a gain of from one to five thousand metric tons, signifying a slow, 
steady increase in coffee plantings. Great Britain has been the chief pur¬ 
chaser of Costa Rican coffee for half a century and usually takes from one- 
half to three-quarters of the country’s entire coffee exports. Germany is the 
next largest purchaser and the United States follows in third place. Each 
sack of coffee shipped from Costa Rica is marked “Cafe de Costa Rica,” 
in accordance with governmental regulations. 
Although bananas were introduced in the New World early in the colonial 
period and were grown in various Caribbean regions, Costa Rica was the 
first country of the Central American group to produce them for export. The 
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