Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/326

PORTO RICO. few plantations are as yet provided with the best steam machinery for making sugar, and nearly one-half of the cane-grinding machines are worked by oxen. Sugar-growing is chiefly confined to the coastal plain, only a little above the level of the sea, where the lands are alluvial and very rich.

The best coffee is produced between 600 and 2400 foot above the sea. It is grown, therefore, chiefly among the mountains. It has an excellent reputation in over-sea markets. Porto Rican tobacco is also in excellent repute in the markets of Europe and America. The district of Cayey, for the quality of tobacco produced, is in Porto Rico what the Vuelta Abajo is in Cuba. All tropical fruits flourish, and the cultivation of fruits is now receiving great attention. Oranges, pineapples, cocoanuts, and bananas are increasing in supply. All kinds of vegetables are produced in abundance where care and industry are given to their cultivation. Cotton grows well, but in recent years practically none has been raised. The home market absorbs the entire crop of maize. Nearly all the rice is of the upland variety. More than 1,000,000 acres of pasture land are devoted to or are suitable for stock-feeding. Over 100,000 acres are in very fine grass, much of it of the malojilla variety, which is very productive and highly nutritious. There were in the island, in 1897, 67,751 horses, 4467 mules, 303,612 cattle, and 13,411 swine. Cattle are exported chiefly to the Windward Islands and are of excellent breed. The cows, oxen, and beef cattle compare favorably with those of any other part of America. They are descended from a large number of fine cattle taken to Porto Rico from the Cape Verde Islands about 1840. The horses are small, agile, hardy, work well in harness or under the saddle, and have remarkable endurance.

The small area of the island and its dense population naturally increase the value of land, which is held at high prices. The best sugar lands are valued at $150 an acre; tobacco lands, from $60 to $75 an acre; fruit lands, from $40 to $50 an acre; pasture lands, from $15 to $20 an acre; and hill lands, suitable for coffee, from $10 to $15 an acre. Land along the sandy seashores, where only cocoanuts are grown, may be purchased for $5 to $10 an acre. About 100,000 acres of public land passed to the United States under the Treaty of Paris. Some of it is valuable for agriculture or timber, and other tracts near cities and towns are available for their growth.

. Manufacturing industries are chiefly confined to sugar, tobacco, rum, and straw hats. Sugar-making, the largest mills being controlled by American capital, is the leading industry. A small refinery near San Juan rectifies crude petroleum. There are a few tanneries and foundries, and at San Juan matches, ice, soap, and some leather goods are made. Straw-hat braiding has received a large impetus, as the United States is buying many of these products.

. Since the change in the control of the island, the United States has become the chief source of supplies and largest market for native products. The trade with over-sea lands, particularly with the United States, is steadily improving. The imports from the United States in the fiscal year ending July, 1902, were $10,719,444; the imports from foreign lands were $2,429,004; total imports, $13,148,448. Flour and breadstuffs from the United States were bought to the amount of $1,090,079; rice, to the amount of $1,803,065; cotton cloths, $2,060,826; provisions, $1,336,646; wood manufactures, $560,081; fish, $300,703; leather goods, $234,331; vegetables, $231,450; mineral oils, $144,512; paper goods, $110,222; chemicals and drugs, $135,896; and malt liquors, $118,450. The chief imports from foreign countries were codfish from Newfoundland and Canada, $424,953; preserved meats, $158,046; soap, $133,962; besides olive oil, machinery, rice, vegetables, wine, and sawed lumber. The exports to the United States were $8,297,420; and to foreign countries, $4,592,505; total exports, $12,889,925. The chief sales to the United States were: Sugar, $5,890,087; cigars and cigarettes, $1,570,938; molasses, $322,636; straw hats, $204,555; hides and skins, $67,888; oranges, $51,364; and coffee, $29,188. The principal exports to foreign countries were: Coffee, $3,168,664; cattle, $418,268; molasses, $256,461; and hides and skins, $13,656. The larger part of the foreign trade is with Spain.

The United States Congress provided in the act creating civil government, approved April 12th, 1900, that when the Legislative Assembly should raise sufficient funds by local taxation to pay the expenses of the government, all tariffs on merchandise passing between the island and the United States should cease. The revenue act passed at the first session of the Legislative Assembly was so successful in operation that the revenues for the fiscal year ending July 1, 1901, surpassed the expenses of government; and on July 25th of that year President McKinley proclaimed free trade between the United States and Porto Rico.

. In November, December, and January the north coast ports are difficult of acess on account of north winds, and from June to November southerly winds endanger the anchorages on the southern coast. The principal ports are San Juan, on the north; Fajardo and Ensenada Honda, on the east; Playa, the port of Ponce, and Guanica, on the south; and Puerto Real de Cabo Rojo, on the west. The island of Vieques has several commodious harbors. A line of steamers plies regularly between New York and Porto Rico. There are also more or less regular communications with Spain, England, South America, and the other West Indies. In the fiscal year 1901-02, 222 American and 295 foreign vessels entered the harbors. Not many years ago the bull cart and pack animal were almost the sole means of inland transportation. These primitive appliances are being supplanted by railroads. The American Railroad Company, which purchased the existing railroad of the French company, is now operating 131 miles of narrow-gauge road along the north coast, and proposes to make it a part of a belt railroad around the island. In 1901 the road carried 149,597 passengers, 76,912 tons of freight, its gross receipts being $197,000, and the operating expenses $170,000. Other narrow-gauge railways extend from Cataño, near San Juan, six miles to Bayamon, and from Mayaguez to Añasco, 10.5 miles. There are electric trolley roads in San Juan and Ponce. The Government in four years has completed 87 miles of fine wagon roads at a cost of about $8000 per