inea grass and malojilla
feed thousands of sleek cattle, but, as an article of food, mutton
is almost unknown. The native pony, small, wiry and untirable,
has a world-wide reputation, and for long journeys is unequaled,
possessing a gait, as they say in the island, like an arm-chair.

"Perhaps a third of the population of the island is of African
descent; but, strangely enough, the colored people are only to be
found on the coast, and are the fishermen, boatmen and laborers of
the seaports. The cultivation of the crops is entirely in the hands
of the jibaro, or peasant, who is seldom of direct Spanish descent,
while the financiering and exportation is conducted almost entirely by
peninsulares, or Spanish-born colonists, who monopolize every branch
of commerce to the exclusion of the colonian-born subject.

"Coffee planting is largely engaged in, returning from ten to fifteen
per cent. on capital. Improved transportation facilities, abolition of
export dues and the consolidation of small estates would, doubtless,
help toward better results. This crop is marketed in Europe--London,
Havre and Barcelona--where better prices are obtainable than in New
York. With the exception of a few plantations in strong hands, most
of this property could be purchased at a fair valuation, and would
prove to be a very profitable investment.

"Cocoa grows wild on the lowlands, but has not been cultivated to
any appreciable extent. Small consignments sent to Europe have been
pronounced superior to the Caracas bean. The tree takes a longer
period than coffee to come to maturity and bear fruit; but once in
bearing the current expenses are less and the yield far greater. The
same remarks apply to the cultivation of rubber, which, although a
most profitable staple with an ever-increasing market, has received
no attention whatever.

"Corn is raised in quantities insufficient for home consumption. Of
this cereal three crops can be obtained in two years; sometimes two
a year. The demand is constant, and the price always remunerative.

"In Porto Rico, as in most other West Indian islands, sugar is
king. In the treatment of this product the lack of capital has been
sadly felt. Planters possess only the most primitive machinery, and in
the extraction of the juice from the cane the proportion of saccharine
matter has been exceedingly small. Great outlay is necessary for the
installation of a complete modern crushing and centrifugal plant."

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