X.

AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK.

Agricultural enterprise in Costa Rica is chiefly devoted to coffee. The proper coffee zone lies between 800 to 1400 meters of elevation on both ocean slopes. Experiments have proved that the coffee-tree can also be successfully cultivated at a height of 600 meters, and still lower down, by moderating the glare of the sun with adequate shades and by pruning to correct excessive growth and fructification.

“Coffee was introduced into the country from Havana in 1796 by Francisco Javier Navarro, as were also the mango and the cinnamon. The first seeds were sown in Cartago. Much credit for the propagation of coffee culture in Costa Rica is due to Padre Velarde, under the government of Don Tomas de Acosta, who took great interest in agriculture.

“During the administration of Don Juan Rafael Mora (1849-1857) farming received a remarkable development, for it was much promoted by the construction of important roads. The cultivation of coffee and sugar cane then absorbed the attention of the country to such an extent that, in 1861, 100,000 quintals were exported.” (J. B. Calvo’s book on Costa Rica).

The census of 1892 supplies the following figures concerning coffee:

Province of San José.

------------+------------+-----------+----------+-----------+---------- | Number | Number | Crop | Crop | Value | of | of | in | in | in |plantations.| trees. | quintals.| kilogr. | pesos. ------------+------------+-----------+----------+-----------+---------- San José | 1,628 | 7,321,708| 95,942 | 4,413,732| 2,648,239 Escasú | 297 | 913,712| 15,328 | 705,088| 450,840 Desamparados| 313 | 2,115,123| 28,645 | 1,317,670| 859,290 Puriscal | 183 | 85,701| 254 | 11,684| 7,620 Aserri | 223 | 272,809| 701 | 32,246| 21,030 Mora | 137 | 42,312| 191 | 8,786| 5,730 Tarrazú | 83 | 28,121| 112 | 5,152| 3,360 Goicoechea | 89 | 302,143| 10,432 | 479,872| 167,955 ------------+------------+-----------+----------+-----------+----------- Total | 2,953 | 11,081,629| 151,605 | 6,974,230| 4,164,064 ------------+------------+-----------+----------+-----------+-----------

Province of Alajuela.

-------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------+----------- | Number | Number | Crop | Crop | Value | of | of | in | in | in | plantations.| trees. | quintals.| kilogr. | pesos. -------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------+----------- Alajuela | 547 | 2,247,809| 26,546 | 1,211,116| 796,380 San Ramon | 214 | 715,592| 5,527 | 254,242| 165,810 Grecia | 497 | 917,201| 10,997 | 505,862| 329,910 Atenas | 50 | 110,599| 1,027 | 47,242| 30,810 San Mateo | 20 | 23,883| 189 | 8,694| 5,670 Naranjo | 171 | 299,829| 40,321 | 1,854,766| 1,209,630 Palmares | 402 | 1,368,689| 22,998 | 1,057,908| 689,940 -------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------+----------- Total | 1,901 | 5,683,602| 107,605 | 4,939,830| 3,228,150 -------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------+-----------

Province of Cartago.

-------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------+----------- | Number | Number | Crop | Crop | Value | of | of | in | in | in | plantations.| trees. | quintals.| kilogr. | pesos. -------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------+----------- Cartago | 505 | 727,893| 8,529 | 392,334| 249,870 Paraiso | 91 | 633,995| 4,985 | 229,310| 149,550 La Union | 387 | 1,667,809| 16,295 | 749,570| 488,850 -------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------+----------- Total | 983 | 3,029,697| 29,809 | 1,371,214| 888,270 -------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------+-----------

Province of Heredia.

-------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------+----------- | Number | Number | Crop | Crop | Value | of | of | in | in | in | plantations.| trees. | quintals.| kilogr. | pesos. -------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------+----------- Heredia | 1,371 | 3,249,901| 36,893 | 1,697,078| 1,106,790 Barba | 247 | 885,891| 11,792 | 542,432| 351,870 Santo Domingo| 391 | 2,147,824| 32,810 | 1,509,260| 984,300 Santa Barbara| 399 | 496,809| 3,201 | 147,246| 96,030 San Rafael | 121 | 335,725| 4,509 | 207,414| 135,270 -------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------+----------- Total | 2,529 | 7,116,150| 89,205 | 4,103,430| 2,674,260 -------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------+-----------

Altogether Costa Rica, in 1892, had 8366 coffee-fincas with 26,911,078 coffee-trees, and a crop of 378,224 quintals or 17,388,704 kilograms, valued at 10,954,744 pesos.

It may be interesting to learn the amount of the coffee crops since 1883, given in sacks of fifty-nine or sixty kilograms each.

Sacks.

1883 153,379 1884 277,158 1885 157,515 1886 150,618 1887 218,032 1888 171,898 1889 215,793 1890 256,576 1891 235,703 1892 179,970 1893 190,700 1894 179,613 1895 184,825 1896 195,263 1897 227,582

Another important agricultural product of Costa Rica is the banana. Its cultivation was begun on the Atlantic coast in 1879, and the first 360 bunches were shipped, February 7. 1880, by steamer “Earnholm” from Port Limon to New York.

In 1884 there were 350 farms, comprising over four thousand acres of land, containing 570,000 banana plants, from which, in that year, 420,000 bunches were obtained. Before 1879 banana plants were set out in coffee plantations to shade the young trees and shelter their berries. The bananas were used to feed pigs. The laboring classes kept a few plants, using the fruit boiled with salt, or roasted on hot coals instead of bread.

The following table shows the banana export figures since 1883:

Bundles. Tons.

1883 110,801 3,693 1884 420,000 14,000 1885 401,183 13,373 1886 595,970 19,866 1887 889,517 29,651 1888 854,588 28,486 1889 990,898 33,030 1890 1,034,765 34,492 1891 1,133,717 37,791 1892 1,178,812 39,294 1893 1,278,647 42,621 1894 1,374,986 45,833 1895 1,585,817 52,861 1896 1,692,102 56,400

Sugar cane is used largely in Costa Rica as fodder and in the manufacture of aguardiente; also to produce the raw sugar or dulce, which is consumed entirely by country people.

In 1889 sugar cane by provinces was raised on the following number of acres:

In San José on 4819 acres; in Alajuela on 5076 acres; in Cartago on 1466 acres; in Heredia on 1114 acres; in Guanacaste on 719 acres; in Puntarenas on 1471, and in Limon on 122 acres. The aggregates were 14,787 acres, and a production of 1,368,000 pounds of sugar and 18,454,000 pounds of dulce.

Cacao culture has received but little attention in Costa Rica, because the more profitable coffee plantations absorb all the time and capital. The number of plantations regularly established up to 1888 was 198, having in all 56,426 trees that yielded in the same year 331,900 pounds valued at 165,770 pesos. Most of the cacao was cultivated in Aserri, Atenas, Naranjo, Heredia, Paraiso, Guanacaste and Limon.

Cacao was exported from 1884 to 1889 as follows:

Years. Pounds. Value in Dollars.

1884 9,927 3,227 1885 16,271 4,084 1886 5,776 2,223 1887 10,906 4,708 1888 18,410 3,576 1889 28,830 12,386 ------ ------- Total 90,120 30,204

Excellent cacao was grown during Spanish colonial days around Matina, but none is exported now.

With respect to wheat, up to 1860 there was sufficient for the consumption of the country. It was so intelligently cultivated that the finer grades were produced. The rise in the price of coffee and the competition with the flour of the United States and Chile drove out the native wheat almost entirely, and to-day the cultivation of this grain is badly neglected. To-day the only flour-mill in this country grinds imported wheat.

Tobacco was a monopoly for many years, and only recently has the culture been taken up by the people.

Other important agricultural products are rice, beans, corn and potatoes.

The cultivation of rice in Costa Rica demands very little care and no irrigation to produce two crops a year of a very superior quality. Beans and corn are successfully grown everywhere in the country, while the raising of potatoes is almost wholly confined to the hillsides of Cartago and Alajuela, where they acquire an extremely fine quality.

According to the census of 1892, the average annual production of these crops for that and the two preceding years was in liters as follows:

----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------- | Corn. | Beans. | Rice. | Potatoes. ----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------- San José | 8,394,527| 1,842,527| 236,543| 7,915 Alajuela | 6,898,549| 999,652| 867,528| .. Cartago | 7,874,642| 1,724,628| .. | 1,745,725 Heredia | 2,949,692| 132,842| .. | .. Guanacaste| 1,862,598| 92,321| 121,342| .. Puntarenas| 392,721| 21,325| 132,845| .. Limon | 18,525| 2,822| .. | .. ----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------- Total | 28,391,254| 4,816,117| 1,358,258| 1,753,640 ----------+-----------+----------+----------+-----------

Important agricultural districts are, besides the Central Highlands about one hundred and fifty kilometers in length by sixty kilometers in width, the great valleys of Talamanca, Santa Clara, Tortuguero, San Carlos and Rio Frio. Along the Pacific the great valley of Térraba and the plains of Golfo Dulce and Guanacaste are fertile regions, which, if properly tilled, would offer advantages equal to the Central Highlands, where nearly the entire population of Costa Rica is concentrated.

Plants characterizing fertile lands, rich in humus, on the Atlantic slope, are _Piper_, especially that with large leaves, _Loaseæ_, and certain _Acanthaceæ_. On the Pacific side such characteristic plants are _Piper_, with smaller leaves, the Pacaya Palm, and some ferns. Especially are the _Aspidium_ and _Polypodium_ found in large quantities.

Considering the future of Costa Rica, the question of farm labor is of vital importance. There are only a few Indians, and they are rapidly decreasing. It looks as though the fertile lowlands on the Atlantic and Pacific sides, as well as those in the extensive and fruitful San Juan valley, must be turned over to the Negro race as the only one capable of enduring so inhospitable a climate. These regions are the richest of all and could sustain a large population.

The _live stock_ of Costa Rica, though in general superior to that of the rest of Central America, is not yet sufficiently large to supply the local demand. Although there has been recent improvement in breeding cattle and horses, yet the high grade animals, which could be easily introduced into a country of so many natural advantages, are still lacking. At different times the development of this industry has been attempted. Costa Rica has vast pasture lands splendidly adapted to cattle. It has very nutritious forage plants, like arrocillo, cola de venado, zacate de guinea, zacate de castilla, zacate pará, zacate ancho, grama, guate, caña de azucar, gamalote, sabanilla, teosinte, lengua de vaca, guácimo, jengibrillo, platanillo, etc.

The _live stock_ of Costa Rica in 1892 was distributed as follows:

Cattle. Horses. Sheep. Swine.

San José 51,884 17,542 1,538 23,628 Alajuela 62,410 16,774 159 16,185 Cartago 48,555 9,900 715 5,109 Heredia 35,391 6,380 57 13,241 Guanacaste 134,567 24,458 296 2,180 Puntarenas 9,667 1,721 -- 1,128 Limon 3,191 268 -- 857 ------- ------ ----- ------ Total 345,665 77,043 2,765 62,328

The consumption of cattle in Costa Rica is exhibited by the following data:

First half of 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897.

San José 12,851 12,824 13,467 6,942 Alajuela 7,402 7,184 7,180 3,493 Cartago 5,207 4,881 5,297 2,506 Heredia 4,864 4,942 4,249 2,438 Guanacaste 2,701 1,990 1,928 882 Puntarenas 1,472 1,471 1,302 770 Limon 804 789 798 488 ------ ------ ------ ------ Total 35,301 34,081 34,221 17,519

Further official reports disclose that in the capital the consumption of meat is quite uniform during the entire year, while in the country it is greater from August to January than from February to July.

The total value of the natural, agricultural and live stock products of the country has been calculated at 19,000,000 pesos.