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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1899)
September 10 , 1S90. OMAHA HUE. Uncle Sam's New Fruit Garden ( Copvr'Khted. ivw 1) ) Pi ink O c'nni'niiM i MAYAGUEZ , Porto nice , Aug. 20 , 1S99. ( Special Correspondence of The Ileo ) Would you like to own nn orange gro\e ? If so , como to Porto Hlco. The rich , golden fruit grows hero without culthntlon Tliero Is na need of Irrigation , as In California , and as for Jack Frost , lilo name. Is unknown Thcro nro only 1,400 miles of smooth water be tween San Juan nnd New York , and In the near future there will be lines of fruit steam ers which will dump your product Into tlia best of our markets. At present the oranges grow almost wild , and you can buy the best at less than 1 cent nplecc. I am told that they could bo grown here In orchards so that they could bo sold at $1 a thousand nnd give a big profit , and fruit men say they could be shipped to the United States and sold there at 12 cents a dozen and still pay the growers , the ship pers and dealers. Porto Klco promises to be Uncle Sant'h choicest fiuit garden. Barring huiricanes such as that of last month , which do not como more than once In a generation , wo ha\e no land so well favored. Oranges , lemons and pineapples grow almost wild , and with careful cultivation they can be produced In great quantities. It seems tome mo the best chance In Porto Hlco for men with small capital Is In fruit growing If some of our small investors would form Is exceedingly profitable. The tiees are ready for sale at two years , and they can be sold from then on for three , four , fl\o or more > cars. They will bring , according to their age and sl/e , all the way from $1 to $15 a tree. If the rush to Poito Hlco comes as Major Harvey expects , it will bo seen that his nuisery will net him a fortune. It Is , I believe , so far the only one started on the Island. I'riillls of OiatiKt * < ! i < mliiK. 1 chatted with Mujoi Ilaivoy about oiangi gix > wing In I'ortu Hlco Ho tolls mo that good oiange lands can bo b-iight foi fiom $ > 0 to $101) ) per nd u and that a man can make a fortune out ot 100 acres. Said he "I think that a hundred aero grove should pay .1 man from $ .10,000 to $2. > . ( iOO a ytai at iho end of sis. veil * He would have 'n como hole and handle the property himself Ho would use the iieons as laborers. Tho\ ate superior to our negtois and they ean bo hired for from " . " > to ; ! ( ) tenth a d ly Tin man bhauld not expect to do anytiling him self but bcss the job and furnish Ihi brains" I think that hvmlicaUt , t , uld uls < do well , and the laigoi ( lie capital the bol ter the Investment. There is an American fruit company which is making a great deal of money out of Jamaica fruits , . Within a year frcm now there will bo no tarllt on fruit hi ought from Poito Hlco to the IN TUG COUNTHY byndlcates ol ten or a dozen each nnd come A. down here and buy orange groves they could soon build up an Industry which would pay them enormous dividends One man could do but little , for enough fruit would have to bo raised in a locality to furnish shiploads for the steamers. Hut In combina tion settlements of this kind could be made . all over the Island and a vast business es tablished. At present the orange trees arc scattered. They have grown up where the secda have dropped and have been neither budded not cultivated. They are of many varieties , some being as full of juice and as sweet as any orange of Florida or California. The * t trees are exceedingly thrifty. They grow everywhere , but the best places are back from the coast , on the foothills of the moun tains. riorlilii aic-ii In Pnrto Illeo. The frost of last year , which killed the orango'trees ' of Florida , has brought a nutn- * - her of men from that state to Porto Hlco. They are now Investigating the fruit condi tions hero and some of them are buying land nnd planting out orchards. One man has bought COO acres not far from San Juan He expects to give up his plantation in Florida and will begin planting oranges and b pineapples this fall. A Mr. Avorlll of Ogdonsburg , X. Y , has bought 120 acres , which ho expects to plant In oranges and pineapples , and there Is a colony of young Americans who are establishing fruit farms on the east coast. Ono of Iho host posted fruit men I have met bore Is Major S. S , Harvey of Pensa- cola , Fla , Major Harvey is well known among the horticulturists of the United States. lie has boon at the head of some of the leading horticultural societies of the south nnd his pear orchard near Pensacola netted him more than $10,000 a > ear for many years. Ho came to Porto Hlco as n paymaster , but Is thinking seriously of - > " " pnlp * golnir Int" oran"n trrnwlnc f Ono of his plans Is to establish a nursery near Coamo , and there raise orange trees to meet the orange-raising boom which will probably bo hero within a few years. He has already bought tlio land for his nursery and ho thinks that ho will have 200,000 trcet ready for sale within four years from now. Ho takes the oranges a they fall from the trees , buying them by the tens of thousands , and drops them Just ns jou drop potatoes , drilling them along the rows and covering them up. The oranges soon rot and the eeeds sprout up Within three weeks they will be through the ground , nnd when they are six Inches high they will be transplanted In rows , the trees being six Inches apart After they are a year old they will be bud ded from the beet Florida fruit and the re sult will bo tens of thousands of the finest k of young orange tree * ) of our best Florida varieties. This is the way trees arc grown In the nuraerleg of Florida , and the business L'nlted States , and this island will lead the others of the \Vest Indies In time in II' fiuit exports. "I believe , " continued Major llaivoj , "that this Is one of the ilchost inlands of the world In its natuial possibilities You can lalso anything hero that jou can raluo In California or Floilda , and many tilings that you cannot. I sou no leison why Eng lish walnuts , pecans and almonds could not bo grown , nnd na for pineapples , I doubt whether the equal of the Poito Hican kind can bo found any whore. " 'Ihcio Is no doubt as to the excellence of tlio Porto Hltan pliiojpj > icH I have fceeii some as big as peck measure0 , and pines which weigh twcnt ) pounds are not uncom mon. They nre sweet and full of Juice , The ) nio far supoiior to anything that ever comes to the United States , and they could undoubtedly bo sold there In Targe quanti ties. When picked green they will otind shipping nnd will easily keep until thuygct 11 our markets , Pineapples grow all over Porto Hlco. You find great beds of them In the valleys and along the foothills. They nro not caiefully cultivated and grow almost wild I line wen them In the cocoanul orchaids , but no where In very laige cuantltlefl. | I'llK'llpllll * I'lll'IIIH. It does not take u largo farm of pine apples to glvo n man a go id Income. In Florida a man can maku fiom $500 to $1,000 a year on two aeios of pineapples , but It will cost him at least $2,000 per acre to got his farm Into hearing. It is estimated that you can do the Kamu hoiu for one- tenth the amount and the expense of taking care of the crop after that would ho nothing lllfo what It Is in Florida Pineapples must lie carefully cultivated. They nre planted from suckers , slips or buds , which mno out of the bane of the pineapple and upon the top These slips are set out about tlirco feel apart , HU that you can grow about { i,000 plne.3 on onu acre. A pineapple Held looks very much like a Hold of cabbages It Is of u Halinon color mixed with green. The uholo ground IB covered , the leaven or blades about the pine apple reaching out and enveloping one an- Jther. IJvory leaf Id covered with thorns or spines so that you have to HBO buckskin gloves In working the crop. It is much moro expensive to cultivate pineapples In Florida than In Porto Hlco There the plants are shaded by great arbors made of slats or laths BO that at a distance the fields look like a fair ground. Hero the sun Is not BO hot , there nro moro clouds In the gky and a bhado of palm birk could take the place of the laths At present most of the Porto Hlcan fruit is grown without Bhado The growing Is In teresting The plants are cultivate * ! llkn cabbages At first a blossom comes out as big as your fist with a llttlo pineapple below It. The pineapple at the start Is of about the size ot n peach. It rapidly grows until at last It has become ns big ns n gallon erock or , when well cultivated , the size of a pock measure On the top of the pineapple nnd about its base suckers or slips sprout out. Those nro used for replanting and In Florida they com mand n good price The best of them are told nt 15 "on Is apleco nnd those not BO giod bilng ns much ns $7 nnd $ S n hundred. Among the best known pineapple growers i f Florida Is a man named Van Houten Ho has n grove near Orlando , from which he re ceives at times as much at $50,000 n year. \ largo part of his profits comes from the silo of Iho slips or shoots which ho ships bv Mm carload to the seaports to bo sent to Honolulu. Tliero nro different Kinds of pineapples The finest growers In Florida nro the Cavenno , the Abak and the Queen. The Cavonno Is ns smooth ns nn apple nnd so jttle4lut It can bo eaten with n spoon. The Florida men hero believe that all of th roe varieties can be grown In Porto Hlco and that they will produce better here than am whore else llnni * * in < Veniiiiu < N. A million nnd a half ot cnauuls arc shipped from May ague/ every year There are laigo cocoanut groves along the w cat- cm coast of Porto Hlco , nnd smaller groves In the other coast lands of the Maud I saw one grove of many thousand trees In eastern Porto Hlco , not far from Humacao. There aio men hero who 1mo largo In comes from cocoanuts One man IP re ported as making $20,000 a yeir out of his orchard He has moio than 20,000 trees and they pay him on nn average $1 ouch yoarlv It Is not dlfllcult to bt irt a cocoanut gto\o. The only things needed arc the land nnd the nuts. The nuts are laid upon the top of the ground a few Inches apart. The air here Is very molwt , and after n shoit time each nut sends nut a sprout from one of the llttlo eyes at its ends The sprout grows up Into the air , and at the same time a root slioots out of the biso down Into the ground. Within n few montlm the sprout has grown as high ns a table The loot Is now bioken off nnd the sprout and nut nro planted whore the tree is to stind The nut Is buried about six Inches In the earth , the sprout remaining above. The cai this now pressed tightly down over the nut and the planting Is done. The trees here have been sot out Irregu larly. They should be planted about fifteen feet apart , or just about as far apart as the trees of our peach orchards This will glvo 103 trees per acre. They begin to bear at five years and need practically no culti vation. Grass can bo sown In a cocoanut orchard and cattle pastured upon It. Such an orchard In full bearing would produce , with the present facilities for shipment , $1)3 ! ) per aero , with no other labor than tlio gathering and shipping of the fruit. The cocoanuls ripen all the year round They diop off themselves when ripe , and the men go dally from trco to tree to pick iii ] the mils Kach nut has n thick green husk upon it Tills la torn off nnd the nuto then look as wo see them In our stores. c oiMiiniiii vim. . Many coe umits in I'oito Hlco aio picked preen. Thl" is whin they .110 lo bo sold lor their milk The cocoanut milk which you find In the ripe nuts , ns , for Instance thr.se which arc oxpmtcd to the United States , Is nothing llko the milk of the i/rc'en cocoanut fic3h from the tiee Tlio roe-aunt milk wo drink here Is as clVar ns 1'iiie spring vsatcr. It is far more delicious than tlio fluid which you find in Mm ilpo coccanut The method of getting It Is to pond a boy or man up a cocoanul tree Ho ( .llinlw up , using only bis feet ami lands , almost walking , ns It were , t'i 'tho ' t p and pulls off the preen fiuit. Then l.o takes a machete or big knife and slices off the top of the husk , making a hole in the nut as big around as a 21-cont piece He hands you the cocoanut. You lift it up MI that tlio hilo rests against yom lips and pour the coof , delicious water down your throat , It Is a drink for a king. C'ocoanuts of this king cist you nliout 2 or 3 cents apiece They are for sale In tlio stoies , they are peddled upno the sticots and you can buy thorn In the markets. The milk fonms a good substitute for water , and It has the virtue of being positively free from the disease germs which are usually found In the Porlo Hlcan clstoirm Porto Hlco might bo called Uncle Sam's banana land The crop of this year ha been destroy rd by the storm , but In or dinary Minis bananas glow almost wild all over the Island. They cover tlio lowlands and am found even on the summits of the maintains They glow .several1 years with out replanting I have htcn sterns as big mound no a man's leg nt the rnlf with leaves from six to eight feet long nnd o\er n foot wide Ilananas and plantains , or largo barianap. form the chief food of Porto Hlco It was the dcMruntlon of the banana erop that has caused the prcaent dlstroffl here It Is Mio only erop , In fact , that could be destroyed and create a fainlno. The peons cat bananas In the place of bread. They oat them raw and reeked , nnd the fitt , round ntemachs which you now and then fico on the naked Porto Hlcan babies nro often called banana stomachs , because they are being caused by buiana gorging Him "tl'f * * M * * I'M * Banana raising is very profitable I met a Chicago man In San Juan who told rno ho had 1,200 banana trees on one aero , with 1,200 pineapple trees growing on the same aero under the bananas Tills story comes from Chicago , but there Is no doubt you can really grow COO or 700 banana plants on an acre. Indeed , one of the Porto Hlcan author ities states that eighteen acres will produce ( Continued on iiglith Page ) Remarks on the Practiee of Socking Foreign Husbands Once more the stoiy of n tnlsflt man luge In high life , nays the Philadelphia Tlimn Is told to a more or liss uiihvmpathetle pub lic hauloned by the fioquency with whlili mo repeated appeals to emotions that le Iliet the bettor side of human natuu Woman In dlstio'.s , since the bravo davs ol old down thiough changing epi ch that have brought In their tialu pievalllug pinctUal mid material vleww ot life , has Kept bet elulm to the dovotlin nnd the assistance of Iho htoiner box Chtvaliy Is not dead In this twilight of tlio nineteenth eontuiv , even though knight enantry exists only In the lomnnccs of Sir Walter and his kindled literal ) spirits of past nnd pit-sent geneta turns Uvcli when , nliuiR with the tale of woo , comes the nssuianco that the unfortu- riiito victim has none but hciwlf to blame for conditions wrought by her own folly , the masculine heart throbs clamorously In Its aspirations to succor , even as the male list now nnd ngaln has been known to liiteivene on occasion when prudence and dlscietlon hould have Miggestid a Htilct obsoivamo t neuHallty. Time and again the wainlng note him nunded for the bright , the benitiful , the vlnsomu gills of America to beware of en angling alliances with foielgn miltois , and ho tale that now comes ovei the Atlantic alilo to set society circles agog Is an oft- old one The brldo of nn Austrlin dlpb- uat sends a pitiful telegram to her father , who was a member of the official family of lionoial Hiihsell A. Algor dining Mio latter' Incumbency ot the War olllce , to rescue her from the Inute of a husband , and who In the period of n few months has made life n misery to her. Mme Ouyla do S/llassv wlio ICB.S than a year ago was Louise lleckei , tlio daughter of a Detroit rnllllonaile , is coming back homo brokon-hoaitod , dlslllu sinned , u sad , wise woman in pliue of the fascinating , lovely girl who quite recently was a leader of the smart net of hoi owp homo , n leader In the social whirl of ulllelnl llfo ot Washington. What booted It to Mill , willful , capricious daillng of fortune tint her cautious old father opposed her iir.ir- ilago to the Imperious Austrian who was cutting n dash In tlio dlplouutlc circle ot the national capital' Not n whit of atten tion did the fair maid glvo to the parental warning Da/rled by tlio prospect of life ne.ir a gay court of tlio old world , her unlin with the gilded foreigner of the aristocratic name was something on which who set her foolish youiiK heart , and the wedding tool * place amid the pomp nnd eel it which her father's millions permitted. It was an ominous token of what might bo expected when the foreign bridegroom ciusod the nuptial gifts of silver nnd of gold showered upon bis lovely mate to be lu- Hcilbed with his own name Instead of hois hefoio ho would consent lo lecolvlng them Hut society affected to regard this as a inera eccentricity of tlio Austrian All too quickly , however , has como the natural sequence of this Initial exhibition of selfishness and cupidity The honeymoon had not yet wane ] before the demands of the Austrian diplomat upon his wife's purse became so oxactlng that the brldo's father put In an objection that objected this time , and then It was found that after all the "dlHllngiilHhed at lacho of the Austrian legation" was a very small fish In the diplomatic pond. And then came whispered tales of his ciuel treatment of thluS fair girl whom he had torn fiom a luxurious homo So It happens that the masculine heart of this country Is boating with resentment , anl so It hapKii8 | that an American father Is about sailing for Kuropo to bring his daughter tor lo her Amciican home , cured of her folly nnd disenchanted from ( he glamour of n for eign capital The moral of Mils is all so plain and withal It Is so often told nirls , slop It Slay at homo and marry Amuilcan gentle men Instead of foreign upsl irts with queer sounding names , and the sum of human happiness will bo by so much Increased , and misfits at tlio bridal altar will grow boaiitl fully less Fashionable Garret Novelties Piobably there are few families that have not somewhere , carefully laid away , a small collection of old-tlmo watches which vary In slylo from the round , thick buH's-oyo down lo the Hat , open-faced gold watch The works of thofln watches nro practically value IOPH and the cases would hi ing n trilling amount If hold for either old gold or sllvor Sentlmont peeniH to rllnir about the faithful timepiece and hero Is a way of bringing thorn Into action once moie as small pin cushions for the bureau The elniiiKo IH readily made Simply have a silversmith take out the works and cut off and (111 ( In the hole loft by the thumb idcco The round metal cano Is Mum ready nnd : in admirable receptacle lo hold the pincushion whldi should bo snugly filled to It and made of n phado of velvet that matches the bureau trimmings day colors are by for the most effective. Wo find many of the old Dutch watoho-s ( o be fancifully engraved with ships and windmills , and when this Is nn nnd they are well made up they form qullo the pleeo do rraltitanco In n blue and wlrlto room The greater amount of old nngllHh and American watches oommomorato the ancestors that wuro them tiy having large monograms upon the cases I3l hty yoH'B ago women were busy doing bradwork and made for themselves beauti fully designed 1ng or reticules , aa they were then called , to hang over their wrists and cm 15 Miolr ruoucholr , fan and olhei irllliM of necessity A favorite doilgn In those davs appears tu have boon pausles 01 vli lots , In all the varied Hhados of laveudet and put pie , on a black ground. The dura bllltv ef theli ; material saved the bags from doHtiui-tlon and when they jMssed out of fashion , llko the watches , thev weio laid asldo with other glories of the past One never known how these things come abml but at the present time Ihov have regained the good graces ot fashion nnd aio basking In her blandest smiles They are no longer worn oxer the wrists , however , but nre fastened toned In antique silver clasps and suspondtM from the belt Across the Ixittom thev aie finished with n line beaded fringe about an Inch In depth Panne velvet or miodo aio regirded as the most natlsfaeton mateiliils with which to line them The long ciochetod and headed nurses wllh slip rings In the center nro also now In b < soon acaln. and notwithstanding tbeh Innir absence from nocletv of about llft\ veins hue about them quite mi all of HIIUIIlilies The nil-over black ouon are uudoubtodh looked upon with the greatest amount < f favoi Tliev are light and pleasant lo c\n\ and look exlrcmelv felchlup ; when tucked In the bells of summer gowns Dilnlv bll.s of bund needlework on linen tint ( oiuii fimn the gaitet nre al o npunluK oui eves with astonishment at their fineness when WOMV them made Into the shin I vuUis ami ( ollais that are In vogue "That Is an exquisite bit of work vouhavt en tlio neck of vour led sdlk gown , " uue gill told another "Yes. " her ft lend replied gllblv , "II was once mv gioat-giandfaMiorn nightcap" "You mean the one whose portrait hangs In Iho llbiaiy' " " os , again she replied , "the one that looks as though h < > had been brought up on lodliol nails His Infantile wauliobc , how ever , wan most luxuiloim You would be qually envious of the fancy aprons 1 hiivt made out of his long bnbv dresses 1 apsuio von ( ho liandwoik on them puts lo tditnnc Iho cmhroldcrv 1 do while wealing them After cutting them Into shape they onlv need a uairow < > dgo of lace to be fillled an mid them and to be furthei dc-roratcd wllh two plaited pockets of a hi older lace of the same pattern 1 then fasten them to soft pieces of liberty Hiitln anil wear'them tied about my waist , with a large bow at the side They really are quite perfect " Some Unprcvari- cated Proverbs lloston Journal If the X-ray was applied to minds , piobablv the only 0110 who would lint slulnk fiom the oideal would bo tlm man of consistently evil life After a man Is thli-'y ho despairs of find liu ; bis Ideal , while a woman of thirty Is apt to ° ee bora in any itiattaohod man of decent looks Justice is merely Injustice 'rom one pu'nl ' of view. The loss a man does iho moro time IHI lias mr idling wnat HIUIUIII i'o done Old age Is magnified voilth The Hpooch of liw Is diuigoioUH only when It becomes a written language An unpilnclprid man may bo exceedingly dangerous as nn ene.my . , but IH Infinitely more so an a friend Greater America Exposition Souvenir Spoons 'IV u ! , with iniiiiiii IK-MI ! . . $ i.no 'IVtt * ! , trHIi I it ill n it lirnil , lu-11 % y If I I t liowl Ifli.OO 'IVn Hire , iiliiln. I I li Oov'l Iliillillni ; 91.00 Mall orders promptly filled. Watches. Diamonds , Cut fllasH , Silverware , flocks Opera fllaRflOH , etc - the largest selec tion In the city. All nerds warranted as rep resented , silica 1RR3. A , Mandelberc , .TrvreliT mill Art Htiitlnner. N. IS. Cor. Illlli mill I I'll run in. Wnldi and Jewelry re pair Ing by experienced workmen. : STATIONHHV A SPKCIAI.TV IOO tnnlH mill coiiiirr plntu tfl.CIO. " THIS IS A BEAUTY. Flour do Lin pin , IIUH hiifoty hook fur watch. Solid u'old , tinted on- IlllH'l , llllM OIIO L'OllllillO diamond , brilliant cut , III ( 'onultiu lirht quality half pourln. Quality and viiluu { ruaiantcud. Monoj rufundod if net porfuctly batlsfaotory. Sent hi H'tfibtorod mail for $11.00. ALBERT EDHOLM , Jeweler. 107 N. Kith St. , Omaha , Nob. duur , , . , t loiul Bu i iiurMii liirl > < \Vuiicixlafuwiixiru now l.ii Ilim or iiiitliuiiiMi I ( lull nwliiil In truvulliiK mill li > ) mi.nl , MUH | Miiinnor API lluilliin Illunk and lull Information IXK.I ! uunntii , IIM > Hiuitcil C. W. SUinton Co SlG tenon Ulock. Chicago