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
