ACTIVIDADES BIBLIOGRÁFICAS EN LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS RELATIVAS A LA AMÉRICA LATINA

por

EL DR. A. CURTIS WILGUS

(Resumen)

En este estudio, el autor presenta una reseña de las actividades bibliográficas referentes a la América Latina que se han llevado a cabo en los Estados Unidos. La primera parte contiene una lista de las bibliografías que han aparecido desde 1900. En la segunda parte el autor presenta una lista de las bibliografías compiladas por la Unión Panamericana. La tercera parte presenta una lista de bibliografías que han aparecido en varios números de Hispanic American Historical Review. En la cuarta parte se hace referencia a varias bibliografías especiales relativas a la América Latina que contienen una lista de una clase especial de artículos publicados durante un período de años en varias publicaciones periódicas.

En la quinta parte se presenta una lista de bibliografías cartográficas. En la sexta parte se hace referencia a varios catálogos de libros que proporcionan valiosas fuentes bibliográficas. En la séptima parte se hace referencia a listas de tésis o estudios de investigación, y en la octava parte se mencionan bibliografías que están en vías de preparación.

La Inter-American Bibliographical and Library Association ha estado planeando por varios años la confección de una bibliografía crítica continental que se ocupe de todos los aspectos de los asuntos hispanoamericanos; y la misma asociación tiene también en proyecto, en colaboración con el American Library Institute, hacer una lista de todas las publicaciones del día tanto gubernamentales como no gubernamentales de todos los países de la América Latina.

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GEOGRAPHICAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS INFLUENCING PUERTO RICAN AGRICULTURE *

by

DR. RAFAEL PICÓ

Instructor in Geography at the University of Puerto Rico

INTRODUCTION

Puerto Rico is essentially an agricultural community. More than half (52 percent) of all the workers and 66 percent of the male workers of the island are directly engaged in this industry. The next group of occupations in importance (manufacturing and mechanical indus tries) provides work for only 21.8 percent of the workers. In addition, most of the above-mentioned trades, such as the employments in sugar mills, refineries, and tobacco factories, depend directly on agriculture. Thus, the rise or fall of agriculture deeply affects the entire population; for on this industry is based the economic life of the island.

To comprehend the problems of Puerto Rico it is essential to study its basic industry: crop production. At the same time, to understand Puerto Rican agriculture, it is essential that those factors affecting it be evaluated. The physical or geographical background has a great bearing on agriculture by limiting crops to their natural areas of production and also by determining, to a great extent, the return per acre of the different crops. For example, cane planted in the porous limestone soils of the northwest is not as good a proposi tion as the sugar cane cultivated in the alluvium plains of the south. Economic conditions also have to be taken into consideration. Such factors as population, labor, transportation, and market, both foreign and local, determine to a great extent the character of our crop cultivation. The basis of this industry is not simple; it is a complex pattern where physical and economic conditions are inter

woven.

GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS

Although Puerto Rico is a small island, with an area of only 3,339.5 square miles, there is diversity in its geographic environment. The

*A large part of the material for the preparation of this paper was taken from Bulletin No. 41, Division of Agricultural Economics, Insular Experiment Station: Types of Farming in Puerto Rico, published by the author in collaboration with J. E. McCord and Jorge J. Serralles.

tropics are usually visualized as just one type of region: hot and Usually this generalization is misPuerto Rico, although wholly in

humid lands lying to the south. leading and far from the truth. the tropics, has more than one type of "ecumene" of natural environment.

Topography

The topography of Puerto Rico is characterized by a central mountainous core surrounded by coastal plains of varying widths, but most of them narrow. Although not over 4,400 feet in height, the mountains of Puerto Rico exert their influence on the climate, soils, and land use. They constitute the most important factor causing diversity in the island's environment and the use of the land. Puerto Rico can be divided into several topographic regions. In the north there is an extensive coastal section formed by alluvial deposits to the east, and limestones to the west and the interior. The coastal plain is level only in a few places close to the shoreline. Towards the interior, where limestone rocks appear on the surface, the topography of this section becomes more rugged. The presence of the "haystack hills"-remnants of solution dotting the region-makes cultivation difficult. These conical-shaped hills, 25 to 300 feet in height, are too stony to allow any plowing. Most of them are covered by brush or stony pasture.

The central piedmont and mountainous region of Puerto Rico is the most extensive of all, covering more than half of the area. The greatest relief is attained in the Cordillera Central and in its prolongation the Sierra de Cayey, rows of monadnock peaks, 2,000 to 4,400 feet high, to the south central portion of the island. The region has been quite eroded by the streams flowing towards the north, east, and west. There are few level areas which can be called plains. Only in a few spots do remnants of the Miocene and Pliocene peneplains provide some rolling lands as near Aibonito and Aguas Buenas. Exception has to be made, also, of the wide interior valleys of Caguas, Cayey, Utuado, and Jayuya, where the granitoid rocks were so easily eroded that fair-sized plains were carved out of the mountainous region.

Towards the south of the monadnock peaks lies the southern coastal section. From Patillas to Boquerón there are plains almost as extensive as those on the northern coast, but far more level. There are some limestone and shale hills to the west interrupting the general evenness and, as the "Haystack" hills of the north, their economic utilization is limited to cutting the scrubby woodland or using the scanty and stony pasture.

Fan-shaped valleys on the eastern and western ends of the island round up the topography. They are widely used for sugar-cane cultivation.

Climate

The temperatures recorded in the island show that Puerto Rico's climate is tropical with marine influence. Annual averages for coastal stations vary from 80° Fahrenheit to 76° Fahrenheit. In the interior altitude accounts for a subtropical climate of milder temperatures. The tierra templada, or subtropical zone, appears at elevations of 1,000 feet. In this zone annual averages for typical stations fluctuate from 74° Fahrenheit to 68° Fahrenheit. To those living in temperate regions the slight difference of 10° Fahrenheit, or less, between coastal and mountain stations would seem unimportant. Yet, the effect on crops and life in general is not only noticeable, but vital. The subtropical zone (1,000 to 4,400 feet) is the land of coffee, where it produces most berries and those of best quality. The mild temperatures of the highlands are also a factor in influencing the high quality of the tobacco leaves produced near Aibonito and Cayey.

Rainfall is even more important in the distribution of crop production. There is a great diversity in rainfall averages throughout the island. The rainfall varies from 145 inches in the Luquillo Mountains of the northeast to 26 inches in the southwest. A master's thesis, prepared in 1934 at Clark University by Miss Margaret Howarth, divides the island into eleven climatic regions, based principally on rainfall totals and the distribution throughout the year. In general, Puerto Rico is well watered except in three distinct regions:

1. In the southern coastal plain extending from Patillas to Boquerón. Rainfall averages are less than 50 inches and the variability is large. With high evaporation this amount is not enough for profitable sugar-cane production. This crop requires at least 60 inches in normal soils. So irrigational works have been constructed by the Insular Government and private individuals. Several dams were constructed to use the small southflowing streams such as the Coamo and Oatillas. More important still, tributaries of two north-flowing rivers (the Toro Negro and La Plata) were diverted towards the water-starved lands of the southern coastal section. At present, at least 20,000 acres, all of them planted in sugar cane, are receiving 48 inches of water annually from the Insular Irrigation System. In addition, sugar growers have established pumping stations with the aim of extending production to adjacent lands not benefited by the Insular Service, or even of supplementing the latter in the irrigated lands.

2. The northwestern corner of the island, although north of the divide, is another drought-plagued land. As it is flat to rolling elevated coastal plain, the drying trade winds sweep over the surface, preventing convectional rains. Only 51 inches of rain as an annual average fall in this district. It is thus under the 60-inch margin needed by sugar cane. Not only is rainfall deficient and irregular, but the drought menace is further increased by the extreme porosity of the soils. The underground drainage in this limestone country is so perfect that after a heavy shower little water can be seen on the surface. Irrigation has been brought to this section too. The Guajataca River is furnishing the water used by the 6,000 acres actually irrigated in the Isabella District of northwestern Puerto Rico. Sugar cane has followed the footsteps of irrigation, and its average acreage has increased greatly in this section where food crops were once dominant. Irrigation has increased production of sugar cane from 16 to 30 tons per acre but still not to such an extent as in the southern coast.

3. The third area suffering from rainfall deficiency at times is the Cayey Valley, where annual rainfall averages only 52 inches. Fluctuations from year to year constitute the greatest hazard. In general, there are two rainfall seasons in the whole island. A long rainy period from May to December; and a short winter and early spring, dry or less rainy period. Seasonal variability of rainfall is thus present. In the harvesting of sugar cane, tobacco, and cotton, the dry winter is greatly needed to increase the value of the crop and aid the operations in the field. The south coast, especially, shows a marked dry season during this time of the year.

In discussing the Puerto Rican climate in relation to agriculture, word has to be said about its greatest scourge: the hurricane. Puerto Rico is in the path of the Caribbean hurricanes, affecting the area at the end of the summer and in autumn. Hurricane winds blowing sometimes at a velocity of 200 miles an hour create havoc with all crops. Especially tree crops suffer the most. The coffee, citrus fruits, and cocoanut industries were deeply affected by the last hurricanes of 1928 and 1933. None of these industries have fully recuperated from the terrific damages they suffered. Sugar cane, Puerto Rico's main industry, also is affected to a less extent. The harvest after each hurricane is considerably below normal.

Soils

This element of the geographical environment is of course very important in relation to agriculture. Unfortunately, soil survey of Puerto Rico has not been completed yet. Nevertheless, we can gen