Grasslands in Puerto Rico

FARMING ON A TROPICAL ISLAND

Ray C. Roberts

PUERTO RICO viewed from the air looms up like a big deflated balloon. The wrinkled mountainous interior of this tiny tropical island has been faulted and tilted by earthquakes, serrated and dissected by thousands of rivulets, and scarred by hurricanes a striking contrast with the level alluvial flood plains along the coast and the rounded grass-covered hills of the and southwestern part.

Puerto Rico, which is a little smaller than Connecticut, is about 1,200 miles north of the Equator and nearly 1,400 miles southeast of New York City. Its tropical, uniform temperature, which ranges from a mean of about 68 F. in the mountains in the winter to a mean of about 820 in the lowlands in the summer, gives it a yearlong growing season. Nearly ideal conditions exist for a heavy rainfall over most of its surface, because the moisture-laden northeast trade winds from the warm waters of the Atlantic fan the island almost all day. The annual rainfall, however, ranges from about 25 inches along the southwestern coast to more than 200 inches in the high mountains. The sudden change in rainfall is reflected so much in the native vegetation that in a distance of a few miles and a descent of a few hundred feet one may pass from the luxuriant tropical rain forest to desert shrubs.

According to El Libro de Puerto Rico, the first introduction of livestock into Puerto Rico was in 1502 when Yanez, one of Columbus' captains, brought in a few goats and some hogs. About 10 years later Ponce de Leon brought a few head of cattle and horses from Santo Domingo. In 1534, stallions descended from Arabian stock were imported from Andalucia. Sometime during the 15th century guineagrass was introduced from Africa. This drought-resistant, nutritious grass, an exceedingly important one in Puerto Rico, is planted mostly in the more and regions; the malojillo grass, which was imported from South America, grows in the wet sites. These palatable grasses insured an abundant, nutritious forage all year long, and the numbers of livestock increased rapidly.

The Soil Survey of Puerto Rico states that during the middle of the 18th century some of the fine horses from Yabucoa Valley were sold for $1,000 each. Most of the horses at that time were similar to the ones now used in the island. They are small, wiry, hackney-gaited, sure-footed. They are used principally for carrying large packs of bananas, charcoal, coffee, and other products down the steep, rocky, narrow, mountain trails and slippery, muddy roads to town to return laden with beans, fish, rice, and other articles of food for the numerous small stores along the trails and roads of the interior. Very seldom are horses used for draft purposes, although hundreds may be seen that have two large wicker baskets fastened to a harnesslike saddle. Livestock, such as pigs, chickens, and turkeys, and all kinds of crops, are transported to market in the baskets. The number of horses has declined since 1910 to 16,239 in 1940.

Cattle are the most important livestock raised. There were 299,734 head in the island in 1940. R. P. Steddom in A Report Concerning the Cattle of Porto Rico estimated the number at 500,000 in 1899. Since 1906 few cattle have been exported, chiefly because the island has had increasing demands for cattle from the expansion of the sugarcane industry, which requires many work oxen, and the increasing population, which needs more beef animals for food. The number of cattle produced has declined, partly because hundreds of acres of level, fertile grassland along the and and the semiarid southern coast formerly all in cattle ranches are now in sugarcane.

Grass still occupies most of the hills along the and south coast, as well as many of the steep hills, which have very shallow soils. The cattle of Puerto Rico have been selected for draft purposes for such a long time that they are docile, powerful, large-boned, thick-skinned animals with short hair, wide-spreading horns, and thick polls. Practically all have horns and nearly all the oxen used on the main roads are shod. They pull heavy, two-wheeled carts, plows, and other implements. The cattle are either native or crosses of Brahman, or zebu, on native stock. Most of the ranchers have some zebu and some native stock. For draft purposes, many of the progressive ranchers recommend crosses of one-third zebu and two-thirds native stock.