Guatemala, the country of the future

by Charles M. Pepper

In 1890 Guatemala was producing barely enough sugar for its own consumption. In 1904 it exported 6,000,000 pounds to the United States. New Orleans is the nearest market, though shipments also may be made to Brooklyn. The product consists of white loaf sugar, panela or coarse brown cakes, from which the cane rum is made, miel or molasses, and mascabado, or inferior grades. The sugar cane is of excellent quality and the production is abundant, especially along the hot coast districts. The departments of Escuintla, Amatitlan, and Baja Verapaz are the districts in which the largest areas are under cultivation. As a rule the small sugar mills are crude and modern machinery has not been introduced to a great extent, although the largest plantations are already supplied with the latest improvements. With the introduction on a larger scale of modern machinery and the latest processes the sugar industry would be certain to afford satisfactory profits.

Cacao of a very high quality is produced in Guatemala and the native article commands much higher prices than that produced in other countries and brought to Guatemala for sale. The productive regions are the tierras calientes or hot coast lands. The principal cacao producing districts are Escuintla, Suchitepequez, Solola, and Retalhuleu. The bean is most productive at an altitude of 800 to 2,000 feet. In some cases the shrub produces a pound of beans every four months and after reaching maturity it is said to produce without interruption for one hundred years.

Notwithstanding the superior quality of the Guatemala cacao the industry has not been carried on systematically, possibly because five or six years are required to secure the first crop. In the last year the total output was only 34,000 pounds, but the steady demand for cacao and the certainty of good prices justifies the investment of capital which can await five or six years for the first returns. The gathering of the cacao beans requires very little machinery and few laborers. Chiefly care must be taken not to hurt the bean or almond when breaking the fruit wherein they are contained. One day of fermentation must then be given to them, after which they remain exposed to the sun for six or eight days, when they are ready to be sent to the market.

One of the most profitable of future industries in Guatemala undoubtedly is that of banana culture. There are vast productive regions on the Atlantic slope and these are certain to be cultivated since the building of the Northern Railway insures opening up the lands by giving access to the New Orleans market within the time that is necessary for gathering and shipping the fruit. The annual production is now about 800,000 bunches, of which one-half are consumed at home and the balance shipped to the United States. It is estimated that within a year after the Northern Railway is completed the shipments to the United States will exceed 750,000 bunches per annum and will soon amount to 1,000,000 bunches.

Tobacco is produced in a number of districts and there is much suitable soil for it, but up to this time it has been raised only for local consumption. Rice is also produced in the hot coast lands. Cotton is grown and experiments have shown that the Sea Island cotton thrives in Guatemala.

Rubber Cultivation an Inviting Field.

For investments of capital that is willing to wait returns there is no more inviting field than the cultivation of india rubber, which grows wild in Guatemala. Each year the demand for rubber increases and the price rises. The coast regions where the wild tree flourishes are especially adapted to the cultivation of the product. The subject has been given very careful attention by the Guatemalan government, which caused investigation to be made by scientists who were familiar with the native agriculture. The result of these investigations has been published from time to time.

The wild gum tree is tall with smooth greenish white bark. The milk which is the mercantile product is contained principally in the fibres which are attached to the woody portion of the tree between it and the bark. The milk contains about 60% of water and other substances, while the remaining 40% represents the salable product. The climate most appropriate for the growth of the rubber tree is that of the hot coast lands at an altitude not exceeding 1,500 feet. The yield of the cultivated rubber trees has been estimated as high as three pounds yearly from the sixth year, but the best authorities do not think that the trees should be tapped before the ninth year and then the grower should be satisfied with an annual yield of two and a half to three pounds of milk, which will insure one pound of rubber.

An estimate of the cost and probable yield of a rubber plantation as made by Señor Horta, a leading authority, was that a plantation of 100,000 trees would require ten caballerias (about 1,100 to 1,200 acres), and would have cost after ten years about one dollar per tree. This expense could in part be met by secondary cultivation. According to the calculations one crop after ten years should produce double the amount expended in that time.

The government encourages the cultivation of rubber, a decree having been issued in 1899 which provided that for every 20,000 rubber plants of four years of age and planted after the date of the decree the owner should receive one caballeria (112 acres) of uncultivated national land. The government, however, does not endorse nor recommend the promotion of rubber plantations by stock companies which seek chiefly to sell the stock among small investors in the United States. All such schemes should be carefully investigated before the shares are bought and the leading facts in regard to rubber production, including the necessity of a period of at least ten years for the successful development of a plantation, should be kept in mind.