Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
figure 5.2.A''standard''six-roomlaborcampintheSulaValley(1924).Notethe
abundanceofornamentalplants.UnitedFruitCompanyPhotographCollection.Baker
Library,HarvardBusinessSchool.
landing (and losing) a plantation job
Between March and September 1928, the Truxillo Railroad Company
rananoticeinElOlanchano,aJuticalpa,Olancho-basednewspaper,seek-
ing 500 workers for ''railroad building, forest clearing, ditching, planting''
and other jobs in the Black River district of Colón.
3
Another company
advertisement in the same paper promoted jobs for up to 1,000 workers
in the Sico River valley. Potential workers were enticed by offers of free
medical service and rail transportation from Olanchito. In 1929, the edi-
torsofElOlanchanoreferredtotheconstantmovementofpeoplebetween
the North Coast and Olancho as a ''local fever.''
4
The paper lamented that
workersoftenreturnedtothehighlandswithlittlemorethanacaseofma-
laria to show for their efforts. After recuperating for a spell, many people,
''bored and without occupation,'' returned to the North Coast and ''its
vices.'' Although the editorial's image of the ''unhappy and futile'' lives
led by banana workers was incomplete, it effectively captured the ''push-
pull'' factors that drove the migrations: temporary jobs created by the
fruit companies' expanding operations attracted unemployed and under-
employed people from near and far. The remark about the ''vices'' found
