Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
cultivation in 1927.
45
By the early 1930s, the company had twenty-three
farms along the Black River in addition to forty properties that stretched
along the southeast bank of the Aguán River for dozens of kilometers.
46
Alltold,theTruxilloRailroadCompanycontrollednearly70,000hectares
of land in Colón.
47
TheactivitiesofUnitedFruit'stwoprincipalcompetitorsinHonduras
wrought similar environmental transformations. The landscape through
which the Cuyamel Fruit Company's railroad passed was similar to that
found around Tela. Departing from the port of Omoa, the railroad passed
through many wetlands and mangroves where the herbaceous gamolita,
wild sugar cane, bamboo, and plantains mixed with several varieties of
swamp plants.
48
In better-drained alluvial soils, numerous ''large trees''
grew in addition to ''many dense bamboo forests.''
49
In 1913, the company
had 27 kilometers of railroad built and another 23 under construction.
50
By1920,thereweresome6,900hectaresof bananasinOmoa;aHonduran
ocial reported that both the fruit company and non-company growers
had cleared ''large areas'' of forest in order to establish farms.
51
Around this same time, Sam Zemurray secured a highlycontroversial
concession to administer the National Railroad that ran from Puerto Cor-
tés to a point south of San Pedro Sula.
52
Shortly thereafter, he directed the
constructionof branchraillinesthatservicedseveralexportbananazones
in the Sula valley.
53
Between 1920 and 1925, banana exports from Puerto
Cortés increased steadily from 2.3 million to 5.1 million bunches.
54
One
observer attributed the trend to both the ''clearing and planting of virgin
acres'' and the conversion of preexisting cropland to banana farms.
55
In
1927CuyamelFruitobtainedtherighttoconstructirrigationsystemspro-
vided that they did not disrupt river transportation and that waterways
werereturnedtotheir''naturalcourses.''Surfacewaterusewastaxedatthe
annual rate of one dollar per hectare; groundwater could be tapped tax-
free.By1930,thecompanyanditssubsidiarieshadnearly6,300hectaresof
land under irrigation. Zemurray's companies also constructed spillways
and canals in order ''to encourage flood overflows'' intowetlands in order
to build up layers of silt that over time would form arable soils.
56
InthedepartmentofAtlántida,theVaccaroBrothers(StandardFruit)
oversaw the construction of 155 kilometers of railroad between 1910 and
1915.
57
The company's main line proceeded west from La Ceiba, across
the narrow coastal plain, and into the Leán River valley. One observer
described the landscape through which the railroad passed as ''luxuriant
forests well suited for the cultivation of bananas and other crops.''
58
The
expansion of the railroad led to a concomitant rise in exports, from 2.7
