-AGRICULTURE. Costa Rica is essentially an agricultural country. and is chiefly dependent on the cultivation of coffee. Notwithstanding the sparse population of the country- and the lack of transportation facilities, agriculture is in a flourishing condition, as evidenced by the constantly increasing exports of agricultural products. This state of affairs is due partly to the fertility of the soil and favorable climatic conditions, and particularly to the fact that the larger part of the land is held by the State, which rents or sells it in small tracts on very advantageous terms, in some cases distributing it gratuitously, in lots not exceeding 500 hectares (1235 acres). As a result of this policy almost every inhabitant of Costa Rica is a landholder. The cultivation of coffee has been steadily increasing and will undoubt edly show a greater growth in the future, as a result of the law passed in 1901 abolishing the export duty on that article. According to
the census of 1892, there were in Costa Rica S366 coffee plantations. with an annual output of over 38,000,000 pounds. In 1894. 23.129,000 pounds of coffee were exported ; in 1898, over 43,000,000 pounds; in 1901, over 36,000,000 pounds. Next to coffee, bananas form the most important agricultural product. The develop ment of banana-growing has also been rapid, as seen from the export figures. Thus in 1SSI there were exported only about 3500 bunches; by 1890 the exports increased to 1,034, 765 hunches; while in 190] they amounted to 3,870.000 bunches. Besides coffee and bananas, there are raised sugar, cacao, rice, and corn, but none of them is exported to any extent. Stock raising is carried on quite extensively, and the forests are exploited on a steadily increasing scale.