Show aoee IN FOREIGN LANDS INTERESTING INFORMATION BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS EFFORT TO RECLAIM LAND Important National Movement Begun In PortugalNatural Advantages Awaiting Development In Mexican State T LISBON PORTUGAL Portugal has started In on a system sys-tem of land reclamation which If as successful as It promises to be must result In similar movements In various vari-ous parts of Europe In tho south of Portugal a serious attempt Is being made with some chance of success to bring back Into cultivation a largo tract of land This country being essentially agrl cnltural any steps to reclaim land I that has gone out of cultivation estimated esti-mated at 4314000 hectares about 10000000 acres or 44 per cent of tho total area of Portugal aro a move In tho right direction Somo energetic members of society In the district of Sorpa in combination combina-tion with tho municipal authorities havo sot to work upon 100000 acres dividing It up into allotments of 15 acres each and letting It at a nominal rent calculated according to the estimated es-timated value of the land which has as it wore four classifications tho highest quit rent being placed at 320 and tho lowest at 40 cents per allotment free of local rates and taxes for ten years Quito a heterogeneous mixture of settlors has already taken possession of their tenements Carpenters masons doctors chemists barbers seamstresses tailors and oven beggars beg-gars figure In tho list v One of the chief dlfllcultles to bo overcome before making tho allotments allot-ments was to deal with tho proprietary proprie-tary rights of beo keepers who centuries cen-turies ago had certain privileges conferred con-ferred upon them whereby they did a thriving trade In honey and wax This trade has In later times diminished dimin-ished owing to tho destruction of the floral produce of the land chiefly by firing when portions thereof were cleared for wheat and other cereals Matters have been amicably settled for the bee keepers and the embryo agriculturists The success of tho scheme as far as it has gone has stirred tho ambition of the residents resi-dents in a large part of the north of Portugal where a project on similar lines is being set on foot to bring back into cultivation something like half a million acres acresR R U KINCIIANT BAD TEETH OF SCHOOL CHILDREN CHIL-DREN FRANKFORT GERMANY Tho result of an examination of tho teeth of the pupils of a school at Hochheldo is very suggestive Of the 1020 children examined 482 wero boys and 538 girls The boys had 12S2G defective teeth and only 211G sound ones Only 19 of the boys had perfectly per-fectly sound sets of teeth 397 sets were unfit for chewing food with 192 boys disturbances in their general condition were observed duo to decayed de-cayed teeth Of tho teeth of the girls 15747 wero found defective and only 931 sound Only 16 girls had perfect sets of teeth 205 girls were suffering in their general condition inconsequence in-consequence of decayed teeth The total result showed that 90 percent per-cent of all the teeth examined wero defective only 35 out of 1020 children chil-dren had sound sets of teeth In 396 children a poor bodily constitution was duo to poor teeth Tho result shows that carles or decay of the teeth has extremely noxious consequences conse-quences niCIIAIlD GUENTHEIl RESOURCEFUL MEXICAN STATE JALAPA MEXICO This region Is rich In resources and full of promise The State of Veracruz is now at great interest to foreigners and will bo for years to come It includes both temperate and tropical zones and extends from tho gulf coast to a mountain elevation of 10000 feet Thus soil and cllmato aro varied The markets of Jalapa 4600 fee high havo in season apples peaches pars quinces plums grapes ages lemons figs melons etc of temperate zone and mangos e9 chlrlmollas papayas bread cocoanuts nanchos pineapples otc of tho tropics ap suggests tho ease and railroad extension The sug h gusted Mexican link in tho PirnAmor Icon system will doubtless bo under i construction soon It win bo built a few miles back from the coast along ho foothills tapping fertile and well I populated valleys extending back Into tho sierras opening and settling a most healthful and delightful ro I glott Tho state lacks many things liat aro prime necessities elsewhere Thero is need of good roads and city improvement crusades In many sec Ions carriages two or four wheeled iro unknown Enterprising automobile automo-bile builders are eager to supply this territory It would be much to tho point If they would combine and In mgurato a goodroads movement thus creating a recognizable demand It Is hard to convince the natives that hero Is any Improvement over tho saddle for pleasure or tho burro or argadoro porter for business Yet It IB a beautiful state rich In Its possessions pos-sessions and possibilities It needs no booming it does ncod capital J 11 IUCHAHDSON PLANTATIONS IN SAMOA SAMOA APIA land suitable for planting can bo leased hero from natives from 25 tc 75 cents per annum The area of frcc hold land Is limited and tho cost varies from 10 to 20 per acre clearIng clear-Ing expenses running up to 14 Tho cost of planting cocoanuts and bringIng bring-Ing them up to the eighth year when a return can be expected is 135 pet acre The cost for cacao plantations until the sixth year runs from II 0 to 175 per acre and rubber 150 to 1C5 Vanilla does not pay to fertilize In Samoa most of tho land neat ho water front is owned by tho na lives and Is studded thickly with cocoanut palms planted without order or-der or system They extend back from the coast for miles to an elevation eleva-tion not exceeding COO feet and In such proximity to tho coast that the palms get tho benefit of the moisture carried by the trade winds from the sea In plantation systems tho trees aro placed 20 to 30 feet apart The average yield per acre Is from 700 to 1000 pounds though 1200 to 1400 pounds Is not an uncommon yield L The large planters use the notair system for drying copra and copra thus treated can be used for confectionery confec-tionery purposes Tho averago price of copra in Apia during 1905 was 6750 per ton delivered f o b ship GEORGE HDIMROD COOPERATIVE FARMING h 4 SEVILLE SPAIN Cooperative farming associations In Germany are Interesting tho Spanish people At tho close of 1905 17162 cooperative coopera-tive farming associations existed In tho German empire comprising a I membership of over 1000000 farmers farm-ers 16230 of the above number of I associations wore confederated Out I of the 9411 associations operating In Prussia 6059 facilitated credits to farmers 776 attended to tho supply and demand and 1728 to dairying In Bavaria 2613 of the 3294 assocla work to furnish lions dedicated their I ing credits to agricultural undertakings undertak-ings 234 to supply and demand 247 to dairying and 200 to various other purposes all howovor fostering mutual assistance to husbandmen and thus redounding to their benefit The cooperative associations of credit expend loans amounting to on tho average from 71410000 to 73 340000 annually In 1905 the cooperative coopera-tive bodies for the creation of demand purchased fertilizers forage seed coal and other Items amounting to 12062500 On tho other hand tho centers of supply and dairying which In a comparatively short tlmo have entered a career of great prosperity realized over 965000 on their transactions trans-actions CHARLES KARMINSKt |