The greater or less elevation of the land has likewise produced different agricultural zones: the lower plains of the southern coast are favored for sugar planting; the slightly higher lands are given over to cacao and coffee, and the highest part of the country, the mountain region, is covered with timber. Broad savannas are a feature of the southern portion of the Republic; on the plains to the east of Santo Domingo City, all the way to the ocean, there are great seas of grass, like the prairies of the United States, with large islands of trees, while to the west they constitute lakes in a continent of forest.
All tropical fruits grow in profusion and many vegetables, fruits and cereals indigenous to countries of the temperate zone are successfully grown. Practically all the vegetables and fruits, as well as the grains and staples of the Middle States of the American Union may be produced, especially in the higher portion of the island. The fact that raspberries and delicious grapes grow wild in the highland indicates the possibilities of fruit culture. With a view to encouraging agriculture the various provinces for years had "boards of development" paid from national funds, but the positions on these boards were regarded as political plums, and while the members drew their salaries, no other result of their activities was apparent. The government has also made spasmodic attempts to establish an agricultural experiment station, but with its limited resources nothing tangible has been accomplished. The establishment and extension of large sugar estates was stimulated by a law of agricultural franchises, enacted in 1911, granting excessively broad privileges and exemptions to sugar, cacao and coffee plantations which registered under that law.
The table on the opposite page shows the quantity and value of the principal exports of the Dominican Republic since 1913 and is the best illustration of the fact that agriculture is the mainstay of the country.
1913 1914 1915 1916 Sugar (raw) kilos[1] 78,849,465 101,428,847 102,800,551 122,642,514 value $3,650,556 $4,943,452 $7,676,383 $12,028,297 Cacao kilos 19,470,827 20,744,517 20,223,023 21,053,305 value $4,119,955 $3,896,489 $4,863,754 $5,958,669 Tobacco leaf kilos 9,790,398 3,705,549 6,235,409 7,925,151 value $1,121,775 $394,224 $972,896 $1,433,323 Coffee kilos 1,048,922 1,831,938 2,468,435 1,731,718 value $257,076 $345,579 $458,431 $316,827 Hides and kilos 541,154 685,042 638,020 616,446 skins value $241,072 $253,832 $270,356 $334,665 Sugar cane value -- $62,585 $195,782 $295,622 Bananas bunches 592,804 114,142 327,169 348,560 value $296,368 $57,044 $166,432 $172,615 Beeswax and honey value $206,749 $207,290 $144,579 $176,144 Molasses kilos 12,064,038 17,962,441 15,484,205 18,752,440 value $60,737 $93,787 $100,023 $120,738 Forest value $167,037 $66,464 $64,368 $57,250 products Cotton kilos 242,221 167,123 141,623 91,258 value $85,398 $67,830 $60,600 $31,759 All other value $263,224 $200,211 $240,457 $601,964 exports ------------------------------------------------ Total value $10,469,947 $10,588,787 $15,209,061 $21,527,873