Harvey Baum A Study of the

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HARVEY BAUM
 H A R V E Y BAUM
A Study of the
Agricultural Revolution
BY

EDWARD SHERWOOD MEAD, PH.D.

Professor of Finance
University of Pennsylvania
AND

BERNHARD OSTROLENK, PH.D.

Director of the National Farm School
DoyUstovon, Pennsylvania
1918-1927

Philadelphia
U N I V E R S I T Y OF P E N N S Y L V A N I A PRESS

London
HUMPHREY MILFORD : OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

1928
 Copyright 1928 by the
University of Pennsylvania Press

Printed in the United Stotel of America

 PREFACE

F
ROM 1912 to 1927 I was the proprietor of a farm
in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. This farm was
purchased as a home for a growing family. The
undertaking was, from this standpoint, successful. As a
farm proposition, however, in spite of a substantial in-
vestment and efficient labor, measured by neighborhood
standards, the enterprise left much to be desired. In
fact, both during the period of owner's operation and of
tenancy (eight years for the owner and seven years for
the tenants) the farm enterprise showed a substantial
loss, both to owner and tenants.
In casting about for an explanation of this situation,
which was general throughout the countryside, I came
in contact with the operations of the National Farm
School at Doylestown, Pennsylvania, which, for ten
years, had been conducted by my present colleague, Dr.
Bernhard Ostrolenk, as a combination agricultural and
educational institution. In connection with the school,
about 800 acres of land is maintained in a high state of
cultivation, the work being done by the students. A
heavy investment has been made in buildings, ma-
chinery and equipment, and improved livestock. In
spite of the handicap of working with unskilled city
boys, the results obtained on these Farm School lands
averaged more than double the average showing which
could be made by the farmers of the neighborhood. The
explanation of this remarkable success was found in the
fact that the operations of the Farm School embodied in
practice the principles of scientific agriculture, drawn
from all available sources, and utilized with ample
capital and skilled planning and supervision.
The present volume on the agricultural revolution is
an outgrowth of numerous conversations with Dr. Ostro-
lenk, as to the reasons for his conspicuous success com-
pared with the conspicuous failures of his neighbors. It
is due to Dr. Ostrolenk to credit him with the accumu-
lation of the material which was drawn upon in the
preparation of this book, together with his assistance in
its compilation.
I am glad to acknowledge my indebtedness to my col-
leagues, Dr. Karl Scholz and Dr. Lincoln W. Hall, of
the Wharton School, as well as to my daughter, Dr.
Margaret Mead, of the American Museum of Natural
History, of New York, Ν. Y., for valuable criticisms
and suggestions in the preparation of this book.
E. S. MEAD.

Philadelphia, June 12, 1928.

 CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I A S U C C E S S F U L FARMER 9

II T H E P L I G H T O F T H E AMERICAN FARMER 17

III T H E A V E R A G E FARMER AND T H E BUSINESS FARMER 25

IV U N I T COSTS I N A G R I C U L T U R E 45

V W H Y FARM PRICES REMAIN LOW 66

VI T H E PARADOX O F S C I E N T I F I C A G R I C U L T U R E 92

VII P O L I T I C A L AND C O - O P E R A T I V E FARM R E L I E F ΙΟΙ

VIII T H E COST O F FARM R E L I E F 124

IX T H E F U T I L I T Y O F FARM R E L I E F I39
 CHAPTER I

A SUCCESSFUL FARMER

N Hilltown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, lives H a r -

I vey Baum, a small farmer, fifty-eight years of age.

H e owns a seventy-acre farm of average fertility,
overlooking the Neshaminy Valley. This farm he bought
fourteen years ago, making a small cash payment and
carrying a large mortgage. H e raised a family of seven
children, who toiled with him, helped him in caring for
a few cows and poultry, growing the usual crops of corn,
wheat, hay and potatoes. Potatoes were his cash crop.
Because he was thrifty and industrious, and had small
expense for the labor performed by his boys, he man-
aged to get along.
His yield of potatoes was close to the average of the
State, running between 100 and 125 bushels to the acre.
H e showed more intelligence than the average potato
grower, however, by selling his crop direct to nearby
groceries at a higher price than if he had sold it on the
railroad siding.
At this time Harvey Baum kept no books. From fig-
ures furnished by the Department of Agriculture-, we
learn that farmers in his situation, growing his average
of crops and securing his prices, made 4 p e r cent in-
terest on capital invested, in addition to $300 to $500
9
 HARVEY BAUM

annual return for their labor. Mr. Baum was close to the
average. His principal cash crop, potatoes, before his
conversion to the methods of scientific agriculture, cost
him about $80 per acre to grow. H e sold his product for
as high as $142 per acre in 1920, and as low as $81 in
1922. His profit, therefore, varied from nothing to $60
per acre. Taking his best profit in 1920, on his three
acres of potatoes, he made $ 180.
The years 1922 and 1923 were disastrous. His boys,
by this time, had left the farm, one to work on the rail-
road, one in a factory, one in a garage, and the fourth
in a bank, all well-paid occupations. Mr. Baum had se-
cured average yields, a little better than average prices,
and no profits. His labor had been without reward; the
departure of his boys had made it necessary to hire help
for harvesting, thus further decreasing his income; he
was 54 years old; he had farmed all his life, and could
show little as a reward for his labor. H e was a typical rep-
resentative of his class, sober, industrious, a good farmer,
a good citizen, a good neighbor, a good husband and
father; he was typical of millions of other farmers, epit-
omizing in his experience and present situation the Amer-
ican farmer.
In 1923, Mr. Baum attended the annual Farm Bureau
meeting at Doylestown, the county seat. H e heard the
usual addresses by the experts of Pennsylvania State Col-
lege on the methods of profitable farming. There are
few subjects on which there exists such a wealth of in-
formation as on farming, and there are few departments
10
 A SUCCESSFUL FARMER
of industry on which valuable information is so com-
pletely ignored. Farmers listen to these lectures, but they
make no practical application of the information pre-
sented. A point here or there, dramatically expressed,
may make an impression, but the programs of profitable
crop growing, outlined by the speakers, are not followed.
In 1923, the address on potato growing was delivered
by Professor E. L. Nixon, of State College. There was
nothing unusual in his address. It has been delivered by
speakers all over the potato-growing country. Professor
Nixon outlined the requirements for growing a good
potato crop—"good seed, proper soil, regular spraying,
and potato mentality." Whether it was due to the clear
presentation, or a change in his mental attitude, Mr.
Baum was converted. A new vision was opened to him.
H e came out of that meeting determined to give the
program a trial. Once he had made up his mind, he
began his preparations for the 1924 crop with thorough
fidelity to directions.
Mr. Baum selected a clover sod, plowed it in the fall,
and manured it heavily during the winter. There was
something of the missionary in his makeup, for he per-
suaded twelve of his neighbors to co-operate in dividing
the cost of a carload of certified Michigan Russet potato
seed, which cost $3.85 per bushel. This was nearly four
times the wholesale price of potatoes at that time. In
former years, he and his neighbors had taken their pota-
to seed from their own bins. H e also persuaded his
11
 HARVEY BAUM
temporary associates to share the cost of a $220 potato
sprayer.
T h e following spring, he continued the preparation
of his seed bed with unusual care; harrowed it several
times, and planted his potatoes as directed, early in May,
in rows thirty inches apart, and twelve inches between
plantings. H e applied a home mixed fertilizer, contain-
ing 12 per cent phosphoric acid and 5 per cent potash,
using 1500 pounds per acre, four times the amount gen-
erally considered liberal. In former years, he had pur-
chased, in common with his neighbors, the synthetic ferti-
lizers which are soldunder alluring names,such as"Potato
Wonder" and "Big Yield," but whose contents fell short
of requirements. Mr. Baum was no gambler. H e did not
anticipate his good fortune. H e planted only his cus-
tomary three acres. M r . Baum cultivated five times—
the usual practice being one to three—which eradicated
weeds and conserved the moisture in the soil, and he
started spraying to protect his crop from bugs and blight,
as soon as the plants showed themselves. H e continued
this spraying weekly, until well into the summer, a total
of nine sprayings. Many farmers never spray; three
sprayings is considered by most growers as extravagant.
T h e average progressive farmer is satisfied with two
sprayings.
M r . Baum's neighbors had deserted him early. H e
had broken every canon of local potato lore. The neigh-
borhood farmer usually manured in the spring, when
outdoor work was pleasant, which exposed his crop to
12
 A SUCCESSFUL FARMER
the danger of the potato scab. H e disked and dragged
the land after plowing, perhaps twice, but not five times
as Mr. Baum did. Thorough cultivation reduces weed
pests and increases yield. Mr. Baum's neighbors planted
their potatoes sometime after corn planting, early in June,
and not during the pressure of work in early May. Mr.
Baum's early planting gave an opportunity for better
root development and a more luxuriant growth. Three
dollars and eighty-five cents a bushel for seed was an ex-
travagance which Mr. Baum's associates regretted, when
they reflected that they could have purchased their seed
for less than $1.00 from their own bins. The average
farmer bought the ready mixed fertilizer from the local
vendor, instead of assembling and mixing raw phos-
phates and potash. Finally, although spraying was con-
sidered a good insurance against blight and insects, it
seemed foolish to make a religious rite of it, to keep the
growing leaves constantly covered with the home blend-
ed Bordeaux mixture.
Undisturbed by scepticism and desertions, Mr. Baum
followed directions. There was no radical change in his
other farm operations. H e carried on these as usual, but
concentrated his attention on his potato field. By the mid-
dle of July, he realized that something unusual was tak-
ing place. The green, shimmering, weedless, luxuriant
potato patch contrasted strangely with the fields of his
neighbors. His field began to attract attention. Neigh-
bors stopped, visitors came, the country agent inquired
13
 HARVEY BAUM
what had happened. Mr. Baum continued his cultiva-
tion and spraying.
When harvest came, his three acres gave 940 bushels
of first class potatoes and 100 bushels additional of sec-
onds. H e had averaged 346 bushels to the acre. The
yields of his neighbors were also exceptional, but the
largest was only 18 0 bushels, the average of the town-
ship being 150 bushels, less than half of Mr. Baum's
extraordinary yield.
The potato crop of 1924 was exceptionally good. Un-
der the pressure of liberal supply, the price for the en-
tire country dropped from a normal $1.00 in previous
years to 62 cents. Mr. Baum's neighbors had spent $121
per acre, growing 150 bushels at 62 cents, receiving $93
per acre, a loss of $29 per acre. It was a calamitous year
for the American potato grower.
Mr. Baum now made up his potato account. His item-
ized cost per acre was as follows:
Rent of land, based on $200 per acre valuation.. $10.00
Seed, 20 bushels, at $3.85 77.00
Fertilizer, 0-12-5 mixture at $17 per ton, 1500
lbs 12.75
Manure, 10 tons 20.00
Spraying nine times 3.65
Plowing, $3.00 per day, man labor; $1.50 per
day horse 3.00
Disking, rolling, harrowing 4.50
Cultivating five times 5.25
Digging 2 acres per man, per machine per day. 4.00
Picking, per acre 17.00
$157.15
14
 A SUCCESSFUL FARMER
$157.15
Machinery charge per acre—depreciation and
interest on $710 14.00
Hauling 10.00

Total Cost per Acre. $181.15»

Total Profit per Acre 140.00
M r . Baum proceeded with the same thoroughness in
producing his 1925 crop. The county agent made a care-
ful determination of his results, and reports that he se-
cured an average of 4 2 3 bushels on 51/2 acres, or a total
of 2326.50 bushels. This time the potato market was
with him. The crop over the country was short; the
price rose; he sold his crop at an average of $2.82 per
bushel, or a total of $ 6 5 6 0 . 7 3 , from which he deducted
1 It should be borne in mind that his costs had been extraordinarily

heavy. The price for potato seed had been excessive for the year, the cost
of tools was higher, since he only used them on three acres; they could have
been used on twenty acres equally well, thus cutting his tool costs to one-
sixth the amount allowed. He had allowed himself interest on his land
at S per cent, wages for himself, and his hired labor at >3.00 per day, and
the cost of his horses as though he had to hire them, a cost which fully
covered all charges of maintaining and feeding them. His $420 profit on
his three acres was profit in the fullest sense of the word, the sum remaining
as a reward for management after all expenses, including his own labor,
had been paid. It was profit in the same sense that a dividend of a cor-
poration is profit.
This feat becomes the more significant when the small investment and
acreage on which it is made are considered. Moreover it was made in a year
when it is admitted that the potato prices were fully forty per cent below
normal. With every factor of economic production against him, Mr.
Baum grew potatoes at a cost of 52 cents per bushel. With a market the
most disastrous in years, he made a clear profit, above all expenses, of
$140 per acre. By a little arithmetic, it would be easy to figure what M r .
Baum's income on ten or twenty acres would be, and the authors of this
book would promptly be called book farmers, and their attention be called
to the law of diminishing return, so dear to the hearts of economists. But
Mr. Baum eliminated all theory from what might happen if he grew larger
acreages.

15
 HARVEY BAUM
a cost of $974 for growing and marketing, yielding a
profit of $5586.73, a larger profit in one year than all
that he had made in his fourteen years of farming.
In 1926, Mr. Baum grew eight acres of potatoes, har-
vested an average of 362 bushels to an acre, sold them
at $2.10 per bushel, and made a net profit of $3785.60.
In 1927, Mr. Baum grew 15 acres of potatoes, har-
vested 6140 bushels, or 409 bushels to the acre, but ow-
ing to a drop in the price obtained a gross return of
$8200 with a profit of about $5000.

16
 CHAPTER II

THE P L I G H T OF T H E A M E R I C A N FARMER

'N 1926 American Agriculture was represented by the

following figures:
Gross value of farm production $ 16,316,000,00c)1
E X P E N S E S AND CHARGES:
Deductions for products
used for seed and waste. $4,236,000,000
Wages for hired labor.... 1,238,000,00ο2
Operating costs 2,987,000,000
Taxes on operator owned
investment 654,000,000
Rent on property rented
from non-operators.... 1,042,000,000
Interest on debts to non-
operators 750,000,000
Farmers' wages at $1500
per annum 9,750,000,000s
Interest on operators' in-
vestment at 5 per cent. 1,590,600,00g4

$22,247,600,000
Total Expenses and Charges $22,247,600,000

Loss $5,931,600.000
ι Crops and Markets, U.S.D.A., July, 1927, p. 2S2, Table 4.
» Crops and Markets, U.S.D.A., July, 1927, p. 254, Table 10.
' Estimated by authors, 6,500,000 farmers at $1500 per annum.
4
Current value of operators' net investment 1926-27, of $31,812,000,000
(Crops and Markets, U.S.D.A., July, 1927, p. 252, Table 6) at 5 per cent is
$1,590,600,000.

17
 HARVEY BAUM
The amount actually received for labor of farmer, his
family, and profits on his investment is $5,409,000,000."
This allows the average farmer in the United States®
$853, or allowing him interest at 4 p e r cent, the total
return for his labor, his supervision and planning, and
the labor of his family, was $627 for the fiscal year
1926-1927.
The foregoing figures are prepared as an ordinary
business statement, charging the farm with a labor out-
lay for each farmer of $1500. Fifteen hundred dollars
represents the wage of an unskilled laborer working 300
days a year at 50 cents an hour. Since the farmer works
365 days a year, $ 1500 a year gives him wages of about
$4.11 per day. After charging the farm with these wages
to himself, and $1,238,000,000 to hired labor, $2,987,-
000,000 for repairs, feed, fertilizer and replacements,
$654,000,000 for taxes, and $750,000,000 interest on
his borrowed money, and allowing him 5 per cent in-
terest on his own investments of $1,590,600,000, he
shows a loss on his year's operation of $5,931,000,000.
If we readjust these figures in the way the accounting
experts of the Department of Agriculture usually place
them, and give the farmer his actual money income, in-
stead of the very moderate wages allowed him on the
above statement, the American farmer receives an aver-
age return of $790 a year for his own labor, the work of
•Crops and Markets, U.S.D.A., July, 1927, p. 254, Table 10. Add
"Consumed on farms for family living $2,531,000,000" with "Balance
available for living expense 12,878,000,000."
• Crops and Markets, U.S.D.A., July, 1927, p. 253, Table 8.

18
 THE PLIGHT OF THE AMERICAN FARMER
managing the farm, the labor of his family, and the re-
turn on his investment j the lowest wage paid in any
major occupation; at least 30 per cent below any other
wage group, $325 less than the amount he pays his own
hired help. The American farmer is working for 15 per
cent less than the amount paid the American farm hand.
Not only is he working for this pittance, from which a
section hand, a truck driver, or a stevedore would turn
away in disgust, but he is employing in the business of
agriculture, capital (belonging to himself, exclusive of
the $17,000,000,000 which he has borrowed and on
which he is paying interest) amounting to $36,800,-
000,000. On this capital he receives no return.
T h e situation here presented is without parallel. H e r e
is the leading American industry, largest in capital in-
vested, in value of product, in importance to the general
welfare; an industry recognized as the foundation of all
other industries; which feeds and clothes the nation;
which supplies a large number of essential raw materials,
without whose orderly and continuous functioning our
national life would be impossible; and yet this su-
premely important industry pays starvation wages to the
men who run it, and gives them no return on the huge
mass of capital which they employ.
In the organic law of the United States, it is estab-
lished as a principle of public policy that capital invested
in public utilities, those "affected with a public interest,"
is entitled to "reasonable rates of return." Railway capi-
tal, for example, is entitled to 5% per cent profits. Capi-
19
 HARVEY BAUM
tal invested in other forms of public utilities—water,
gas, telephone, electric light and power—is allowed, by
decisions of Commissions and Courts, returns as high as
seven, eight and nine per cent. T h e minimum rate of in-
terest in most states, which is applied in the absence of
some lower rate fixed by contract, is 6 per cent. T h e
large industrials—manufacturing, mining and merchan-
dising companies—although not secured as to their prof-
its, as are utilities, by exclusive rights, expect and gener-
ally receive a return of over 10 per cent. Rooted in our
fundamental law, backed up by the dictates of common
sense, is the proposition that capital employed in the
production of commodities necessary to the public wel-
fare, is entitled to a reasonable return. Agriculture is the
greatest, the most important, the most essential of all
industries. Capital invested in agriculture, so far from
receiving a standard rate of return, shows no return.
T h e basis of the right of public utility companies to
"reasonable returns" is the conviction that, without this
return, money cannot be had for necessary extensions
and improvements to their properties and services; for
extension of gas mains,buildingof powerhouses andtrans-
mission lines, and construction of subways, and that, if
these additions to utility plants are not made, the public
will suffer inconvenience and loss. Not because of any
divine right of capital to a reasonable return, but because
capital is indispensable to public comfort and since, with-
out a return, capital will not be furnished, a return
is guaranteed. The nature of the guarantee is a per-
20
 T H E PLIGHT OF THE AMERICAN FARMER
mission to these natural monopolies—power, light,
transportation and water supply companies, to charge
rates high enough to yield the standard return, supple-
mented by exclusive grants to operate in their particular
fields, and with safeguards for the public against inferior
service and extortionate rates. It is to be further con-
sidered that these guaranteed profits are allowed public
utility corporations after liberal allowances for taxes, re-
pairs and renewals, a reasonable wage to employees, and
a reasonable salary to management.
T h e farmer operates an industry whose product is
vitally necessary, and there is no public control of the
prices which he may charge. If he were able to advance
wheat to $3.00 a bushel, and pork to $12.00 a hundred
pounds, no one would stop him. But because the supply-
ing of food stuffs is not a monopoly; because each one
of the six million, five hundred thousand farmers fol-
lows his own wishes as to acreage, offering price, and
time of sale, the industry with whose operations the
public welfare is most vitally concerned, is not able to
demand prices sufficient to yield any return on the in-
vestment of its owners.
T h e importance of wages that permit a modern stand-
ard of living, a standard that includes a comfortable
home, modern conveniences, a high school education
for the children, some recreation and a moderate accu-
mulation of savings, is universally accepted in the United
States. T h e doctrine of a living wage controls public
21
 HARVEY BAUM
policy, in rate and price regulation, tariff and taxation,
labor and welfare legislation.
On the farms of the United States is a group of
workers, admittedly the most important in the country,
men who must have skill to perform their work, men
who are not employed in gangs with a foreman, but
where each for himself furnishes the driving force that
sends him through his daily task} men whose thrift is
invested in the industry in which they labor} and yet
this great army of workers not only receives no reward
for its investment, but sells its labor at a wage one-
half that of unskilled labor in manufacturing or mining.
This situation, considered in reference to our Na-
tional well-being, is significant and sinister. A farm
population of twenty-seven millions, considered as a
group, receives less than half the amount which is rec-
ognized as adequate to maintain a decent standard of
living. The children of these farms are denied proper
opportunities for education. These families are deprived
of proper medical attendance, proper food and clothing.
They have no opportunities for travel and recreation.
They are forced to a sub-American standard of living,
comparable to the living conditions from which our
Italian and Polish immigrants have escaped to the larg-
er opportunities of America. In their income and sur-
roundings, our farm population consists of twenty-seven
million American peasants. As they contrast their aus-
tere life and their hopeless future with the advantages
and opportunities which are possessed by city dwellers,
22
 T H E PLIGHT OF THE AMERICAN FARMER
with the fortunes of their own relatives who have es-
caped to the city, they are discontented.
On the American farm are materials for agrarian re-
volt such as are present nowhere else in the world, be-
cause in no other country are the contrasts between the
living conditions of city and country population so ex-
treme. It is unreasonable to expect that this great farm-
ing class should continue to live on a scale which is so
much lower than that of the rest of the people, with-
out demanding that its condition should be improved.
While the farmer is slow to wrath, inarticulate in the
expression of his grievances, and firmly attached, by in-
herited prejudices, to the institution of private property,
there is a point of endurance beyond which he cannot
be forced. There is a level of poverty at which, when
the condition of his family declines so far, he will rebel,
and when he revolts, through the large vote which the
farmer controls, he may do serious damage.
The farmers' representatives today are demanding
that railway rates should be reduced at the expense of
railway shareholders and railway labor. They are de-
manding that income and inheritance taxes paid by the
rich should be increased. They are demanding reduc-
tions of the tariff. They are demanding large appropria-
tions from the Federal Treasury, to be used to buy up
farm surplus and maintain a higher level of farm prices.
Taken together, the demands of the rural population
represent a serious danger to the interests of other classes.
It is no wonder that our politicians are fumbling anx-
23
 HARVEY BAUM
iously after some solution to the problem whose menac-
ing significance to the property interests of the nation
they are beginning to appreciate/
T
Exception may be taken to the comparison between living conditions in
country and city. The fanner is supposed to enjoy advantages almost
priceless: abundance of pure air, pure water, fresh fruit, eggs and vege-
tables, and cheap fuel. The city dweller has none of these things. As a
matter of fact, the farmer's advantages are limited to fresh air. His water
supply is often contaminated. So-called modern conveniences, now the
universal blessing of city life, are almost unknown in the country. Fruit
and vegetables demand an amount of time and labor which the farmer
cannot afford, at the time it must be expended. Eggs and chickens are
usually sold to apply on the store bill. Cheap fuel is wood—and this only
in the East—and wood is a very unsatisfactory fuel, requiring constant
attention. Nothing can be more desolate and cheerless than a wood-heated
house on a cold day. Farmers lack skilled medical attention and nursing
service, which are almost free in the city. The rural school does not com-
pare with the schools of cities and towns. Opportunities for social con-
tact are few. In spite of the automobile, farm dwellers suffer from the
curse of loneliness.

24
 CHAPTER III

THE AVERAGE FARMER AND T H E BUSINESS

FARMER

HE figures which show the plight of the Ameri-

T can farmer are average figures. They are the con-

solidated returns of the entire industry. This in-
dustry is carried on by six million, five hundred thou-
sand independent business men. Each one of these men
is supreme in his own little domain. H e "hires and
fires," buys and sells, plans and plants, harvests, sprays
and feeds, as seems good to him. No one can boss him,
manage him, indicate to him in any compulsory fashion
the road to high yield, good quality and good profits in
his business. These six and a half million small business
men, although their gross earnings foot up to a gigantic
total, are individually insignificant. Their farms are
small. Their employees do not equal their own number.
The average size farm 1 which they cultivate is only 145
acres, and their average investment, including the value
of land, buildings, machinery, livestock and current as-
sets, and without deducting any money which they owe
is $12,000.
Observers of business conditions agree that the small
business man, operating with a limited equipment and
1 Statistical Abstract, 1925, U.S.D.C., p. 583.

25
 HARVEY BAUM
personally conducting all departments of his business, is
fortunate to earn, in addition to a fair salary, any return
on his investment. The chief reason for his poor success
is himself; his ignorance of the requirements of his situ-
ation, his inability to keep abreast of the times, his un-
willingness to accept suggestions for improvement. Be-
cause large business is able to hire superior men who do
not labor under these disabilities, it is successful, and the
small business man in every line, by the competition of
the large concern, is being swept away. The growth of
the large chain store enterprises, manufacturing consoli-
dations, and utility holding companies, illustrate the
fact, now generally accepted, that small business cannot
succeed in competition with large business.
In agriculture we are not, as yet, faced with competi-
tion between large and small industry. It is an open
question whether the methods of large industry are ap-
plicable to agriculture. The interested attention which
must be given to crops and animals, the necessity for close
personal supervision of every detail of operation in order
to obtain the best results, may always require in farming
the "eye of the master," the interest of the owner. Big
business may never occupy the field. W e are not, how-
ever, at this time, interested in this question. Our present
concern is with the fact that in agriculture, a small mi-
nority of operators, of whom Harvey Baum is an ex-
ample, make large profits, although the majority, whose
operations are reflected in the composite statistics of
agriculture show a colossal failure. In this contrast be-
26
 AVERAGE AND BUSINESS FARMER
tween the successful few and the unsuccessful many, we
may hope to find a solution, even though a negative and
so a depressing and immediately discouraging solution
of the agricultural problem.
Everyone familiar with any rural section knows a few
farmers who are prosperous. The signs of their prosper-
ity meet the eye. Their buildings are painted; their
fences are in repair; their crops stand thick on the
ground; their fields are clean; their livestock is well-
cared for; they are known to their neighbors as pros-
perous, frequently as "lucky" farmers. Compared, how-
ever, to the total number of farmers, the successful
farmers are few. Probably not more than one in eight
can be described as prosperous. These men show in their
experience and methods, that agriculture, on our present
level of prices, is not a hopeless, decadent industry. I f
only this business is carried on with proper equipment,
and with the same energy and intelligence which wins
success everywhere, the profits of agriculture are com-
parable to the profits of any other industry. The pros-
perous farmer, indeed, considering the scale of his oper-
ation, is far better off than the small storekeeper or
mechanic.
The Department of Agriculture, in 1926, made an
investigation of the business of 15,000 farmers, and re-
ceived detailed reports from 13,475 of this number.
The average size of these farms was 315 acres; the
average amount invested was $16,380, and the gross in-

27
 HARVEY BAUM
come to the farmer, including a return for his labor and
profit on the capital which he had invested, was $ 1,113.2
The Department has prepared a classification of the
returns from which we can establish the proposition that
agriculture, when properly carried on, shows large prof-
its. The result of this classification is shown in the ac-
companying chart and in Note 3.
1926
* Number of reports 13,475
Size of farms, acres 315
Value of farm property $16,308
Net result per farm 1,113
Proportion Obtaining Per cent
>5,000 or more 2.29
3,000 to 4,999 5.59
2,500 to 2,999 3.59
2,000 to 2,499 5.46
1,500 to 1,999 9.05
1,000 to 1,499 14.09
500 to 999 22.10
Oto 499 26.43
0 to -499 8.56
-500 to -999 1.69
-1,000 or more 1.25

An examination of this table shows that 2.29 per cent

of the total, or 308 farmers earn an income of $5,000 or
morej 5.49 per cent earn from $3,000 to $5,000; and
3.59 per cent earn from $2,500 to $3,000. Out of the
total number of 13,475 farms reporting, 1,547 showed
a labor income of over $2,500. Nearly 12,000 showed a
labor income of less than $2,500.
We are not concerned at this point in our discussion
with the 12,000 remaining majority of farmers com-
» Crops and Markets, U.S.D.A, July, 1927, p. 255.
• Crops and Markets, U.S.D.A, July, 1927, p. 255, Table 12.
28
 AVERAGE AND BUSINESS FARMER

S h a d e d p o r t i o n r e p r e s e n t s p o r t i o n of f a r m e r s r e c e i v i n g less t h a n
$2,500 p e r a n n u m p e r f a r m . U n s h a d e d p o r t i o n receives o v e r $2,500
p e r a n n u m . D i v i s i o n of I n c o m e of 13,475 f a r m s .

29
 HARVEY BAUM
prised in the lowest income class. We know that their
situation, at the present level of prices, is difficult, if not
hopeless. They cannot earn living wages. Their capital
is entirely barren of profit. We are here concerned,
however, with the 1,500, or, for the entire country, a
possible 747,500 of 6,500,000, 14.47 per cent of the
total, who are successful.
These 1,500 farmers are typical of the farmers who
are earning a return on their investment and ample
wages for their labor. These successful farmers are found
in every section, in every branch of farming. They oper-
ate under the same controlling conditions that generally
obtain. Their prices are higher than the prices obtained
by their neighbors, only to the extent that the quality
of their potatoes or apples or milk is superior and their
marketing methods more efficient. Their land is the same.
They receive the same amount of rain and sunshine.
They are equally exposed to the impact of world con-
ditions, as, for example, in the fluctuations of the world's
wheat harvest. They pay the same freight rates, the
same taxes, the same rates of interest on. borrowed
money. In all respects save one, they are on the same
plane as their disconsolate neighbors, but in that one
respect lies the explanation of the farm problem and its
solution. This relatively small number of farmers carry
on their business with intelligence. They avail them-
selves of the plentiful supply of carefully tested infor-
mation which is constantly pouring out from the ex-
periment stations, available to everyone, as to the best
30
 AVERAGE AND BUSINESS FARMER
methods of agriculture, and they succeed because they
use this information.
The success of this minority depends upon two fac-
tors, first, their own superior methods, which enable
them to get large yields from their acres, and large re-
turns from their animals, and second, upon the fact
which we shall have present occasion to discuss in greater
detail, that eighty-six out of every hundred farmers, be-
cause they do not use these methods, produce small
crops, and obtain from every department of their busi-
ness poor returns, and because farm prices have been
kept high enough to enable the majority to exist. The
good farmer, in other words, prospers at the expense of
his inefficient neighbor. H e succeeds because they fail.
If all, or a majority, obtained yields of 300 bushels of
potatoes per acre, or 30 bushels of wheat, or 75 bushels
of corn, it would be impossible to maintain even the
moderate prices which farmers now receive. Prices would
be seriously depressed and profits, no matter how great
the crop yields might be—and in fact, because of these
high yields—could not be made. As the situation stands,
however, the small minority of farmers, by efficient
management, obtain yields which show them substantial
profits over their costs of production, while the majority
labor along on the imminent brink of ruin.
The importance of this conclusion is our reason for
presenting in detail, the contrast between good and bad
farming, between the methods of the business farmer,
and the methods of the average farmer.
31
 HARVEY BAUM
While the development of the industrial arts accrues
to the benefit of society as a whole, and is profitable to
those who promptly adjust themselves to the new meth-
ods, this development brings suffering to those unable
to take advantage of the changed conditions. When the
power loom was first introduced into England, there
was a large group which, because of tradition, location
or inheritance, continued their work with the hand
looms, while the new factories were pouring their prod-
ucts into the markets. The result was decreasing prices
for the product, a gain for society, but starvation wages
for those who continued with hand looms.
Professor Edward P. Cheyney, in his "Industrial
History of England" speaking of this period, observes
"There was no doubt of England's wealth and progress
—she stood before the world as the most prominent and
successful nation in all material respects. Yet a closer
examination into her internal conditions shows much
that was deeply unsatisfactory. The period of transition
from domestic to factory system of industry was one of
unrelieved misery to the great masses of those who were
wedded to the old way, who had neither the capital, the
enterprise, nor the physical nor mental adaptability to
attach themselves to the new. The hand loom weavers
kept up a hopeless struggle in the garrets and cellars of
the factory towns, while their wages were sinking lower
and lower, until finally the whole generation died out."
An agricultural revolution is in progress in the United
States, from which many thousands of farmers have
32
 AVERAGE AND BUSINESS FARMER
reaped large profits, yet our examination of the indus-
try has shown a deplorable situation among the vast ma-
jority of those engaged in agriculture. There is suffer-
ing and misery for those who are wedded to the old
ways. There is over-production at high unit cost.
T h e industrial revolution had its genesis in the Na-
poleonic wars of 1796-1815. T h e agricultural revolu-
tion received its main impetus during the W o r l d W a r .
No series of laws could stay the progress of the indus-
trial revolution. It is doubtful whether the agricultural
revolution can be hampered by law.
The exploitation and development of land had been
the chief means of increasing crop production prior to
1890. T h e revolution in farm machinery which accom-
panied the Civil W a r was mainly confined to harvesting
machinery. Beyond this, there was little improvement in
agricultural practice. Soil analyses, seed selection, im-
proved livestock, spraying, scientific feeding, were to
come later. Aside from a few machines, farming was
carried on as it was in the middle ages.4 By 1890, the
total value of all farm implements in the United States
was still less than one-half billion dollars. It had risen
to $750,000,000 by 1900, and by 1910, it had mounted
to one and a quarter billion dollars, a slow rate of
growth corresponding to the increase of acreage.
By 1920, however, the value of farm implements had
more than doubled, reaching a figure of more than
three and a half billion. From an investment of 76 cents
4
Statistical Abstract, 1925, U.S.D.C., p. 584.

33
 HARVEY BAUM
per acre for machinery in 1890, the amount rose to
$3.76 per acre in 1920. The introduction of the tractor
is the most conspicuous illustration of this mechanical
revolution. There were few tractors on farms in 1910.
In 1920,5 229,332 farms reported tractors, and in 1925,
that number,had been doubled.
More important now than the increasing investment
in machinery were the new forces that came into opera-
tion as a result of agricultural education. Beginning on
a large scale about,the end of the century, agricultural
colleges began to turn out large numbers of trained men
whose plans led back to the farm. Hundreds of agricul-
tural high schools were supplementing this education,
and both were doing effective extension work among the
older generation of farmers. But the new farmers result-
ing from this training probably came into most effective
leadership on the farms of America in the years im-
mediately preceding the World War. Unit costs of pro-
duction were a vital issue with these men. They studied
the needs of markets and adjusted their production in
accordance with those needs. They were able to inter-
pret market reports. They had scant patience with in-
dividualistic traditions of agriculture, and were willing
to merge their business with the commodity co-operative
organizations that were rapidly getting a foothold.
Above all, these business farmers followed the methods
of the new agriculture in soil preparation, seed selection,
spraying and cultivation, and proper selection of live-
6
Statistical Abstract, 192S, U.S.D.C., p. 602.

34
 AVERAGE A N D BUSINESS FARMER
stock. This group dominates the silent revolution that
is going on in agriculture. Its members, even at present
prices, produce at low cost and make profits. While they
may not object to government fixing of prices or the
various government subsidies proposed, they do not de-
mand assistance. They are doing quite well without it.
As the number of these efficient farmers increases, by in-
creasing production and depressing prices, they are
bound to bring greater hardships on the farmers who
have been unable to change to a business basis.
A few contrasts between the methods of business and
"average" farming are illuminating. An important fea-
ture of successful farm management is the provision for
steady, profitable employment of labor, both hired labor
and the labor of the farmer himself. It is one of the
largest items in the cost of production, a cost which has
greatly increased since the World War. Labor on the
average farm is wasteful and expensive. The ordinary
grain and corn farm demands an excessive amount of
labor in the spring, for preparing the land, and for seed-
ing. There follows a dull period, during the first part of
the summer, when labor is not fully employed. A large
amount of labor is needed for the harvest, after which
the demand again declines. A full supply of farm labor
during the spring means idle labor in May and June,
and in the fall and winter. Such labor is very expensive
if engaged for the year, even at low monthly wages,
especially since farm wages have doubled in the past
seven years under the influence of high wages paid in
35
 HARVEY BAUM
other industries. Seasonal labor is expensive when paid
by the day, and is frequently not available. A group of
farm laborers will not remain in a neighborhood where
its members, for nearly half the year, lack employment.
There is an itinerant harvest labor group that moves
from South to North with the ripening of the grain, but
it is usually not available for early spring work. The
lack of labor is largely responsible for the slipshod
methods of farming pursued in the important work of
preparing land for planting.
The business farmer on the other hand plans his
farm operations to employ his labor steadily and profit-
ably throughout the year, supplementing it occasionally
during the harvest period. H e so plans his crop succes-
sion that operations for planting and harvesting follow
each other. H e avoids the error by which the work piles
up at certain periods. Thus, he plans his haying, his corn
cultivation, the types of grain he grows, in such a way
that, with reasonable weather, he has steady work from
spring to fall. H e practices a crop rotation carefully
worked out to suit the availability of his labor. The early
spring is given over to preparing soil and seeding grain,
followed by planting corn in the latter part of spring.
Then comes corn cultivation with haying, interspersed
with grain harvests, which fill the end of summer, finish-
ing with fall plowing and corn harvest. The business
farmer even adjusts the size of the fields and the
amounts of his crops to conform to these requirements.
If he finds that his plan of work permits an unemployed
36
 AVERAGE AND BUSINESS FARMER
period, he plans an extra crop to utilize that period.
T h u s in Eastern Pennsylvania, between the grain and
hay harvest, which ends August 15, and corn sileage
harvest, which begins about September 10, there is an
idle interval of three weeks. On well managed farms, in
certain sections, provision is made to employ this time
by planting small peach orchards whose harvest comes
at that time. Five acres of peaches, without the employ-
ment of additional labor, may add $2,000 to $3,000 to
the annual income of the farm. Other farmers have
found a few acres of potatoes, sweet corn, or other
special crop, profitable employment for this period.
T o keep labor employed in the winter, livestock pro-
duction supplements crop farming. Farmers in Eastern
Pennsylvania keep dairy cows for this purpose. H e r e
again a special adjustment is made to conserve spring
and summer labor. It is the practice to breed the cows
to calve in the fall, thus giving their maximum milk
flow in fall and winter, bringing up their declining yield
with the spring pasture, and allowing them to go dry
in the summer. Cows so bred need less attention when
the farmer is most occupied with out-door work, and
demand the greatest attention in the fall and winter for
milk production and care of calves, when out-door work
is over, and the farmer is able'to care for his dairy. U n -
less their breeding is controlled, cows will breed to calve
in the spring, and give the maximum milk flow during
harvest. T h e large majority of cows in the United
States are so bred today. T h e result is not only a loss to

37
 HARVEY BAUM
the farmer who finds himself pressed with additional
cares at a time of the year when he is already burdened
with outside work, but an over-production of milk in
the spring, while in the fall, when the cows go dry, there
is a scarcity. By the middle of October, milk consuming
areas feel this scarcity, and prices rise sharply, only to
fall again when milk becomes plentiful in the following
spring.
The planless farmer here loses in every way. H e has
plenty of milk when the price is low, and none when the
price is high; he has the care of cows and calves in
spring and summer when he is too busy to do them jus-
tice, and his dairy is "down" in the winter when he has
most time to care for it. The business farmer, with his
cows freshening in the fall, not only has uniform em-
ployment for his labor, but his product comes to the
market when it receives top prices. The dairy profits of
the business farmer are measured not only by the dif-
ferences in prices received for the total product, but also
by the differences in cost. His costs are lower since his
winter labor is cheaper. H e has opportunity to be more
attentive, and hence observe the finer points in care and
feeding, which results in increased production.
The value of manure as an aid to crop production
is not fully appreciated by the majority of American
farmers. It is usually permitted to wash out and oxidize
in the barnyard. A large percentage of its valuable ele-
ments are thus lost through neglect of very simple pre-
cautions in storing. The annual estimated loss of crop
38
 AVERAGE A N D BUSINESS FARMER
producing elements through neglect of manure, reaches
a quarter of a billion dollars. The simple device of a
concave, concrete manure pit, costing about $50.00, with
occasional leveling and packing, would prevent losses
that would add hundreds of dollars in additional yields
on any farm.
Recent introduction of heavier tools, especially in con-
nection with tractors, has measurably improved the prep-
aration of the soil for seeding. Plowing is deeper and
the methods of disking, harrowing, and rolling leave
the seed bed in better shape. Even today, with tools that
merely require adjustment for thorough soil prepara-
tion, there is a general lack of understanding of the
value of even, deep plowing to increase crop and eradi-
cate weeds. There is a gain wholly out of proportion to
the differences in yield, and in labor to keep crop free
from weeds, between a field thoroughly prepared, and
one prepared in a slipshod way.
Seed selection is another field in which remarkable
progress has been made. The Pennsylvania Experiment
Station has developed a variety of corn known as the
Lancaster Sure Crop Corn. It is a corn well adapted to
a short growing season, which will mature even before
an early frost, and yields a maximum of return. It re-
quires thirteen to fifteen ears of corn to plant an acre.
A bushel will plant from five to seven acres. The cost
is around two dollars a bushel, 20 cents an acre more.
Such seed has yielded from five to twenty bushels more
per acre than the native seed. The same soil, with the
39
 HARVEY BAUM
same preparation, cultivation, and the same harvesting
costs will, by the use of seed costing twenty cents per
acre more, yield three to fourteen dollars in additional
value of product. Here is an investment which pays
several hundred per cent.
We might assume that every corn grower in the state
is planting this corn. On the contrary, the amount of
seed corn carefully selected and tested, that is planted,
is very low. Not over ten per cent of the farmers test
their seed corn by germinating grains from each ear
before planting, to say nothing of buying proven seed.
The usual process is to select ears from the bin, the
standard being the hazy notion of the farmer of what
constitutes a good ear. The corn may be too large to
mature in the vicinity; the kernels may not be of a shape
and uniformity to allow uniform planting; it may be
dead from frost or late maturity; the subsequent yields,
secured often with great labor and pains, will show all
these deficiencies.
The story of neglect of seed corn may be duplicated
for wheat or any of the other grains. The differences in
yield between home-grown seed potatoes and certain
carefully selected varieties, are very great. The cost of
proper seed is so small compared to the result secured,
that the neglect of seed selection by ninety per cent of
the farmers is hard to understand.
The application of a few pounds of nitrogen to apple
trees, or a few pounds of potash to potatoes, or a few
pounds of phosphoric acid to corn, or a combination of
40
 AVERAGE A N D BUSINESS F A R M E R
fertilizing materials compounded according to advice
secured free from the experiment station, will often give
results out of proportion to the costs. The application of
lime often makes the difference between a crop of clover
hay or a crop of weeds. H e r e again is shown an amazing
apathy of farmers toward the adoption of tested ad-
vice. There is no gamble in the use of fertilizers. T h e
farmer is sure to get back what he puts in, and a small
investment per acre is likely to bring large returns.
At one time, spraying potatoes was regarded as in-
surance. Spraying, it was believed, prevented the growth
of the blight, but the opinion also prevailed that there
were years when he who sprays will get no better crop
than he who does not spray, because it was not a "blight
year," and none of the potatoes would be affected. T h e
same argument was advanced for some of the fruit
sprays, and most farmers still hold this view. These
opinions, along with most of the grandfathers' maxims,
have been discredited. There is no year in which apples
will not suffer damage from the coddling moth unless
timely and proper sprays have been given. Unless
sprayed, peaches will show rot and fungus diseases.
Without spraying, potatoes cannot be produced free of
the blight, which punctures the leaves and reduces the
growth of the crop. Spraying has ceased to be a mere
insurance; it is as essential for crop production as culti-
vation. Without spraying, most crops, subject to these
pests, will be reduced below their possible yield at least
fifty per cent in quantity and more in quality.
41
 HARVEY BAUM
The same disregard for sound technique characterizes
the production of animal products. The average farmer
labors the whole season, and produces crops of hay and
corn. These crops are stored in mow, silo and stack.
Their production represents toil and investment. T h e
crops are then fed to animals that will give no return
for the feed consumed or for the labor and care spent on
them. There are literally millions of cows that do not
pay for their keep. They are known as <fboarder cows."
It is easy to recognize them. A simple scale of points
enables any farmer to differentiate a producing cow from
a "boarder." The difference is as plain as the contrast
between a greyhound and a bull dog. To check his ob-
servation, the farmer need only weigh the product from
each cow for a few months and determine whether the
cow pays. Of two animals standing side by side, both re-
ceiving the same care and the same amount of feed, one
of the wedge shaped, angular, full barreled, symmetrical
dairy type, and the other of the scrawny, thick skinned,
bony boarder type; the first will return two and three
times the milk that the latter gives. The average yield of
milk in the United States® is 4,300 pounds per cow per
year. On the other hand it is not uncommon to find,
among cow testing associations, herds that average twelve
thousand pounds of milk per cow per year, and herds
that average ten thousand pounds are numerous. Here
then is an opportunity, by intelligent selection, to in-
crease the yield of milk and the profits of the farmer.
• Year Book, U.S.D.A., 1926, p. 280.

42
 AVERAGE AND BUSINESS FARMER
A d d to this selection of dairy type cows, the employ-
ment of a few simple formulas of feeding for large
yield, and a farmer should be assured of an adequate
return on his herd. T h e profit on a 4,300 pound cow
is nothing. A ten thousand pound cow will bring in
f r o m $200 to $300 more than the cost of feed and help.
A twenty cow herd of 4,000 pound cows makes the
farmer a business failure. A herd of 10,000 pound cows
makes him a business success.1
T o summarize our conclusion: many farmers, excep-
tional only in intelligence, are able to produce at suf-
ficiently low costs to enable them to make satisfactory
profits at present price levels. T h e surveys prove that
there is a wide margin in costs of production between
farmers in the same locality in the same year. T h e gulf
between the average cost and the efficient cost is signi-
ficant to our argument, because the average cost, as a
result of the slow but increasing tendency to improve-
ment, is declining, and the price trend, because of in-
creased supplies, which lower costs make possible, and
1
In valuing these figures it must be rememberedthat the costs of produc-
tion were not, in all cases, cash outlays. They consisted in part of goods
and services produced or furnished on the farm that added little to the cost
of operation. The value of their labor, as well as the labor of their families,
is added to the cost of production. But the cost so figured is greater than the
price. This means that they did not receive wages for their labor. Certain
overheads also, such as storage of machinery, or machinery used in other
crops, are added to the cost of production. T h e farmer's expense in these
items is not a cash outlay. He really is not losing money. H e merely re-
ceives no reward for his labor. On the other hand, the farmer producing
below costs is really better off than these figures indicate. H e makes wages
for himself and family, cashes in on several items of costs that are not cash
outlays, and makes a profit on the sale.

43
 HARVEY BAUM
which themselves lower costs, by spreading expenses
over a larger number of units of product, is also down-
ward.

44
 CHAPTER IV

U N I T COSTS IN AGRICULTURE

t is important to establish as the foundation of our

I demonstration that American farm crops can be prof-

itably grown at present farm prices. This must be
our excuse for burdening the reader with a sufficient
amount of detailed evidence to establish this conclusion.
What Harvey Baum did with potatoes, any farmer,
with average location, equipment, and intelligence, can
do with any crop. What Harvey Baum has done with
potatoes has been repeated many times in all parts of the
country and in every branch of agricultural production.
This proposition can be proven by assembling the in-
vestigation results of the experiment stations, and of
the Department of Agriculture, as to the comparative
costs of production of the principal farm crops. 1 These
comparisons confirm and explain the differences in prac-
tices shown in Chapter I I I .

1 Though fully cognizant of the limits of farm cost accounting and o f

much of the inherent error in any cost study, it is nevertheless of value to

compare cost studies under similar conditions and to show divergence in
cost of production even if the figures themselves are inaccurate. I t is the
difference of production cost between farmers under the same condition
that is important here, not the costs.
I t is also recognized that the profit per unit may be misleading since the
total number of units may not be sufficiently large to be an impressive total.
Thus even if a farmer makes a profit of fifty cents per bushel of potatoes,
he may only sell a few hundred bushels annually and thus in totality still

45
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Barlovento, ocupada por indios antropófagos; y probablemente se
referían los indios de á bordo á S I B U Q U E I R A (Guadalupe), especie
de fortaleza, de donde salían á piratear los caribes en sus grandes
canoas por todo el mar de las Antillas. Lo acontecido en esa isla en el
segundo viaje de Colón confirma este aserto; pues no había ninguna
isla con el nombre especial de C A R I B , é indudablemente se referían
los indígenas, que estaban en la N I Ñ A , al pueblo de aquellas islas
que, á diario, les atacaban y saqueaban, y al cual llamaban C A R I B E S .
Y dada la dificultad de interpretar un lenguaje nuevo y extraño, á
pesar de llevar Colón un expedicionario políglota como lo era el judío
Luís de Torres, que dominaba el hebreo, caldeo y árabe, tomaron el
C O N T E N I D O por el C O N T I N E N T E y aplicaron el vocablo á la isla
cuando los quisqueyanos se contraian á los naturales de ella.
Conste, pues, que don Martín Fernández de Navarrete es el
Ú N I C O historiador, que ha aplicado la palabra C A R I B á la isla de
Puerto-Rico, siguiéndole después Castro y Echeverría, en 1851, y en
la actualidad el presbítero Nazario y Cansel.
Bastarían los testimonios históricos presentados por don
Salvador Brau, en su interesante conferencia, y los razonamientos
anteriormente expuestos, para dejar dilucidado este punto de
nuestra prehistoria regional; pero como además del párroco de
Guayanilla con su C A R I B ha aparecido don José de Jesús Domínguez
asignándole á la isla, como nombre indígena, el de B U R I K E M [256] ó
B U R I N K E M [257], creemos, por lo tanto, conveniente apurar el
testimonio de todos los cronistas é historiadores. Y para ello,
agregamos á la ya rica tabla de escritores de Indias, presentada por el
señor Brau por orden cronológico, la siguiente:
 AUTORES FECHA NOMBRE
Pedro Mártir de Anglería 1494 Burichena[258]
Juan de la Cosa 1500 Boriquén
D. Fernando Colón 1571[259] Idem
P. P. Priores de San Gerónimo[260] 1517 Boriquén
Francisco López de Gómara 1540[261] Boriquén
Martín Fernández de Navarrete 1825 Carib
Modesto Lafuente 1860 Boriquén
Alejandro Gómez Ranera 1860 Idem
Manuel Felipe Castro 1851 Carib
Juan Manuel Echeverría 1851 Idem
Rodolfo Cronau 1891 Boriquén
Otto Neussel 1892 Boriquén[262]
Emilio Castelar 1892 Boriquén
Revue des Deux-Mondes 1893 Boriqve

La sílaba B U , en sustitución al B O de B O R I Q U É N , la
encontramos en Chanca, Mártir de Anglería, y los Gerónimos,
cronistas que respecto á vocablos indígenas sufren lamentables
equivocaciones. Los demás cronistas é historiadores, que se han
ocupado de Puerto-Rico usan el B O , como puede verse
perfectamente en las dos tablas que hemos presentado.
Don José de Jesús Domínguez, en nuestros días[263], se decide
por la sílaba B U .—Tanto B O como B U , son dos sílabas de
pronunciación labial, susceptibles de pasar de un sonido á otro por
leyes filológicas conocidas. La raíz B O es mucho más común en los
vocablos, que conservamos del lenguaje indo-antillano, y con
etimología conocida. Además, es importantísimo notar que Juan de
la Cosa, que acompañó al Almirante en el primero y segundo viaje,
don Fernando Colón, que tuvo en su poder los documentos de su
padre, Bartolomé de las Casas, que residió tanto tiempo en Santo
Domingo y el capitán Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, que trató
personalmente al conquistador y poblador Juan Ponce de León,
escriben el nombre indígena de la isla de Puerto-Rico con la silaba
BO.
Respecto á la K , que el doctor Domínguez pone en sustitución á
la Q U , obedece á miras innovativas fonéticas. Roque Barcia ha
dicho[264]: “conviene que seamos innovadores con discreción, no
bárbaros; y bárbaros somos siempre que vamos contra la razón de la
palabra, que es su etimología, su fuente, su principio.” Desfigurar la
palabra indo-antillana B O R I Q U É N sustituyéndola, arbitrariamente,
con B O R I K U A , B U R I N K E M ó B U R I K E M es ir contra la etimología
del vocablo, contra sus radicales, y contra la escritura y ortografía de
los primeros cronistas.
Tan bárbaro es añadir letras de más á una palabra como
quitárselas.—En R E L O J , por ejemplo, ¿queréis una letra más inútil
que esa J ? Sin embargo, R E L O J procede del griego H O R O L O G I O N
(el indicador de la hora) y mediante la eufonización tenemos
R E L O G I O , R E L O G E , R E L O X y R E L O J . Esa J , pues, que representa la
G del griego y del latín, sería un barbarismo retirarla del vocablo.
Y vaya otro ejemplo, á la inversa del anterior: hasta hace poco
tiempo se escribía A R M O N Í A sin H ; pero la Academia, volviendo por
la fuerza del lenguaje exige hoy la H , y se escribe, H A R M O N Í A , por su
origen latino y griego. Si mañana viésemos que la misma docta
Corporación ordenaba, que A B O G A D O se escribiese A V O G A D O , sería
una innovación de igual pureza; porque esa voz procede del latín
ADVOCATO, ablativo de A D V O C A T U S , y lo escribimos
anómalamente con B teniendo en su origen V .
Aceptaríamos, que se agregase la N , en B O R I Q U É N , para hacer
B O R I N Q U É N , si el uso hubiese traído la desaparición de la N contra
su etimología; pero la sílaba R Í es una raíz indo-antillana y R I N no lo
es.
La sílaba K E M en sustitución á Q U E N que introduce el doctor
Domínguez va también contra la escritura y ortografía de los
primeros cronistas y le da á la E acento nasal, al agregarle la M por la
N , aunque la M sea letra labial.
Verdaderamente que las vocales nasales existían en las lenguas
antiguas, principalmente en el sánscrito, y también en el latín, donde
serían escritas como hoy en portugués A M , E M , I M , O M [265]; pero los
indígenas antillanos no daban preferencia á sonidos nasales ni al uso
de sílabas fuertes, que requiriesen consonantes como la K . Y no
sacamos nuestras afirmaciones de conjeturas é hipótesis. Oigamos lo
que dice el Almirante, el martes 25 de Diciembre, en su cuaderno de
bitácora:
 “tienen una habla la más dulce del mundo y mansa, y siempre con risa.”

Los holandeses son muy amigos en su lengua de reemplazar la C

y la Q por la K [266] y los suecos tienden hoy día á este cambio. Los
polacos acostumbran á usar una K , muy ruda, delante de A en
algunas palabras y son muy dados á usar dobles consonantes. Los
árabes, tan dados á los signos de aspiración tienen una K que
representa una mezcla de inspiración muy ronca y particular, una K
gutural; y también tienen otro sonido que corresponde á una K muy
fuerte[267]; pero Colón nos dice gráficamente, que el habla de
nuestros indios era la más dulce del mundo y mansa, y siempre con
risa. Y este parecer si lo diera un hombre del norte de Europa, de
áspero parlar en guturales sonidos, podría pasar por cortesía del
gran Navegante con los que le habían ayudado á salvar los restos del
naufragio de la S A N T A M A R Í A , pero lo emite nada menos que un
genovés, poseedor de los dulces y melodiosos acentos del Lacio.
Para cerciorarnos de la veracidad del Almirante, al justipreciar
la dulzura del lenguaje de nuestros indios, comparemos algunos
vocablos indo-antillanos con los de otras lenguas americanas, la
mexicana, por ejemplo, y notaremos la suavidad de las palabras de
nuestros indígenas.
Hé ahí los nombres de algunas islas del Archipiélago antillano,
tomados al azar: Boriquén, Cuba, Quisqueya, Haití, Biminí, Ay-ay,
Guanahaní, Yumá, Mayaguaná, Bieque, Sibuqueira, Siquéo,
Xaymaca, Cayrí, Yumay, Yucayo, Guanaja, Ocamaniro, Matininó,
Babeque, Guanabo, etc.
Y en el mapa del Anahuac, tales como eran los nombres en 1521
(Duvotenay, geógrafo), también leemos al azar: Mechoacan,
Zacatallan, Cuitlatecapan, Matlatzingo, Cohuixco, Coatzacualco,
Zatonacapan, Tlatlauhquitepec etc. Como los mexicanos no
pronunciaban las letras b, g, r, s, se veían precisados á usar mucho de
las letras p, c, l, x, y, t.
De manera, pues, que ni la E T I M O L O G Í A ú origen, ni la
necesidad de P R O N U N C I A C I Ó N , ni el U S O autorizado por los
cronistas informan en favor del vocablo B U R I K E M ó B U R I N K E M ,
con el cual pretende el señor don José de Jesús Domínguez sustituir
á la palabra B O R I Q U É N , usada por una mayoría respetable de
cronistas, cartógrafos é historiadores.
 Qué significa Boriquén?

No existe nada en la naturaleza que tenga más vida que las palabras,
y para llegar á poseer tal vitalidad ha debido el lenguaje estar en un
estado de fluctuación ó indecisión hasta llegar á constituir un
verdadero organismo. Hoy podemos admirar la diversidad que hay,
en el modo de expresarse por medio de las palabras, entre unos y
otros pueblos; pero con un detenido exámen se pueden señalar los
jalones de una marcha evolutiva, llegando hasta encontrar las tres
grandes divisiones del lenguaje: monosilabismo, aglutinación y
flexión.
Los sabios están unánimes en admitir que la construcción del
lenguaje ha principiado por la génesis de las raíces. Dice Max
Müller[268]: “Si el sánscrito, el hebreo ó el griego no hubiesen
atravesado la aglutinación ó capa aglutinativa, si no hubieran
atravesado un período como el chino, aislado ó monosilábico, su
forma actual sería un milagro.” El monosilabismo, pues, ha sido el
primer medio que los hombres han tenido para comunicarse sus
afectos, sus necesidades y sus ideas, prescindiendo de la mímica y de
la onomatopeya; de aquí han pasado por una evolución secular de
grados diferentes á la aglutinación; y por fin, han alcanzado algunos
pueblos por medio de la compenetración y las tendencias flexivas, la
forma más perfecta del lenguaje.
Es, por lo tanto, una cosa reconocida en el progreso de la
lingüística, que la raíz ha tenido que existir por sí misma antes de
llegar á la aglutinación y á la flexión.
En el estudio de las raíces de las lenguas indo-jaféticas es un
auxiliar poderosísimo el zend y el sánscrito, manantiales fecundos
donde el investigador filólogo sacia la sed que le devora; pues no
conforme la Filología con darnos á conocer el hebreo, el griego y el
latín asciende en busca de progenie más antigua. Las investigaciones
interesantísimas de Grimm sobre las lenguas germánicas, y los
trabajos de Bott y otros filólogos sobre las lenguas indo-europeas
constituyen la escala de Jacob para la Filología comparada, pudiendo
considerar esos estudios como fuente regeneradora de la Historia
antigua[269]. Pero en las investigaciones del lenguaje indo-antillano,
todo es tinieblas; no nos queda un dialecto siquiera, que pueda servir
de apoyo para verificar nuestros estudios; únicamente, palabras
sueltas, ya designando un árbol, una comarca ó un río, ya el nombre
de un cacique, ya alguna que otra palabra recogida por los cronistas
de la época de la colonización.
Estas palabras, que quedan al azar en la roca, en el arbusto y en
el cronicón son aún verdaderas margaritas. Las hemos recogido, con
asiduidad, no para reconstruir un lenguaje, lo cual es imposible, sino
para propia satisfacción en nuestros estudios filológicos; tratando de
averiguar sus raíces, sus temas y desinencias, para fijar sus
etimologías, porque el estudio de los elementos de una voz es el
estudio de la formación de la palabra. Y como dice muy bien el docto
catedrático del Instituto don Enrique Alvarez Pérez en la gramática
española que está editando[270]: “El filólogo, como el naturalista,
analiza los distintos elementos que constituyen el organismo de la
palabra; estudia las diversas fases que presenta en su
desenvolvimiento; y compara las analogías y diferencias que tiene
con otras del mismo idioma ó de los congéneres.”
En la carta de Cristóbal Colón escrita en el mar cuando
regresaba del primer viaje, y enviada desde Lisboa, en Marzo de
1493, á Barcelona, donde se encontraban los Reyes Católicos[271], se
lee:

“En todas estas islas non vide mucha diversidad en la fechura de la gente, nin
en las costumbres, nin en la lengua, salvo que todos se entienden que es cosa muy
singular.”

Dice el Almirante en su Diario de navegación:

Lunes 12 de Noviembre.—“... y también estas mujeres mucho enseñarían á los

nuestros su lengua, la cual es toda una en todas estas islas de India y todos se
entienden y todas las andan en sus almadías.”
 Además de un lenguaje indo-antillano, conocido en todo el
archipiélago[272], ocupado por los indios procedentes de la Florida,
había sus dialectos en algunas islas[273], nacidos de la peregrinación
de las palabras, y de la evolución en el continuo fermento en que se
hallaban, principalmente en un idioma, como el indo-antillano, que
no había llegado á la cristalización fonética[274].
Algunos hay que opinan que la lengua M A Y A , ó primitiva del
Yucatán, tuviese sus afinidades con la que se hablara en Cuba,
especialmente en la parte occidental de la isla, tan cercana á la
península yucateca. Indudablemente había diferencia de dialecto en
la región del oeste de Cuba; pues el intérprete Diego, que
acompañaba á Colón, cuando viajaba cerca de B A T A B A N Ó ó
M A Y A B E Q U E , no fué comprendido de los indígenas, y sí por los
indios de Vueltarriba. Pero el lenguaje S I B O N E Y , ó de los indios de
Cuba, era un dialecto con ligeras diferencias de la lengua general
indo-antillana.
Ahora bien, ciñéndonos á la palabra B O R I Q U É N , cuya
etimología queremos estudiar, tenemos, que existen en ese vocablo
tres raíces aglutinadas: bo-ri-quen.
La inicial B O [275] equivale á G R A N D E , S E Ñ O R [276]. Y la
encontramos con este valor en las palabras indígenas:

Caona-bó Señor del oro. Llamado así este régulo por hallarse
en su cacicazgo las minas auríferas del Cibao.
Bo-hechio Señor de gran territorio. Nombre asignado al
anciano cacique de Jaragua.
Bo-jío Territorio del señor. Denominación adjudicada á la
parte septentrional de Santo Domingo. También
tenía este nombre el rancho do se guarecía el indio
con su familia. Por antonomasia, la propiedad de un
hombre jefe.
Bo-yá Gran lugar en el cacicazgo de Higiiey.
Bo-cú Gran río de Santo Domingo.
Bo-hití El sacerdote entre los haitianos.
Bo-niata Comida del señor.
Bo-siba Piedra grande.
Jo-bo-baba Cueva del Señor. Los indios suponían que de esta
gruta habían salido el Sol y la Luna. Radicaba en
tierras del cacique Maniatibex.
Bo-nao Lugar montañoso del señor. Valle montañoso de S.
Domingo donde Roldán y Riquelme se alzaron en
armas contra el Almirante.
Jo-bo Gran árbol. Los indios referían á Fray Román Pane,
que habiendo ido unos hombres á pescar les cogió el
sol y les convirtió en jobos; explicando de este modo
la formación de los árboles.
Bo-iní-ael El hijo del señor del agua. Este era el nombre de un
zemí de piedra, al cual tenían los indios en Haití
gran veneración, y cuando no llovía iban á visitarle.
(Fray Román Pane).
Na-bo-rí Cosa del valiente señor. Llevando la idea de
S I E R V O , porque el primer indio que reconoció al
Dios de los cristianos, según refiere Fray Román
Pane, dijo al morir: D I O S N A B O R Í D A C H A , que
quiere decir Y O S O Y S I E R V O D E D I O S .

La sílaba intermedia R Í , de Boriquén, entraña el concepto de

V A L O R guerrero, así como la idea de F U E R T E . Y la encontramos en
los vocablos:

Ca-ri-be Nombre aplicado á los belicosos indios de

Barlovento.
In-ri-rí Según Fray Román Pane, los indios daban este
nombre al pájaro carpintero. Por onomatopeya
llamaron así á esta ave, por el ruido R Í , R Í , que
produce al horadar los árboles. Los carpinteros son
pájaros valientes; su pico es una verdadera lezna;
sufre los tiros repetidos del cazador, y caido picotea
la mano que va á cogerle.
Baha-rí Tratamiento á los nitainos, equivalente á Señoría.
Guacanaga-rí El cacique adicto á los españoles.
Gua-ri-onex Nombre de un cacique de Haití y de otro de
Boriquén. Entrambos muy belicosos.
Ju-ri-can Por evolución, huracán. J U , viento; RI, fuerte: y
C A N , grande. Viento fuerte y grande.

Cana-rí Vasijas de barro. Los indios usaban los calabazos de

higüera para guardar líquidos; pero á estas vasijas
por ser más fuertes les daban esta denominación.
A-rí-juna Extranjero, A , evolución de G U A , el; R I , valiente;
J U , viento; N A , lugar. El valiente del lugar del
viento. Refiriéndose á los indios de Barlovento, ó del
del Este, de donde sopla siempre el viento alisio.
Cu-rí-can El actual vocablo CURRICÁN. Cordel largo y fuerte
para pescar.
Gua-rí-co Fuerte porción de tierra, ó punta, que en Haití y en
Cuba penetra en el mar.
Jumi-rí Fuerte árbol resinoso. (Hedwigia balsamifera). El
tabonuco.

La final Q U E N [277], de Boriquén, implica idea íntima ó de

relación con la T I E R R A , según lo prueban las palabras:

Jeni-quén. Especie de pita ó agave, que abarca mucho

T E R R E N O en su desarrollo.

Atebeane ne-quén. Frase con que, al decir de Oviedo, se

denominaba á la india que se E N T E R R A B A viva con
el cadáver de su marido.
Bie-que. Tierra pequeña. La actual isla de Viequez.
Babe-que. La isla Grande Inagua.
Bajara-que. El bohío que ocupaba mucha extensión de
TERRENO.

Si-que-o. Evolucionando en C I C H E O , y en el actual Desecheo.

La isleta al oeste de Puerto-Rico.
Ya-que. Gran río que recorre toda la longitud de la TIERRA
de la Vega Real de Santo Domingo.
Baiti-que-rí. Punta de TIERRA en la isla de Cuba, que hace una
FUERTE entrada en el mar. Hoy se llama, punta
MAISÍ.

Guamí-que-ní. Tratamiento que daban los indios á Cristóbal Colón,

y que equivale á D U E Ñ O D E T I E R R A Y A G U A .[278]

De modo que B O R I Q U É N puede traducirse

por T I E R R A S D E L
VALIENTE S E Ñ O R , calificativo justificado;
pues, aunque los
boriqueños no constituían un pueblo belicoso, ni tenían necesidad
para subsistir de hacer la guerra á sus convecinos, es fama que se
mostraron siempre muy valerosos en la defensa de su país contra las
invasiones y depredaciones de los isleños de Barlovento, sus
encarnizados enemigos. A Cuba la conquistó Velázquez sin pérdida
de un solo hombre, Juan de Esquivel se adueñó de Jamayca sin
sacrificio alguno, y respecto al V A L O R de los boriqueños,
comparándolos con los haitianos, dice Oviedo: “En la manera de la
gente, no difieren en cosa alguna de lo que tengo dicho de la isla
Española, excepto que estos indios de S A N C T J O H A N , eran flecheros
é más hombres de guerra; pero assí andan desnudos é son de la
misma color y estaturas.”
 CARIB.

Hemos dicho que don Martín Fernández de Navarrete, el año 1825,

anotando el Diario de navegación del Almirante, conservado por las
Casas, fué el que aplicó, por vez primera, el vocablo C A R I B [279] á la
isla de Puerto-Rico; pero con documentos auténticos de cronistas y
cartógrafos hemos probado ser B O R I Q U É N el verdadero nombre
indígena de la Isla.
Con esta palabra, C A R I B , designaban los indo-antillanos al
pueblo indígena de la América, que habitaba las Antillas menores y
las costas de Tierra-firme, de donde, navegando en sus piraguas,
marchaban estos belicosos indios á piratear en las grandes islas y
regiones comarcanas.
Pueblo guerrero y antropófago, terror de sus convecinos, aunque
no eran los caribes los indios más sanguinarios de América. Cerca del
Orinoco dominaban los corpulentos O T O M A C O S “la quinta esencia
de los bárbaros, barbarísimos entre todos los bárbaros”[280]. Eran
éstos, á su vez, el terror de sus vecinos los Jiraras, Caribes, Maypures
y Maypoyas[281]. Los A C H A G U A S , indígenas colombianos, decían ser
los Caribes descendientes de los tigres, de quienes habían heredado
la crueldad que los distinguía. A los tigres los llamaban C H A B Í y á los
caribes, C H A B Í - N A B Í , oriundo de tigre.
A la llegada de los españoles al Archipiélago antillano,
capitaneados por Cristóbal Colón, dos razas americanas[282] se
disputaban el imperio de estas islas. Una raza procedente del Norte y
originaria de la desembocadura del Mississipí[283], adueñada de la
península de la Florida, salvó fácilmente en sus amplias canoas, que
daban cabida á ciento y ciento cincuenta hombres, las treinta leguas,
que la separan de la isla de Cuba. Además, posteriormente, hubo el
fácil acceso por el grupo de las Lucayas[284]. Esta raza, llamada por
algunos, de los G U A I C U R E , fué arrojada de sus posesiones del
Continente americano por la belicosa de los S E M I N O L A S , valientes
indios guerreros, que tan tenazmente combatieron, en 1512, al
Adelantado Juan Ponce de León, descubridor del país de
C A N S I O [285]. La otra raza, procedente del Sur, alejándose de las
margenes del Orinoco[286], su cuna, fué domeñando las costas de
Venezuela y Colombia, y en son de conquistadora y en virtud de sus
condiciones guerreras entró en el Archipiélago antillano,
apoderándose de las pequeñas islas, cercanas á Tierra-firme, de
donde extendió sus correrías á las mayores.
Al poner el Almirante el pié en G U A N A H A N Í , una de las
Lucayas, la lucha de estas razas continuaba á muerte, siendo los
campos situados al este de B O R I Q U É N la marca invasora de la raza
dominante, aunque los caribes no habían podido aún apoderarse del
territorio. Si el descubrimiento del Nuevo Mundo se hubiera
retardado algún tiempo, los españoles hubieran encontrado todo el
Archipiélago antillano en poder de la raza caribeña; pues los
G U A Y C U R E eran más dados al A R E Y T O , ó bailar cantando, y al
B A T O ó juego de pelota, que á los ejercicios guerreros; preferían el
alimento vegetal al animal, y sabemos por el Diario de Colón, que los
indios de las Lucayas ni tenían siquiera los aprestos guerreros del
salvaje. En cambio, los caribes desde niños se educaban, en el
manejo del arco, se nutrían con carne humana[287], salían de continuo
en sus almadías á sus terribles aventuras de pillaje, por lo cual eran
más potentes para el combate que los B O R I Q U E Ñ O S y
H A I T I A N O S [288]; y ya desde Sibuqueira (Guadalupe) y Ay-ay (Santa
Cruz) organizaban á diario, sus correrías á Boriquén, acantonándose
en las desiertas islillas situadas al este de la isla, principalmente en
BIEQUE.
El padre Labat opinaba (1724), que los caribes habían emigrado
desde la Florida á las Antillas y Tierra-firme; y algunos escritores de
nota, entre ellos Alejandro de Humboldt, le han seguido en esta
opinión; haciendo proceder el pueblo caribeño de los A P A L A C H E S
de la América del Norte; pero después de la obra de D’Orbigny[289] las
razas de la América del Sur han sido mejor conocidas. El sabio
D’Orbigny, que empleó ocho años en recorrer el Continente sur-
americano en una extensión de 775 leguas de Norte á Sur y de 900
leguas de Este á Oeste y que al regresar á Francia en 1834 obtuvo el
gran premio anual de la Sociedad de Geografía, opina que la raza
caribe procedía de la gran familia B R A S I L I O - G U A R A N I A N A . Estos
indios cubrían toda la parte oriental de la América del Sur desde las
Antillas hasta cerca del río de la Plata. Además, D’Orbigny ha
sentado, que los caribes que poblaban las islas de Barlovento y
Sotavento, eran idénticos á los G U A R A N Í S , del Brasil, pertenecientes
al tronco B R A S I L I O - G U A R A N I A N A . Según el erudito venezolano
Arístides Rojas[290], los jeroglíficos, ya en las llanuras y orillas de los
ríos, ya en las alturas de la cordillera costanera de Venezuela, marcan
el itinerario del pueblo Caribe y de sus diversas tribus de Este á
Oeste. El padre Raymond y el padre Dutertre, misioneros que
vivieron largo tiempo entre los caribes antillanos, conformes á las
tradiciones caribeñas, los hacen provenir de los G A L I B I S del
Continente sur-americano; rama, según D’Orbigny, procedente, á su
vez, de la gran familia B R A S I L I O - G U A R A N I A N A .
Además de marcarnos la Antropología la diferencia de tipo y
naturaleza del indio del Norte y el del Sur[291], sabemos por los
cronistas que las costumbres y los usos de los indígenas de una y otra
de estas razas que estudiamos eran bien diversos; pues, mientras los
indios de las grandes Antillas y grupo de las Lucayas eran
hospitalarios y pacíficos, los caribes eran crueles y sanguinarios.—
Los guaycures apelaban únicamente á las armas para combatir tan
sólo la agresión de sus feroces vecinos; éstos, por el contrario, hacían
de la guerra un uso cuotidiano y se entregaban en sus débiles
embarcaciones á atrevidas empresas. A Cuba la conquistó Velázquez,
sin pérdida de un solo hombre.—Juan de Esquivel no tuvo que hacer
sacrificio alguno para adueñarse de Jamayca. En Haytí inició la
guerra contra los españoles el cacique Caonabó, que era de raza
caribe; los demás régulos siguieron el movimiento con tibieza,
aceptando prontamente la coyunda castellana. En Boriquén, cuyos
indígenas eran más flecheros, al decir de Oviedo, y se explica, por
tener sus naturales que contrarrestar, muy á menudo, el empuje de la
invasión caribeña, que venía por el Este, recibióse á los cristianos
cordialmente, y fué la servidumbre la que provocó después el
alzamiento. Y los indios de las Lucayas eran tan inocentes, que se
herían las manos palpando el filo de las espadas de los compañeros
de Colón. En cambio, los caribes de Santa Cruz recibieron con flechas
envenenadas, diestramente arrojadas por hombres y mujeres, á los
compañeros del Almirante, que fueron á tomar lengua y hacer
aguada. En Guadalupe no ocurrió lo mismo, porque todos los
hombres dispuestos para la guerra se habían ido á piratear por las
islas vecinas. Y ya nos dice Oviedo, que los buques hacían aguada en
la Domínica á fuerza de armas. Cuando Ponce de León hizo recalada,
expresamente, en la isla de Guadalupe para castigar á sus naturales,
tuvo que retirarse bien descalabrado. Y las crónicas de Puerto-Rico
están bien nutridas con la narración de las terribles invasiones de los
caribes de las islas de Barlovento[292]. Eran, pues, los G U A Y C U R E S y
los C A R I B E S dos pueblos de diversa procedencia genealógica, y cuya
lucha á muerte tenía que terminar, por ley antropológica, con el
triunfo de la raza caribeña, más viril y más apta para la guerra, y la
completa absorción y desaparición de nuestros pacíficos indígenas.
No podía, por lo tanto, corresponder el vocablo C A R I B á los
hospitalarios B O R I Q U E Ñ O S , que tan sólo empuñaban el arco y la
macana para defender el terruño; y, por lógica deducción, tampoco á
su país, y sí, Ú N I C A M E N T E , á los naturales de las islas de
Barlovento.
 Qué significa Carib?

Según el sabio Humboldt, el vocablo C A R I B E procede de C A L I N A ,

C A R I P U N A , habiéndose transformado la -L - y la -P - en -R -y-B -; de
C A L I N A ó C A R I N A se ha hecho C A R I B I ó G A L I B I .
Nosotros, siguiendo la teoría filológica de que estos vocablos
antes de llegar al período de aglutinación en que se encuentran han
pasado por el monosilabismo, creemos que la primera sílaba -C A - de
C A R I B E , así como el -G A - de G A L I B I es una evolución de la raíz
G U A ; cuya sílaba G U A ó H U A , en sus diversas acepciones pertenece á
tres idiomas americanos: el guaraní, el muysca y el quechúa[293].
Pedro Mártir de Anglería ha sido el primero de los cronistas de
Indias[294], que ha llamado la atención sobre la frecuencia de la silaba
G U A en el lenguaje indo-antillano.
Según el misionero Ruíz Montoya[295] la palabra G U A R A N Í
equivale á G U E R R A ; y G U A R I N I A R A , á G U E R R E R O ; y A G U A R I N Í , á
G U E R R E A R etc. D’Orbigny acepta esta etimología. Y Arístides
Rojas[296] opina, que G U A R A N Í es corrupción de G U A R I N Í ; y que de
esta voz se derivan C A L I B I , C A R I B E , C A R A I B E , C A S I B Í y C A R I N A .
De manera, que C A R I B es igual á C A R I B E , C A R I B O y G U A R I B O .
—Y nosotros, analizando y deshaciendo la aglutinación, traducimos:
G U A , artículo; R Í , valiente ó guerrero; y B O , grande, señor ú hombre
jefe. Es decir: E L G R A N G U E R R E R O ó E L H O M B R E V A L I E N T E .
Vése, pues, que el vocablo C A R I B , según los cronistas de Indias
y la etimología de la palabra, corresponde de lleno á los C A R I B E S ,
habitadores de las islas de Barlovento y Costa-firme, ya haciendo
relación á los individuos, ya á sus pertenencias; y de ningún modo á
Puerto-Rico, no ocupada aún en la época del Descubrimiento por los
terribles antropófagos.
 Archipiélago Antillano.

Para precisar el nombre indígena de las islas del Archipiélago

antillano hemos consultado, además del Mapa mundi de Juan de la
Cosa y las relaciones de los cronistas de Indias, la carta náutica de
Diego de Ribero (1529); la del Atlas universal de Guillermo Le Testu
(1555); la que lleva la obra de Antonio de Herrera (1730); los mapas
modernos de las Antillas de Hachette y Cª, Grosselin-Delamarche,
Garnier Hermanos, Espasa y Cª, el que acompaña al trabajo de A.
Bernad: “Le Monde à l’époque des grandes découvertes”, y el
derrotero del primer viaje del Almirante, según don Patricio
Montojo. De algunas islas no hemos podido haber el nombre indo-
antillano, pero compilamos en el siguiente cuadro el de la mayor
parte:
 NOMBRE INDÍGENA. NOMBRE ACTUAL.
Guanahaní. (San Salvador)[297] Watling island.
Ojuná. (Sta. M.ª de la Concepción) Rum Cay.
Yumaí. (Fernandina) Cat island.
Xaomatí. (Isabela) Long island.
Yucayu Pequeña Abaco.
Siguatío Grande Abaco.
Guanimá Eleuthera.
Bahamá Bahama.
Biminí Beminí.
Habacoa Bary.
Mayaguaná Marijuana.
Xamaná Samaná.
Yabaque Acklin.
Babeque Grande Inagua.
Qüamá
Islas Turcas.
Anamá
Caisimón Islas Caicas.
Cuba. (Juana)[298] Cuba.
Maya Región occid. de Cuba.
Guanaja. (S. J. Evangelista) Isla de Pinos.
Haytí. (Toda la isla)
Bojío. (Región septentrional) Repúblicas de S. Domingo y de Haytí.
Quisqueya. (Región Oriental)
Guanabo Gonaive
Adamanay Saona.
Boriquén Puerto-Rico.
Amoná Mona.
Siqueo. (Cicheo) Desecheo.
Bieque Viequez.
Xaymaca Jamaica.
Ay-ay Santa Cruz[299].
Sabá Saba.
Sibuqueira Guadalupe.
Ocamanirí Redonda.
Matininó Martinica.
Cayrí Domínica.
Carí Trinidad.
Cubagua Isla de Perlas.
Guaiquerí Margarita.
Oribá Oruba.
Curisao. (Isla de gigantes) Curazao.
 La cuestión puerto ó bahía

Se ha hecho hincapié en la frase de Alvarez Chanca: “En un puerto de

esta isla (Boriquén) estovimos dos días”; y exijiendo estricto
rigorismo en la acepción del vocablo, y considerando de carácter
oficial la carta del médico sevillano, se afirma[300] que,

“Al decir el doctor puerto, el lector debe entender que se le habla de una
porción de mar entre algunas tierras que la resguardan del empuje de las olas y de
los vientos, con una entrada, que se llama boca ó boquete. Esto tiene derecho á
entender y no que se le hable en un galimatías en que por puerto deba entenderse
ensenada, rada ó embocadura de río.—Mayagüez es todo menos puerto. Culebrinas
no es más que desembocadura de un río.”

Creemos, por el contrario, que la palabra P U E R T O , usada por el

doctor Chanca, no debe tomarse con el rigorismo técnico que exije el
señor presbítero de Guayanilla. Y vamos á probarlo. Se supone que
Chanca tomó el vocablo directamente del Almirante, á quien
acompañaba en la nao capitana; pues bien, Colón no usaba con la
precisión que exije el padre Nazario la palabra P U E R T O , y no por
ignorancia náutica, sino por falta del detenido estudio necesario para
clasificar debidamente el surgidero, que por vez primera hacia uso de
él. Por eso le vemos llamar P U E R T O á la ensenada Y A M A N I Q U E [301]
en Cuba, y dar igual denominación á la bahía de San Nicolás en la
Española[302]. Llama A N G L A á la ensenada de P U E R T O M A R G O T [303],
y puerto á la B A H Í A D E A C U L [304], y golfo á la bahía de
Manzanillo[305], y angla grande á B A H Í A E S C O C E S A [306]; y por este
estilo pudiéramos multiplicar las citas.
Don Pedro Tomás de Córdova en sus informes[307] como
Secretario de Gobierno, y siguiendo las latitudes y longitudes
geográficas del mapa de don Antonio Cordero, piloto de la Real