CENTRAL AMERICA 
i47 
doubtful if the demands of these republics will 
warrant a very great expansion of railways for 
years to come. 
These countries have no manufactories, and 
were designed by nature to be agricultural. 
In time, with the development of steamship 
service they may become truck gardens for 
the United States, as their soil is admirably 
adapted for vegetables, early fruits, melons 
and berries. In some districts, especially in 
Nicaragua and in Honduras, cattle could be 
raised much more extensively. There are 
mines, but not of sufficient wealth to attract 
much capital. 
Owing to the diversity of zones, there are 
opportunities for many varieties of fruits, veg 
etables, and cereals. For centuries these 
countries have been covered with the most 
luxuriant tropical growths, so that the subsoil 
is overlaid with a thick mould estimated at 
over ten feet deep, capable of excessive pro 
ductive possibilities. Tobacco, sugar, indigo, 
rice, corn, coffee, cocoa, cocoanuts, and 
bananas, are the principal products.