Mr. Joseph Woodford recently gave the Massachusetts Historical Society some account of his experience as a plant collector in Honduras. One of the difficulties was in getting native assistance. He says :

"These countries, however, labor under serious disadvantages. The inhabitants have no incentive to labor for more than will produce their daily bread, as there is no enterprise into which they can put any surplus they may receive, and consequently they are lazy, unambitious and careless, and but small areas of land are cleared for cultivation. These small farms, when once subdued and planted, yield crops all the year round, so that the husbandman can continually gather food for the subsistence of his family. When Mr. Woodford was there, oranges were worth fifty cents per hundred, bananas fifty cents per bunch, cocoanuts ten dollars per thousand, and lemons, limes, pineapples, etc., were equally cheap. As these fruits are continually maturing, a ship can be loaded with them at any time along the coast. New Orleans, being only five days distance by steamship, is the most available large market for perishable fruit. The country offers an abundant field for an enterprising population. Well-directed labor continuously applied is sure to meet with a bountiful return in the natural productions of the country.

Yet it remains the lazy man's paradise, and probably will until the enthusiasm of the live Yankee fills the land with homes such as we have in New England".