AIR MAIL. 5almost universally and exclusively, of rice, beans, and tortillas, a situation which the people have neither the guidance nor the desire to change. With the exception of some of the larger and more modern houses, moreover, living conditions are of unbelievable filth, and it is no wonder that the incidence of tuberculosis is high. Although the Government has nade an effort to eradicate malaria, sanitation is little understood; the Sanitary Units set up under the sponsorship of the Coordinator of InterAmerican Affairs should eventually be able to make some progress in this connection, but an enormous amount of apathy will have to be overcome before they can be considered an unqualified success. The result of these conditions are reflected by a remark made by the Jefe Politico of Santa Cruz, who explained that the farmers of that region never worked more than four hours a day because they could not stand any more.
Added to these factors the Guanacastecan has also to contend with the weather, which alternately floods a considerable part of the province and then parches it with a prolonged drought. When he is not worried by these problems, the farmer and rancher has to stand by and see his lands devastated by the plagues of locusts which in recent years have be region. He is also severely critical of the actions of both the Central and Provincial Supply Boards, the Government agencies charged with the fixing of prices, for he feels that they are composed of unqualified individuals, and instances were cited wherein Guanacaste merchants were forced to retail merchandise received from San José at San José prices, thus ignoring the transportation factor completely.
All things considered, it is not surprising that Guanacaste should be known as the Forgotten Province. nor that its people should sometimes look upon the rest of Costa Rica with something less than affection, 800 LDW em