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Most of the colonists staked their own claim for land and made a living, though a difficult one, by subsistence farming. Population growth in the Occidental Central Valley outpaced that of the Oriental Central Valley. Cartago began to lose political and economic importance and eventually the capital was moved to San José. By having to bear many hardships, the colonists acquired a very individualistic spirit and to this day most Costa Ricans still like to do things alone and generally not share tasks with others. Nevertheless, some change in this attitude is now noticeable especially where new large enterprises require the pooling of financial resources.
A little known fact of interest is that the colonists and their descendents planted wheat in the upper lands of the Central Valley in keeping with the Spanish tradition of eating bread as a mainstay of their daily diet. Cavallon introduced it in his expedition in 1561. The first flour mill ran with hydraulic power was established at Los Molinos in the city of Cartago. By 1630, five flour mills were exporting to Panama and Nicaragua. When cheap wheat began to come from Chile and California, cultivation of this crop by the colonists declined and came to practically a standstill in the late 1890s. Growing it was never again resumed.
In the early 20thCentury growing bananas on a large scale by the United Fruit Company on the Caribbean Lowlands became a big business and in 1911 Costa Rica was the world's major banana exporter. The country always had agriculture as its predominant economic activity which is still very important. However, light industry, tourism, technological and business services are growing at a faster rate and farming is not the big income-producer that it once was especially in regard to coffee and bananas, though exports of pineapples, orange juice concentrate, melons, yucca, flowers and ornamental plants have been increasing and now account for a good percentage of total exports.
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