THE FUTURE OF THE ISLAND 137 



There is a tempting opportunity for men of small means 

 to settle on the mountain terraces, and, under the most 

 genial conditions of climate all the year round, to make a 

 fair livelihood out of their little coffee-plantations. To the 

 class of settlers for whom our Northern climate is too 

 severe, the chances which Cuba offers for coffee-growing 

 can hardly fail to be peculiarly attractive, and it is to them 

 we may have to look for the first infusion of the best 

 qualities of the American among a community somewhat 

 deficient in them. 



Dairying and cattle-raising also present fair prospective 

 openings. In the eastern provinces the cattle industry, 

 owing to the fertile grazing-lands existing there, reaches 

 considerable proportions, the product being large and fine 

 animals of Spanish stock. There is also some horse-breed- 

 ing in all parts of the island, the characteristic Cuban 

 horse being a stout pony descended from Andalnsian stock, 

 with the build of a cob, and a peculiar prancing gait which 

 is said to render it an exceptionally easy riding-animal. 

 There is always a good demand for horses, mules, and oxen. 



Large capital will undoubtedly be devoted to reopening 

 the sugar-plantations. It is a mistake to assume that the 

 beet-sugar bounties of continental Europe must render 

 unprofitable the growing of the sugar-cane in Cuba. They 

 did contribute to the ruin of most of the non-resident pro- 

 prietors, out of the savings of whose stewards and super- 

 intendents the modern city of Barcelona the Liverpool of 

 the Mediterranean is said to have been built. But all 

 the methods of sugar production practised under these au- 

 spices were grossly wasteful, and even under the conditions 

 which existed at the outbreak of the latest rebellion, when 

 there were two successful sugar-crops of over a million 

 tons, there was a needless waste. Machinery has been 

 brought up to the latest standard, and the transportation 

 of the cane to the mill has been cheapened by the construc- 

 tion of narrow-gage railroads, but the processes of agri- 

 culture are still capable of improvement. When it is 



