THE CUBA REVIEW 



ALL AROUND CUBA 



BANES WATER SUPPLY 



Tlie present sai)ply of water for the town 

 of Banes and the siifrar mill is inadequate and 

 not satisfactory, owing to the hardness of the 

 water, and on this account the I'nited Fruit 

 Company has arranged for an expenditure 

 of approximately $100,000 to secure an 

 additional supply of water and improve the 

 present system.. 



The work of laying the pipe line has been 

 started, and it is planned to lay a line of six 

 inch pipe for a distance of three and one-half 

 miles from the Jagueyez river in the hills 

 near Banes, where a good supply of excellent 

 water can be obtained, and build a pumping 

 station and softening plant in the city of 

 Banes, also a reservoir with a capacity of 

 one million gallons. The route of the pipe 

 line has been surveyed so as to permit the 

 flow of water by its own gravity to the 

 reservoir, from which point it is pumped to 

 the mill and passes through the softening 

 plant where it is softened by a lime treatment 

 and is ready for use. 



The proposed pipe line will require the 

 laying of tw^eive miles of a special flexible 

 joint cast iron pipe of eight, six and four- 

 inch sizes, and when completed in from three 

 to six months, will give the Banes section an 

 unlimited supply of excellent water. J ' j 



STOCK RAISING IN CUBA 



The high price of sugar that followed the 

 outbreak of the European war influenced many 

 Cuban planters to plant in sugar cane large 

 tracts of grazing land. There are still left 

 in the island, however, thousands of acres 

 of land suitable for stock raising, and if 

 sown with grasses and forage plants these 

 lands, in the opinion of the Cuban Agricul- 

 tural Department, quoted by the Camara de 

 Comer cio in its Boletin Oficial, would yield 

 returns quite as profitable as those devoted 

 to sugar cane. 



Two pasture grasses were imported into 

 * the countn,' some years ago, the Parana from 

 Argentina, and the Guinea grass from the 

 west coast of -Vfrica, and they have proved 

 -well adapted to the climate and soil of Cuba. 

 It is estimated that 100 acres in either of 

 these grasses w'ill pasture from 50 to 70 head 

 of cattle in a year. Alfalfa has been intro- 

 duced into the island, and when the soil is 



inoculated with alfalfa bacteria, it thrives. 

 The Province of Camaguey is noted for its 

 fine pasture lands. Oriente and Las Vegas 

 are also rich in grass lands, though in these 

 Provinces, as in Habana and Mat anzas, good 

 lands are held at very high prices. In Pinar 

 del Rio there are grazing lands offered at $20 

 to $40 an acre, which, under proper manage- 

 ment, would yield a profit of 20 to 40 per cent 

 on the investment. 



High-grade cattle have been imported into 

 the island during recent years, and the native 

 herds are being rapidly improved. The De- 

 partment of Agriculture has registered a total 

 of 4,000,000 cattle in the country. Cuba is 

 said to be well adapted for raising horses and 

 mules, and American breeds introduced in 

 the island thrive as at home. The native 

 Cuban horses are of Arabian stock, intro- 

 duced during the Spanish conquest, and they 

 are much valuedfor their great endurance. 



NUEVITAS 



The construction on the Xuevitas terminal 

 has progressed finely during the last few weeks. 

 \^'orkmen have started excavating for the 

 foundation of one of the large steel molasses 

 tanks at Pastiila. There will be four of these, 

 each having a capacity of 750,000 gallons or 

 3,000,000 gahons in all, and one of them will 

 probably be ready for use this season. 



There will be eight warehouses erected, 

 about 450 feet long and 100 feet wide. One 

 of these is practically completed, and another 

 more than haU done. 



One of the warehouses for incoming freight 

 at the end of the main dock is well under way. 

 There wih be two of these, each about 400 by 

 60 feet, one on each side of the dock, with a 

 track between. Above this dock a lorg break- 

 water will be constructed to break the force 

 of the waves which at times rur quite high. 

 Considerable dredging will be done here to 

 give sufficient water for large vessels to land 

 at the dock. 



The last trestle just above the eld cattle 

 dock is nearly finished, and when this is done, 

 it will be possible to run trains direct trom 

 Nuevitas to Pastiila, although there is a large 

 amount of cutting and filling to be done be- 

 fore the permanent line can be laid. Another 

 locomotive and a piledriver have been brought 

 out to hasten the vrork.^From The Cuban 

 American. 



