THE CUBA REVIEW 



Central IMercedita. 



and then the yield will be 15 to 25 per cent less than it would have been had the burned eane 

 been cut away and the fields cleaned. 



The writer visited the sugar plantations of Alameida, Frmita, Fsperanza, Santa .Maria, 

 La Union, and others of minor note in this section of the Province, passed through many 

 thousand acres of cane that had been destroyed by fire and found that no attempt had been 

 made to clear away the old cane. The effect of this, too, will be a large increase in the cost 

 of cutting the cane next year, as the old stalks still in the ground will have to be cut as well 

 as the new cane. 



A visit was also made to all the sugar cane-growing territory in the Province of (^riente 

 east of the points between Santiago de Cuba, and the writer had a conference with practically 

 every sugar-cane planter of importance in the territory. In the district between Antilla and 

 Santiago de Cuba great destruction of property has been caused by disturbances. "With but one 

 exception, every railway station between these two points has been destroyed, a large number 

 of bridges have been wrecked, and most of the shops along the line have been burned. .All 

 the railway bridges have now been repaired or reconstructed except the one between San Luis 

 and Auza, and this will soon be repaired, leaving a clear roadbed from Habana to Santiago 

 de Cuba. In the section of Oriente Province referred to, the rainy season has now .set in, and 

 there will be practically no grinding until Decemb3r next, nor will it be possible to repair the 

 damages in the burnt area. 



Mare Favorable Conditions in Other Sections. 

 While there were many thousand acres of cane burned between Alto Cedro and Antilla 

 the planters in this section had, to a large extent, cleared away all the burnt section, and the 

 ratoon was standing well in the field. The spring rains that commence in this section about 

 the middle of I\'ay usually end toward the close of June, so that many of the mills in this 

 section will now start grinding and continue until September. A few of the mills in this dis- 

 trict, notably the Preston :Mill at Xipe i?ay, Tuinucu, and Baragua, will produce about the 

 amount of sugar estimated, but the remainder of the mills will all be between 60 and 70 per 



