12 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



STOCK RAISING 



Essential conditions to success in stock raising, in any country, are nutritious grasses, 

 good drinking water, a climate devoid of extremes in temperature, with a steady market at 

 least fairly accessible. These the Republic of Cuba commands in abundance. 



There still remain hundreds of thousands of acres of well watered, well drained lands, 

 that possess all of the above mentioned conditions. Much of the territory formerly devoted 

 to grazing, has been recently planted in sugar cane, owing to the high price of sugar that fol- 

 lowed the war in Europe. In spite of this, however, there are still large tracts in each of the 

 six Provinces of the Island, that are not only available for stock raising but would, if sown 

 with our best grasses and forage plants, produce, under proper management, returns per 

 acre quite as satisfactory as those derived from sugar cane. 



Two grasses, excellent for either milk or fattening purposes, were imported into this 

 country many years ago. The Parana, brought from the Argentine is best suited to our 

 lower and comparatively level lands. Guinea grass, brought from the west coast of Africa, 

 is excellently adapted to the mountain sides and does well even on the crests of the latter, 

 up to an altitude of two thousand feet. 



One hundred acres in either one of these grasses, under favorable conditions, will keep 

 from 50 to 70 head of cattle in good condition throughout the year. We have several varieties 

 of native grass that spring up in the valleys, or wherever the undergrowth is removed from 

 forest lands, but they are greatly inferior to either Parana, Guinea or Bermuda. 



There is every reason to believe that alfalfa will prove as well adapted to Cuba as it is 

 to some parts of the United States, although up to the present time, but few experiments 

 have been made with it. On President Menocal's farm, some eight miles from Havana, 

 may be seen a splendid stand of this grass, from which several crops have been cut during 

 the past year. Inocculation of the soil with alfalfa bacteria seems to be the only thing re- 

 quired to make this excellent forage plant thrive in Cuba. Our experimental station at 

 Santiago de las Vegas has succeeded, also, in introducing several new grasses on the heavy 

 clay soils of that neighborhood that give every promise of success. 



Dairy Farm, INIatanzas. 



