CUBA. 



235 



tant product than it has been of late, yet until 

 the war of independence interrupted all industry 

 there were flourishing plantations, and the qual- 

 ity of Cuban coffee stood high in the market. 

 Such was the devastation and paralysis of indus- 

 try caused by the guerrilla war, in which both 

 sides interdicted production and destroyed build- 

 ings and crops, that the tobacco crop of Pinar del 

 Rio in 1897 did not exceed 30,000 bales, little 

 more than a tenth of the normal production. In 

 1893 the exports of tobacco from Cuba were 

 6,160,000 pounds of leaf and 134,210,000 cigars. 

 The mills on sugar estates were destroyed to a 

 great extent, and the planters were not permitted 

 to grind cane. The product fell off' from 1,004,20 i 

 tons in the season of 1894-'95 to 225,221 tons in 

 1895-'96 and 212,051 tons in 1896-'97. Only a 

 fraction of the land suitable for the sugar cane has 

 been utilized, and yet the exports of sugar have 

 reached 1,100,000 tons in a year. Oranges were 

 formerly exported, but the better-cared-for Flor- 

 ida fruit took away this trade. Bananas are cul- 

 tivated in the eastern provinces and pineapples. 

 in the west. Cotton and cacao are raised to some 

 extent. The number of agricultural holdings in 

 Cuba was estimated in 1891 at 90,960, having an 

 aggregate value of $220,000,000 and an annual 

 rental value of $17,000,000. The live stock com- 

 prised 584,725 horses and mules, 2,485,766 cattle, 

 78,494 sheep, and 570,194 hogs. These animals 

 disappeared during the war of independence. The 

 Cuban tobacco crop averaged formerly 560,000 

 bales of 110 pounds, of which 338,000 bales were 

 exported and 222,000 bales manufactured into 

 cigars and cigarettes in Havana. The exports 

 of leaf tobacco in 1895 were 30,460.000 pounds, 

 and in 1896 they were 16,823,000 pounds. A de- 

 cree forbidding leaf exports except to Spain, is- 

 sued on May 12, 1896, checked the exportation of 

 raw tobacco and stimulated that of cigars, of 

 which 185,914,000 were exported in 1896. Nearly 

 the whole of the leaf exported and half of the 

 cigars are ordinarily taken by the United States. 

 Exports of cigarettes in 1895 amounted to 48,163,- 

 846 packets. 



The forests contain mahogany, cedar, logwood, 

 ebony, lignum vitas, sabicu, granadilla, redwood, 

 and caiguaran, a wood that does not decay in 

 the ground. The forest products exported in- 

 clude mahogany, cedar, which is the material also 

 of Cuban cigar boxes, and various other tim- 

 bers, honey and wax, dyes, medicines, and wild 

 fruits of various kinds. The exports of culti- 

 vated fruits are important, especially of oranges 

 and shaddocks, a trade which was revived in 

 consequence of the destruction of Florida groves 

 by frost. The mineral resoufces of Cuba have 

 scarcely been tapped. The copper mines of Cobre, 

 which were worked by the Indians before the 

 Spaniards came, and furnished ore worth over 

 $2,000,000 a year for shipment to the United 

 States for the twelve years ending with 1840, are 

 still productive. The iron mines of Juragua con- 

 tinued operations during the insurrection, ship- 

 ping to the United States from 30,000 to 50,000 

 tons of iron ore a year. The Juragua and the 

 Daiquiri companies, both American, have $5,000,- 

 000 of capital, and employ from 800 to 1,400 men. 

 The neighboring mountains of Santiago province 

 contain other deposits of this remarkable ore, 

 one of the richest in the world, containing from 

 62 to 67 per cent, of pure iron, free from phos- 

 phorus and sulphur. West of Santiago de Cuba, 

 in the Sierra Maestra mountains, extending for 

 a length of 100 miles, are manganese mines that 

 have scarcely been opened, but are probably 

 capable of supplying all the steel furnaces of the 



United States. There were 296 mines registered 

 in Santiago before 1892, of which 138 were iron, 

 88 manganese, and 53 copper. Gold first attract- 

 ed the Spaniards to Cuba, and it is still washed 

 by the negroes, but no paying gold or silver ore 

 has yet been found. A line, pure asphaltnm, 

 used in the United States in the manufacture of 

 varnish, is mined near Cardenas, and is found in 

 other localities. Bituminous coal is found in 

 various parts of the island. 



The principal imports of Cuba are rice, whoat 

 flour, jerked beef, wine, olive oil, lard, butter, 

 potatoes, and other articles of food, textiles and 

 clothing, machinery, and hardware. The Spanish 

 exports to Cuba were $28,046,636 in 1892, $24,689,- 

 373 in 1893, $22,592,943 in 1894, $26,298,497 in 

 1895, and $26,145,800 in 1896. Imports from Cuba 

 into Spain amounted to $9,570,399 in 1892, $5,697,- 

 291 in 1893, $7,265,120 in 1894, $7,176,105 in 1895, 

 and $4,257,360 in 1896. Under the Spanish tariff 

 not only manufactured articles, but most of the 

 flour, which was once imported largely from the 

 United States, was imported from Spain. Of the 

 imports of flour in 1896, valued at $4,285,522, Eu- 

 rope furnished 404,019 bags to 100,321 from 

 America; of rice, A r alue $2,807,481, Europe fur- 

 nished 853,538 hundredweight and America 23,800 

 hundredweight; of coal, 180,487 tons came from 

 the United States and 29,050 tons from Europe, 

 the total value being $2,085,370; of lard, the im- 

 ports were 194,308 hundredweight, valued at 

 $2,078,811, all from the United States; the im- 

 ports of potatoes, valued at $996,702, were 53,083 

 barrels from Europe and 231,774 barrels from 

 America; those of salt fish, $686,000 in value, 

 were 5,036 drums from Europe and 79,521 from 

 America; of imports of cheese, value $323,673, 

 1,881 cases came from Europe and 44,358 from 

 America ; the imports of butter, 6,392 cases, of the 

 value of $319,700, came almost entirely from Eu- 

 rope; of Indian corn, 97,303 bags were imported, 

 valued at $467,049, all from America. The value 

 of the merchandise exports from the United 

 States to Cuba in 1893 was $24,157,698; in 1894, 

 $20,125,321; in 1895, $12,807,661; in 1896, $7,530,- 

 880; in 1897, $8,259,776. Exports of breadstuff's 

 to Cuba declined from $3,512,207 in 1893 to 

 $1,320,866 in 1897. Those of vegetables, princi- 

 pally potatoes, beans, and peas, were valued at 

 $626,954 in 1897. Under the head of provisions, 

 the total value of which declined from $5,700,536 

 in 1893 to $2,421,715 in 1897, the exports of bacon 

 from the United States to Cuba in the latter year 

 were valued at $574,402; of hams, $374,185; of 

 lard, $1,255,183. The total exports to Cuba of 

 agricultural and other products, including pro- 

 visions, declined between 1893 and 1897 from 

 $10,492,352 to $4,628,011; agricultural imple- 

 ments, from $130,341 to $3,624; railroad cars, 

 from $271,571 to $9,202; cotton cloth, from $75,- 

 359 to $25,008; other manufactures of cotton, 

 from $72,819 to $42,444; manufactures of India 

 rubber, from $42,879 to $27,257; car wheels, from 

 $18,073 to $2,782; cutlery, from $21,094 to $6,773; 

 machinery, from $2,792,050 to $55,069; nails and 

 spikes, from $107,002 to $25,016; rails, from 

 $327,411 to $14,650; saws and tools, from $243,- 

 544 to $34,686; steam engines, from $130,652 to 

 $1,189; wire, from $321,120 to $35,905; boots and 

 shoes, from $114,943 to $15,195. The imports 

 from Cuba into the United States were $78,706,- 

 506 in value in 1893, $75,678,261 in 1894, $52,871,- 

 259 in 1895, $40,017,730 in 1896, and $18,406,815 

 in 1897. The imports of Cuban asphaltum into 

 the United States declined during these years 

 from $25,992 to ^7,628; drugs and dyes, from 

 $377,269 to $5,273; bananas, from $1,641,387 to 



