SUGAR CANE SIXTEEN FEET HIGH. 

 THE WRITER AND HIS HORSE ON LAND BUT RECENTLY PLANTED TO SUGAR CANE IN CAMAGUAY PROVINCE, CUBA. 



CRUISING IN CUBA 



By E. V. PRESTON 



{RECENTLY spent some time in 

 examining a tract of timber in 

 Camaguay Province, Cuba. To 

 reach this tract we were obliged 

 to leave the railroad and travel by 

 horseback for a distance of forty miles. 

 This part of the trip led us over a level 

 country which for the first five miles 

 was largely planted in cane fields and 

 grapefruit groves. After that the coun- 

 try became wild, with settlements miles 

 apart and no roads except cart trails 

 through the woods. The timber was all 

 small and of little value except for rail- 

 road ties and fence posts. The under- 

 brush and vines were so thick that we 



572 



could not go through without cutting a 

 way with a machette. 



The royal palm also grows plentifully 

 on these lands. The natives use this 

 tree for building their houses, the leaves 

 for roof and sides, and the woody shell 

 of the trunk split up into strips for the 

 frame. These trees bear bunches of 

 seed every month, and hogs are fond 

 of them. A native Cuban told me that 

 four or five trees would supply seed 

 enough to raise and fatten one hog. 

 The natives also find the tree service- 

 able for making bee hives, using a sec- 

 tion of the outside shell about 30" long. 

 The inside of the trunks of the palms 



