Agricultural Cuba 32 



HENEQUEN IN CUBA 



Owing to the chaotic conditions which have 

 prevailed in Mexico, the home of Henequen, for 

 the past three or four years, the manufacture of 

 sisal is today practically at a standstill in that 

 Republic. Many of the large estates have been 

 confiscated by the various political chiefs and thus 

 the owners are seeking investments in other parts 

 of the world. Cuba, lying, as it does, in the same 

 latitude as the Yucatan Peninsula, offers a most 

 exceptional opportunity for the growing of this 

 valuable product. 



The Cuban Republic gives absolute protection 

 to the industries of the Island and climate and 

 soil are infinitely better adapted there to the 

 growing of Henequen than is the country in 

 which it first won its fame as a money maker. 



Henequen produces a strong fiber only where 

 the soil covers a soft limestone rock, from which 

 the roots apparently secure those elements going 

 to make fiber strong. Cuba has this advantage, 

 and in addition to this, the abundant rainfall 

 gives a more rapid growth so that a Henequen 

 sucker planted in Cuba will produce, in five years, 

 a yield that could not be attained in less than 

 ten or twelve years in Yucatan. 



As a result of the discovery of better Henequen 

 growing conditions in Cuba, the demand for 

 Henequen lands is rapidly advancing. Within 

 the past year, land suitable for Henequen growing, 

 has advanced from fifty cents to fifteen dollars 

 per acre. Within the past six months, Mexican 

 Henequen growers have purchased approximately 

 50,000 acres of these lands. 



The high prices, and growing demand for the 



