72 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



concerned. There is no reason, therefore, apart 

 from the careless habits of the planters who 

 allowed in the past a valuable and widespread 

 industry to be so curtailed, why Cuba should 

 not again take a leading position as a producer 

 of coco-nuts. Other centres have had bad 

 attacks and suffered very serious losses from 

 the bud-rot disease, but are taking various 

 steps to drive it back, so without even men- 

 tioning their names, we will only say that no 

 one would think of condemning them as coco- 

 nut producing centres because of this trouble. 

 Cuba, therefore, under the wing, and especially 

 the scientific wing, of America, will, it is to be 

 hoped, re-establish her reputation as a coco-nut 

 producer, and not give way to despair, or, 

 worse still, to indifference over the matter. 



On the contrary, this island will, no doubt, 

 be able to hold her own as a coco-nut producing 

 centre, and more than her own when capital is 

 turned towards her. Great possibilities are 

 certainly there if made proper use of, and care 

 taken to keep the coco-nut bud disease under. 

 If the Cubans wish to make money, they must, 

 the same as others, work for it, not spasmodi- 

 cally, but steadily and continuously. At pre- 

 sent, the Cuba Review tells us, the only 

 region where coco-nuts are now grown for 

 export is at Baracoa, where, in spite of bud 

 disease, some $135,000 worth of nuts were 

 exported last year (1910). Meanwhile the 

 Commission appointed by President Gomez 



