THE CUBA REVIEW 



21 



VIEWS ON THE TOBACCO HARVEST 



BIG CUBAN TOBACCO CROP 



The present season's crop of Cul:ian to- 

 bacco will exceed the largest crop pre- 

 viously recorded by close to 75,000 bales, 

 according to J. L. Kendrick, editor of The 

 Tobacco World, who recently returned 

 from an extended visit to the Cuban mar- 

 kets. 



"For the first time in a number of years 

 weather conditions have been uniformly 

 of such a character as to promote the 

 growth of a bumper number of plants," 

 said Mr. Kendrick on March 15th to a 

 Nezv York Times reporter. "Farmers 

 throughout the island have apparently 

 taken advantage of the opportunity offered, 

 and have utilized it to the utmost. 



"Predictions are freely made in and 

 around Havana that the present crop will 

 total over 700,000 bales. As last year's 

 crop amounted to only 350,000 bales, these 

 preliminary figures, if verified, should 

 prove very favorable to the industry at 

 large. The largest crop of Cuban tobacco 

 previous to the present season was raised 

 in 1900, and amounted to approximately 

 625,000 bales. 



"The quality of the tobacco in the grow- 

 ing is perhaps not up to the superlative 

 standard of Cuba, being generally pro- 

 nounced rather light, and in some instances 

 washed out. 



"There is a general feeling of optimism 

 in Cuba regarding the tobacco industry." 



Professional men of Cuba.— Ricardo de la Tor- 



riente, director of La Politico Co mica. —From 



Bohemia, Havana. 



The United States imports and exports 

 of jewelry during the fiscal years 1909 and 

 1910 to Cuba were as follows : 



1909 



Imports $630.00 



Exports (domestic) 21,598.00 15,387.00 



1910 

 $789.00 



TOBACCO PROSPECTS BRIGHTER 



The latest advices from Havana in re- 

 gard to the outlook for the Cuban tobacco 

 crop are even more favorable than those 

 that reached the trade a little earlier in the 

 season. 



It has been pretty generally understood 

 for some weeks past that the 1912 crop 

 as a whole will be one of the largest, if 

 not the largest, ever grown upon the island 

 of Cuba, but at the same time it had been 

 strongly hinted that the crop as a whole 

 would be lacking in quality. These state- 

 ments as to the quality are now declared 

 to have been greatly exaggerated. 



Earlier reports were to the efTect that 

 the yield in the famous Vuelta Abajo 

 would not only be considerably below the 

 normal in quantity, but that such as was 

 produced would be below the average in 

 quality. 



But now comes the welcome news that 

 the tobacco produced in the Vuelta Abajo 

 this year is turning out much better than 

 was anticipated only a few weeks ago. It 

 not only promises to be of better aroma, 

 and better burn, but the colors are said 

 to be much more to the liking of the 

 cigar manufacturers than seemed possible 

 at an earlier date. 



It was feared for a time that this year's 

 Vuelta tobacco would cure badly, and with 

 so many green spots that really desirable 

 wrappers would be scarcer than they have 

 been before in several years. 



Happily it is now probable, according to 

 later reports, and there seems to be good 

 grounds for these reports, that there will 

 be a far less proportion of the tobacco 

 with the green spots than had been ex- 

 pected, and that while good wrappers are 

 by no means likely to be a drug on the 

 market, on the other hand they will not 

 be so scarce as to cause serious difficulty 

 to the trade. 



This is most welcome news, for while 

 it does not mean any immediate change 

 in the prevailing high prices for Cuban 

 tobacco, it does mean that conditions will 

 be less difficult than the clear Havana 

 manufacturers had been looking forward 

 to. — Tobacco of New York. March 28th. 



PITCH PINE MARKET CONDITIONS 



Export of lumber from gulf ports to 

 Cuba for the first quarter of 1912 com- 

 pares as follows with the same period for 

 1911: 



1911 1912 



37,092,691 feet 31,839,107 feet 



Shipments latterly have been small. 



