THE CUBA REVIEW 13 
NUEVA GERONA, ISLE OF PINES 
By Consul W. Bardel 
The consular district of Nueva Gerona comprises all of the Isle of Pines, which 
is located some 84 nautical miles south of the western end of Cuba and is officially 
attached to the Province of Habana. The island has an area of about T97 square 
miles; it counts about 3,500 inhabitants, of whom about 600 are Americans, the 
rest being native white Cubans and Spaniards, and negroes born in Cuba or coming 
from the other West Indian Islands. 
The government of the island is in the charge of a civil governor, called ‘“‘Al- 
calde,” and a military officer commanding a detachment of rural guards. The judicial 
functions are in charge of a judge who presides over the Court of First Instance, 
the Correctional, and the Civil Courts. Another judge has charge of the Municipal 
Court. The seat of all of these authorities is at Nueva Gerona. The island has two 
customs districts, the one at Nueva Gerona, with the port of Jucaro as an auviliary, 
and the other the district of Los Indios on the southwest coast. The latter, however, 
has had to be closed temporarily on account of the destruction of the dock there by 
the hurricane of September, 1917. It is expected that this customs district will 
again be in operation by the last of 1919, when the dock will be rebuilt. 
MOST OF THE ISLAND ADAPTED TO AGRICULTURE 
With the exception of two ridges of small mountains—the highest peaks of which 
have an elevation of about 1,600 feet—one on the northeast coast near the town of 
Nueva Gerona, and the other a ridge of smaller importance on the south coast, the 
territory of the island is rolling, partially cultivated, and partially covered with 
falms and pines, the latter giving the island its name. 
Agriculture is the leading industry. 
Nearly 90 per cent. of the cultivated and uncultivated land of the island is in 
the hands of Americans, who raise citrus fruit—principally grapefruit—and early 
vegetables, such as peppers and eggplants, almost all of these products being exported 
to the United States. Cultivation is always fraught with some risk of loss by the 
elements, especially hurricanes which at times strike the island. Agriculture proved 
fairly successful up to the year 1914, when prices in the American markets became 
so low owing to overproduction that citrus fruit had to be sold at little or no profit. 
When the market conditions became better, transportation, after the entry of the 
United States into the war, was very difficult and expensive, and fertilizers, which 
are required on this island for every kind of production, could be had only at prices 
so high they were almost prohibitive. 
AGRICULTURAL HANDICAPS 
In September, 1917, about the time the grapefruit began to ripen, a terrific 
hurricane struck the island, devastating nearly half of it, carrying off fruit and 
packing houses, and damaging the trees seriously. Not only was the crop ruined 
completely, but the groves were left in such a deplorable state that it will take 
at least two years before they can be brought back to their original healthy condi- 
tion. Besides many other difficulties, the farmers here have been handicapped by a 
shortage of labor, many able-bodied men having gone to Cuba or the United States, 
where on account of war conditions they could earn larger wages. 
It has been, and to a great extent still is, the custom among the farmers to 
give all attention to the cultivation of citrus fruit and tropical vegetables, disre- 
garding the raising of foodstuff for their own consumption, This has necessitated 
their buying many products at high prices which they could have raised on their 
ewn farms for almost nothing. Some of the farmers here have become wiser in this 
respect, however. 
EXPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES 
As the following statement of annual declared exports to the United States from 
