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THE CUBA REVIEW 



A royal palm planted among other ornamental shade trees. 



These leaf bases are gathered immediately after they fall to the ground, dampened and 

 flattened by means of weights. After they are thoroughly dried they are tied into bundles of 

 convenient sizes and offered for sale. They form an article of sale in all places where the royal 

 palm grows. There is a good market for them in Havana and other centers of the tobacco 

 industry. Formerly nearly all the tobacco that was sent to the United States and to Europe 

 was carefully wrapped in the leaf bases, and it is said that there is no material better suited 

 for this purpose. Even to-day all Cuban tobacco is boimd up and shipped from the plantations 

 in large bundles wrapped in these leafstalks. 



The royal palm is carefully preserved in all parts of the Island and is largely cultivated for 

 the sale of the leaves, which are consumed largely in the packing of tobacco for export. Narrow 

 strips torn off the edge of the pieces and twisted afford inexpensive yet very efficient tying 

 material. In the country districts of Cuba palm leaf bases furnish a most important portion of 

 the string and rope and are used either in the twisted or untwisted state. 



It also enters into the construction of houses, and it is a curious sight in some of the sections 

 where the royal palm is abundant to see houses built almost entirely of this material. In fact, 

 a large proportion of the houses of the poorer classes are thatched or sided with yaguas, wbioh 



