THE CUBA REVIEW. 



17 



AMERICAN COLONY NOTES. 



SWEDISH COLONY AT BAYATE, CUBA. 

 The residents gathering for religious service on Sunday morning 



Too many people come to Cuba with 



-the sole and single purpose of raising an 



orange grove. Most of the men who come 



have but slender means, says 



Sound the La Gloria Cuban-Ameri- 



Advice to can, and yet almost unnani- 



Colonists. mously their chief energies 

 lare devoted to raising an 

 orange grove from the start, usually neg- 

 lecting entirely the provision of the means 

 of existence on their own land. The result 

 is that when their resources are entirely 

 exhausted they become discouraged and 

 disappointed and often abandon everything 

 to go back north branded with failure and 

 broken with defeat. 



Such a result might almost invariably be 

 avoided if the colonist would make a point 

 cf first solving the living problem before 

 spending one cent on an orange grove, 

 using what means he has in hand to live 

 in the meantime. 



Live stock is as essential 



Solve the to a comfortable existence on 

 Living Prob- the farm in Cuba as it is in 



lem First, the north. The colonist 

 should secure a pasture as 

 quickly as possible, get a cow or several 

 good milch goats. He should fence a 

 piece of land and provide himself with some 

 thorough-bred hogs and poultry. He 

 should have a few hives of bees — and take 

 care of them. He should leave northern 

 vegetables alone until he has prepared a 

 piece of ground and planted a good supply 

 of native tropical vegetables, such as sweet- 

 potatoes, yams, cassava, melango, chayotas, 

 beans, etc. — these are just as nutritious and 



just as tasteful as the northern varieties, 

 and they are always a sure crop. When 

 this is done he can experiment with north- 

 ern vegetables without fear of being left 

 foodless. He should plant bananas, plan- 

 tains, coffee and some of the quick grow- 

 ing fruits, such as pineapples, papayas, ro- 

 sada, etc. All this should be done with 

 tne chief idea of supplying his own table. 



When the colonist is raising his own liv- 

 ing he can with a calm and contented mind 

 turn his attention to the planting of an 

 orange grove, and in the course of ten or 

 twelve years he may not only have a bear- 

 ing grove, but will have realized a com- 

 fortable and independent living as well. 



GROWTH OF CACAO IMPORTS. 



Cacao imports have grown from i8 milion 

 pounds in 1890 to 92 millions in 1907, hav- 

 ing quintupled during this period. The 

 values have likewise increased phenome- 

 nally, from 2 1/3 millions in 1890 to 13 1/3 

 millions in 1907. 



Another interesting fact with reference 

 to' this more rapid growth in the imports 

 of cocao is that it has occurred in the face 

 of a greater advance in price of that article 

 than has occurred in either tea or cofifee. 

 The average value per pound of the crude 

 cacao imported in 1890 was 12.7 cents and 

 in 1907, 14.5 cents. 



The growing taste for cacao among our 

 own people puts us into still closer touch 

 with the people of the West India Islands, 

 which are all capable of producing this arti- 

 cle. Of the 92 million pounds of cacao' 

 imported in the last fiscal year, 39 million 

 pounds came from the West Indies. 



