THE CUBA REVIEW. 



17 



TOBACCO. 



Remedies for Biting Insects. 



We recommend a careful and thor- 

 ough trial of the arsenate of lead for 

 poisoning biting insects both in the seed- 

 beds and in the field, on young plants 

 only. 



Five gallons of 40% formalin should 

 not cost more than $14 (at 35 cents per 

 pound) and should fertilize about i,oco 

 square feet of seed-bed. Thirty pounds 

 of copper sulphate should be enough for 

 making bordeaux mixture for treating 

 2,000 square feet of diseased seed-bed 

 and should not cost more than $4-50 

 (af 15 cents per pound). 



Both of these and the arsenate of lead 

 should be obtainable from almost any 

 of the large drug or wholesale agricul- 

 tural supply houses. 



Field Experiments. 



As dry weather prevailed when field 

 tests were made, no pudricion appeared 

 in the open beds, even when unsterilized; 

 so in this case nothing was gained by the 

 formalin treatment and no further data 

 are to be recorded regarding it. In cer- 

 tain of the covered beds, however, the 

 pudricion appeared 'sind the bordeaux 

 mixture was applied with the best pos- 

 sible results, checking the damping ofT 

 completely and quite unexpectedly pro- 

 tecting the beds from cachazudos (cut- 

 worms). 



Results seem definitely to solve a 

 problem which the Cuban tobacco grow- 

 ers have recognized for many years as of 

 the utmost importance, but which never 

 has been satisfactorily met before. 



The tobacco crop of the United States 

 in 1907 from 25 states, and grown on 

 820,800 acres, was 698,126,000 pounds, 

 with a value of $76,793,860. Cuba's 1907 

 tobacco crop was 45,000,000 pounds, or 

 653,126,000 pounds less than its gigantic 

 neighbor, but its value was nearly $32,- 

 500,000, a little less than one-half of the 

 value of the entire production of the 

 United States. 



• Racing in Cuba 



Racing in Cuba is a disappointment — 

 to put It mildly. The horses get around 

 all right, and do their part remarkably 

 well, the jockeys hold on, the climate is 

 fine, the location ideal, the betting 

 scjuare enough, with your choice between 

 the American bookmaker and mutuals, 

 but the people go only once. 



The Cubans themselves were not will- 

 ing to put enough capital into the 

 amusement to assure ultimate victory; 

 there was timidity about tying up from 

 one to two or three hundred thousand 

 dollars that could not possibly, for a 

 few years, pay dividends. 



A grandstand was started that in the 

 finish would have seated ten thousand 

 persons or more. Fortunately in the 

 rush to get ready for the money that 

 was to fly back immediately into the ex- 

 chequer of the association after erect- 

 ing the framework and roofing — seats 

 and boxes were provided that would 

 protect and accommodate about half 

 the number. The half has not been 

 needed and about the loneliest place in 

 Havana has been this racetrack out on 

 the seashore, where, under the right 

 management, it would have been the 

 gayest. 



The fine red dust which rises from 

 the track constantly is impossible for 

 the people to endure. What must it 

 be for the poor horse who fails in 

 getting the lead? It is a dust so fine 

 that you breathe it — are colored by it 

 outside and in, and the color comes to 

 stay in j^our clothing whether or not it 

 does on your lungs. 



On the opening day. Cubans and Am- 

 ericans went out in holiday attire — be- 

 plumed, white parasoled, lace-trimmed 

 and white-suited. They were a sorry- 

 looking lot when they returned. Since 

 then they don't go. At present a Cuban 

 lady probably looks upon the matter 

 with horror — a red dust punishment that 

 she got for getting away from her love- 

 ly home on that opening day of "races 

 in Havana." — From Town Topics Cor- 

 respondence. 



The 28th Infantry, U. S. A. 



Col. Owen Sweet commanding 

 at Matanzas. 



exercising before the barracks 



