24 



THE CUBA REVIEW. 



"MACHO" BANANA. 



ANOTHER VIEW OF "THREE 

 YEARS IN CUBA." 



Editor Cuba Review : 



In the July Review you print an article 

 from the Everett (Mass.) Herald, entitled 

 "After Three Years in Cuba," which seems 

 to me very misleading". The writer states 

 that his average working hours have been 

 from 5 a. m. to 10 and 12 at night. He 

 does not say what kind of work. I work 

 from 6 a. m. until 5 p. m., with noon rest 

 from 11.30 a. m. till 1 p. m. 



I am engaged in fruit growing. The na- 

 tive day laborers around here only work 

 from 9 to 10 hours per day. 



He says "there are no stoves." There are 

 six or eight American families within three 

 miles of Ceiba Mocha, and all have Ameri- 

 can stoves — some brought thein with them 

 and others bought them in Havana. 



He says "Rent for an ordinary house is 

 $50 a month," he don't say in what part of 

 Cuba, perhaps he is speaking of Havana. 



A very comfortable house can be rented 

 here at from $10 to $20 a month. 



Some of your readers would probably like 

 to know what we have to eat here, and the 

 cost. We get fresh beef — ^best cuts — at 20c. 

 lb:, fresh pork 15c. to 20c. Breakfast bacon 

 30c. lb. Roast and corned beef, one lb. tins, 

 20c. Red snapper and other saltwater fish, 

 l5c. lb. American hams 25c. to 30c. lb. 

 Venison (in season) 25c. lb. Best flour 5c. 

 lb. Irish potatoes 4c. to 5c. lb. These prices 

 are at Ceiba Mocha and Matanzas. 



Anyone here can have plenty of sweet 

 potatoes the year round by planting every 

 few months. Irish potatoes do very well 

 planted in October and November. We have 



roasting ears several months by planting 

 corn from time to time. We have raised 

 two crops of cabbage within last ten months. 

 We have okra, tomatoes, egg plant and 

 sweet peppers almost continuously. Two 

 crops of cowpeas a year can be grown. All 

 kinds of beans do well. Last winter we had 

 as fine English peas as I have ever eaten. 

 Lettuce, turnips, radishes and beets, all do 

 well in winter. 



As to fruit, we had grape fruit from our 

 own trees from October 1 to July 1, and 

 now a few new crop will do to eat. Oranges 

 from October 1 to May 1. 



Bananas and plantains all the time. Pine- 

 apples and guavas nearly all the time. Man- 

 gos from May 1 to August 1. Aguacates, 

 August, September and October. Quite a 

 list of other native fruits scattered along 

 through the year, such as soursop, mame 

 Colorado, Santo Domingo mame, custard 

 apple, sug'ar apple, etc. 



Poultry does well here and we have 

 plenty of eggs to use and a chicken to eat, 

 when we want it. We also have guineas 

 and ducks, and some of our friends have 

 nice turkeys. 



I think it is a great mistake for Ameri- 

 cans to come to Cuba and settle in the back- 

 woods away from transportation and from 

 other Americans. 



Under such conditions they are almost 

 sure to get discouraged and homesick, — 

 especially is this true of the women and 

 young folks. In localities far away from 

 large towns the cost of all imported goods 

 is much hig-her and hard to get. There are 

 now American settlements in all the prov- 

 inces of Cuba, where lands can be bought 

 at reasonable prices. 



D. H. H. 

 "Mocha Heights," Ceiba Mocha, Cuba, 

 August 2, 1908. 



Ripe Pineapples Cause Low Prices. 



The New York market, week ending July 

 31, was dull and sagging in prices for pine- 

 apples. Ripe fruit was in abundance and 

 had to be forced on sale. This week's auc- 

 tion feature was the sale of 9,300 crates of 

 Cuban stock. The range in quality was 

 wide and consequently prices varied. Prices 

 were as follows: 24s, $1.40 to $1.60; 30s, 

 85c. to $1.10; 36s, 80c. to $1.30, and 42s, 85c. 

 to $1.10 per crate. 



On Floridas the following prices gov- 

 erned: On 30s $1.50 to $2.50 per crate, 

 while 36s sold at from $1.25 to $2 per crate, 

 with $1 to $1.60 per crate quoted on 42s. A 

 few 48s are offered at from 75c. to $1.25 per 

 crate as to quality. Smooth Cayennes sold 

 at the close at $1.25 to $2.25 per crate. 

 The Mango Illustrations. 



Two of the illustrations printed in the 

 Mango article in the July issue were 

 used by the courtesy of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 



