26 THECUB A REVIEW 



INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT CUBA 



ITS GEOLOGY ITS SOIL FERTILITY HOW SAVANNAS WERE FORMED 



LABORS AND PROFITS OF CUBAN FARMERS 



Cuba's greatest need in an agricultural sense differs in no 

 Cubans Can Teach 'n^terial way from that of other countries. It needs more 

 A . good farmers who will apply the best scientific methods, and 



Americans most modern practices to their farm work. 



In practical farming for the best monetary results, and for 

 practices well adapted to local conditions the American has nothing over the Cuban. The 

 average American farmer believes that he can show the Cuban farmer many things about 

 farming; but a few years on the island generally convinces him that the Cuban was 

 there first, and that in his own way he has solved more farm problems than has the 

 American in his native land. 



The American is inclined to believe that anything done other than the American way, 

 must be done the wrong way. The American is inclined to regard the use of oxen as an 

 ancient practice. The Cuban tells him that in Cuba it is a modern practice, since the 

 horse was used in Cuba before the ox. but experience has talught him that for Cuba, 

 oxen were the better and more economical farm power ; that it costs nothing to keep the 

 ox, while the horse must be fed high-priced grain, and in the end dies a total loss. In- 

 stead of this final loss, the ox will work for several years, when his flesh will sell in 

 the open market for as much as that of the three-year-old steer. The American in Cuba 

 is inclined to criticize the drawings of loads from the head, rather than from the shoulder 

 of the ox. And again the Cuban tells him that this, too, is a modern practice in Cuba, 

 since the ox was first made to draw his load from the shoulder, but experience had 

 tjhown that a larger and heavier load could be pulled from the head. 



I spent a day with each of six Cuban farmers whose annual 



Labors and Profits of '^^^P^ ^^^ worth from $100,000 to $1,000,000 each. One hears 

 P , r- nothing in Cuba of these men being wealthy. Every Cuban 



L.uban rarmers farmer is too busy attending to his own affairs to bother 



himself about what others are doing. 



In his own way most Cuban farmers are doing some experimental work. In this way 

 he soon learns the best methods for growing and handling his several crops. The largest 

 and wealthiest farmers are in the sugar industry, but some of these grow other crops 

 in a small way, especially tobacco. The successful Cuban farmer has a system of farm 

 accounting equal to the best in use in the United States. The farm office records gave 

 me the following data with reference to some of these : 



The area in sugar cane for 1912 on one farm was 1,800 acres (54 caballerias). The 

 yield of cane was 40,000 tons. This farm harvests all its crop by the contract system. 

 Seven dollars is paid for cutting and stripping 1,000 arrobas, equal to 25,000 pounds. 

 Seven dollars is paid for hauling this amount to the railroad station. One dollar is paid 

 for loading the same amo>imt on the cars. The farm owns its scales, and pays the 

 weigher $50 a month for weighing and keeping the records of the weights. The average 

 quantity weighed each day is 270 tons, or a cost of about six cents a ton for weighing. 

 This makes a total cost of slightly less than 90 cents a ton for harvesting and loading 

 on the cars. 



On this farm the mill contract was to take the cane on the cars at the farm, on a basis 

 of seven per c it of the weight of cane, in sugar. The sugar sells at two cents a pound, 

 giving the far ner $2.80 a ton for his cane. The average yield on this farm for 1912 was 

 21.8 tons an acre, or $61.04 gross revenue. The net income per acre is $19.62 less the 

 above, or $41.42 an acre. This farm is not for sale, nor any part of it, but land in the 

 vicinity is valued at $1,000 per caballeria, or $30 an acre. 



The above farm, which is one of the oldest cultivated farms in Cuba, also grows 

 tobacco, game chickens selling for $10 to $100 each, hogs, cattle, horses, and some fruits 

 and vegetables. Cigars retailing at fifteen cents each are made from tobacco grown on 

 this place. The cows are kept for milk and for producing the oxen used on the farm. 

 The mares are bred to supply the farm with its saddle stock. The meat for the farm 

 is all produced there and some sold besides. In all, the gross receipts from this farm 

 exceed $120,000, and it is not regarded as a large farm, or a large crop. 



On another farm where the soil was equally good, and 4,200 acres of cane was grown, 

 because of a less advantageous milling contract and a different farm management (labor 

 employed by the day), not so good a showing was made. It was, in fact, very unsatis- 



