T H E C U B A R E V I E W 27 



factory to the owner. The yield was less in tonnage, and sold for less per ton, while the 

 cost of harvesting was somewhat higher. On this farm the average yield is about 17 

 tons, selling for $2.10 a ton, or a totat gross revenue of $?.J.TO an acre. The cost of pro- 

 ducing it was $18.30, leaving a net income of only $17.40 an acre. This was the poorest 

 showing made by any farm I visited. Land in the vicinity of this farm is valued at $25 

 an acre, and some very choice land can be had for less money. On the basis of $25 an 

 acre, this land vielded a net income of more than 65 per cent, quite as good as Americans 

 know anything about in the Corn Belt, or any other part of the United States. This 

 farm produced some tobacco and other things, making the total gross income of the 

 farm exceed $160,000. 



Farmers told me of much larger profits than those given in this article, but the farm 

 first mentioned made the best showing of any of the farms to whose books I had access. 

 Mill superintendents told me of farms that netted $60 an acre in cane, and even larger 

 profits are well known on smaller areas. 



The secret of Cuba's apparent inexhaustable soil fertility 



<^ - o -I r ,•/•. is found in the great amount and depth of the humus content. 



Oecret of ooil rertilit^ Beginning in the eastern part of Camaguey Province and for 

 200 miles east, I found humus to a depth of eight feet, and 

 sometimes more. I doubt very much if such an amount and depth of humus can be 

 found in any other soils where man can live. 



In Pinar del Rio, Havana, Matanzas and Western Santa Clara Provinces the same 

 condition and quality of soil is seen in places, but not so generally cover all the section. 

 Here, too, we learn why soils that have, unaided by artificial fertilizers, produced for 

 200 years and yet produce cane very profitably. This plant being a perennial will con- 

 tinue to send its roots down in search of plant food, and on any of the oldest farms 

 of Cuba there is an abundance of plant food only a little below the surface. 



Perpetual growing weather is favorable to the growth of bacteria, and these in turn 

 are doing their part in the production of Cuba's immense crops. 



Generally speaking, the subsoil in all parts of agricultural Cuba is clay. This con- 

 tinues to the water level, or rather strata. Only in very small areas can a subsoil of 

 sand or gravel be found, a portion of the Isle of Pines being one of them. Occasionally, 

 in limited areas, the soil rests upon the country rock, \\'here this occurs, the rock is 

 lava or some form of limestone. 



Before leaving the subject of humus and soil fertility, I 



//on' Savannas Tvere ^^'ish to speak of the open sections of country in Cuba, and 



P J generally designated b_v the term "savannas." These, to the 



rormea geologist are interesting districts, although to the agriculturist 



these savannas are regarded as the lightest soils in Cuba. 



This is only because these savannas are of quite recent formation and contain but a small 



quantity of humus. These lands have been raised from below the sea level, within 



quite recent times, and were raised without the folding or fa.ulting of the early rocks. 



It is more than likely that these savannas were thus formed at the time the low, marshy 



belt along the south coast, sank to its present level. The lifting of the one causing the 



sinking of the other to fill its place in the general scheme of gravity and levels. These 



savannas will be as fertile as any in Cuba, at the same age, if given the same opportunity 



of returning to the soil all their vegetable growth. 



The largest savanna is in Camaguej'- Province, in which is located the city of Camaguey. 

 Another is to be found in northwestern Pinar del Rio ; one makes up a part of the Isle 

 of Pines, and there are other small ones in a few other localities. In these savannas, 

 shells, and other evidences of quite recent sea life, together with fine sea sand, are 

 to be seen in the surface soils, which to a certainty tells the story of their origin and age. 



The Cuban and his family live well, and no man has a 

 P , rj J r greater affection for his family than the Cuban farmer. He is 



K^uban tiome l^ije always an early riser, and one will often find him in the 

 saddle at daylight during the five-months' harvest from De- 

 cember first to the latter part of April. Cubans never eat an early breakfast as we do 

 in the States. He will drink a cup of coffee or cocoa before starting out in the morning. 

 The family take breakfast from eleven to twelve o'clock and dinner is served in the 

 evening after six. 



At one farm where I spent the night a six-course dinner was served. Xo one on this 

 farm had any knowledge of m.y coming, and as I was the only one present except the 

 family it may be assumed that their dinner was in no way out of the ordinary. The 

 table linen was made in the United States, a present from a wholesale merchant. The 

 silver was French and Spanish. The butter was made in Denmark ; the cheese in 

 Switzerland. The bread and pastry were made of flour from the States ; the tea and 

 rice from Japan ; the macaroni from Italy. Some meml^ers of the family drank cocoa 



