24 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



CATTLE RAISING CHANCES IN CUBA 



EXPERT SAYS CUBA OFFERS BEST BEEF-MAKING PROSPECT 

 EXISTING ON THIS HEMISPHERE 



Abram Renick, general manager of the 

 American Short-Horn Association, has re- 

 turned from a trip to Cuba, where he investi- 

 gated every angle of the live stock situation 

 in that island. He traveled from the extreme 

 western point as far east as Santiago. In 

 his opinion Cu a offers the best beef making 

 prospect existing anywhere on this hemi- 

 sphere. Grass grows abundantly all the year 

 round and plenty of broken Ian for grazing 

 purposes is available at prices ranging from 

 $2 to .SIO an acre. The verdancy of Cuban 

 pastures is perennially; there are no lengthy 

 periods when cattle must be hand-fed and 

 apart from the tick no handicap to beef 

 making exists. About the only cattle useful 

 in Cuba under present conditions are work 

 oxen which furnish practically all the animal 

 power used in crop raising. Cuba has de- 

 veloped a native breed of cattle that suits 

 local conditions admirably. Mules are not 

 used in the sugar industry because they 

 involve heavy initial cost, purchase of feed 

 gi'ain in the United States and Canada and 

 are practically worn out at the end of eight 

 years, while oxen feed themselves, can be 

 broken at three years of age and work eight 

 to ten j^ears. at the end of which time they 

 are beefed, often realizing original cost. In 

 case of accident oxen can be butchered while 

 mules would be a total loss. The Cuban 

 uses a yoke that is attached to the horns of 

 the ox, consequently hornless cattle have 

 little value. "Everywhere I went I saw 

 cattle in sleek and fat condition," said Mr. 

 Renick. "Many of the oxen working under 

 the yoke weighed 1,600 to 1,800 lbs. They 

 are the color of the Jersey, but have heavier 

 horns and larger frame. Cattle of our beef 

 breeds are very rare, in Camaquey province 

 several heavy importations of Herefords and 

 Short-Horns were made, but they have dis- 

 appeared and white faces are rare. The 

 explanation I got was that the cattle got fat 

 and were butchered. Sir William C. Van 

 Home, the Canadian railroad magnate, some 

 years ago, imported a number of sacred, 

 hump-backed cattle from India, but the 

 Cuban shows decided preference for the 

 native breed which have short hair and are 

 less susceptible to the tick than long-haired 

 cattle. Beef is very high in Cuba and at 

 Havana fat grass steers, with no particular 

 quaUty, are selling at 7 cents per pound live 

 weight. Considering their character, this 

 price is as high as corn-fed cattle are realizing 

 at Chicago, as such beef is made with prac- 

 tically no effort on the part of the grower. 

 A first impression of the tall growth of 

 guinea grass that runs riot in Mantanzas and 

 Camaguey provinces is that it is worth less 

 for cattle feeding, but this impression is 



erroneous as even when allowed full growth 

 full height cattle get fat on it. This grass is 

 available all winter, which makes it possible 

 to turn off a crop of beef every month of the 

 year." 



Mr. Renick be'ieves that Cuba offers ex- 

 cellent scope for cattle raisers' energy, and 

 detected a possibility of fattening 500,000 

 steers annually on grass now going to waste. 

 Much of this grazing area is ill-suited to 

 agriculture and land that could be purchased 

 at $10 per acre could be cleared of grapevines 

 and other semi-tropical vegetation for about 

 half that sum. Instead of requiring ten to 

 fifteen acres to graze a steer the year round, 

 one and a half acres of this land is an abund- 

 ance. The entire island is but a few miles 

 from tide-water so that cattle could be driven 

 to slaughtering points where the beef could 

 be loaded for American ports. There is no 

 immediate prospect, however, despite its 

 magnificent natural resources. Years wiU be 

 needed to stock up this grass area even if the 

 task was begun promptly, with the backing 

 of adequate capital. Owing to the tick only 

 breeding cattle immune to splenetic fever 

 could be taken to the Island and that kind 

 of stock is abnormally scarce at present. — 

 Chicago World. 



Another testimony is that of J. F. Cook, 

 senior member of the firm of Cook & Brown, 

 prominent stockmen of Lexington, Ky., who 

 says that Havana is destined to become one 

 of the greatest markets in the world for 

 Kentucky-bred live stock. 



Mr. Cook attended the first annual Cuban 

 Live Stock Exposition held in Havana, in 

 April, at which he exhibited 100 head of 

 live stock, including horses, jacks, Jersey 

 cattle, sheep and hogs, winning twenty-two 

 prizes, amounting to $3,240. 



Mr. Cook, after the exposition, sold aU of 

 the hve stock which he took to Cuba with 

 him, excepting twelve, at fancy prices. 



A Cuban authority asserts that "The 

 stock of the island, while it is naturally good, 

 accUmatized and of a resistent class, so far 

 has had rather haphazard attention. The 

 excuse which is so commonly given, that we 

 cannot have good blooded stock in this 

 country on account of various plagues such 

 as ticks which spread the tick or 'Texas 

 fever,' are simply the excuses of unprogres- 

 sive men. The ticks and causes of the 

 various maladies can be eliminated and in 

 time wiU be." 



