2S 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



Concrete I'ence Posts 



(From Farmers' Bulletin, No. 402, issued by the 

 L'nited States Department of Agriculture) 



It says tliat as a material for the coii- 

 slructitiii of fence posts concrete has all 

 the advantages and few of the disadvan- 

 tages of wooden posts, and in some re- 

 spects is superior to timber. After three 

 years wooden posts have lost almost one- 

 half of their original strength, while con- 

 crete grows stronger with age and needs 

 no repairs, for neither weather nor fire in- 

 jures it. They can be made uniform in 

 size and color and under ordinary circum- 

 ^^tances last forever. 



There are steel and wooden moulds re- 

 quired for making the posts, but steel is 

 reconnnended as it is lighter, easier han- 

 dled and gives the post a neater tinish. 

 .Xcighhors should club together in order to 

 l)uy steel moulds and save expense. 



A \ery loose soil requires a post with 

 larger ends and wider sides or a greater 

 length for deeper setting. 



As concrete has a tendencj- to stick, a 

 coating of oil should be given the inside 

 of the mould, soft soap or crude oil, used 

 sparingly, will do. Too much will destroy 

 the setting qualities of the cement and give 

 a rough surface Reinforcement i)y means 

 of steel bars, rods or wire is recommended 

 as an additional security. 



The past season has demonstrated beyond 

 a doubt that at present, and probably for 

 many years to come, the best market for 

 t"ul)an oranges is, and will be, Cuba itself. 

 During this year practically all of the 

 growers here have sold their fruit at the 

 grove to buyers from Camaguey and Cai- 

 barien at from :50 to 70 cents per hundred, 

 — /.(/ Gloria Cuban-American. 



IHghlaiid Irrigation in Ctiba 



(I'rom J. K. Elwell, Santiago dc Cuba) 

 It is not generally known that irrigation 

 is i)eing tested in Cuba and is giving re- 

 markable results. Up to this time it has 

 been confmed to lowlands where the water 

 could be drawn from a stream and easily 

 distributed over the sugar cane lands. 



The tirst attempt at highland irrigation 

 is now in successful operation at the Sole- 

 dad Sugar Central, Guantanamo District, 

 near the U. S. Naval Station. "Ingenio" 

 Solcdad is one of the several sugar estates 

 controlled by the Guantanamo Sugar Com- 

 pany and has been managed for many 

 vears by Mr. Ernest Brooks, an English- 

 man born in Cuba. The water used for 

 irrigation is raised from a river to an 

 elevation of 100 feet by a 64 horsepower 

 centrifugal engine, the pump supplying 

 1,200 gallons of water per minute. The 

 pipe from river to pump is 14 inches ; the 

 pipe which carries water to the fields is 

 12 inches; the engine uses 80 gallons of al- 

 cohol each 24 hours, the alcohol is inanu- 

 factured on the plantation, its cost being 

 al)Out five cents per gallon ; it takes but two 

 men to operate the pumping plant, each 

 taking an eigjit-hour shift. When plant- 

 ing new cane one laborer can distrii)ute the 

 water over [\wq. acres. The area now 

 abundantly watered by the G4 horsepower 

 centrifugal pump is 400 acres. Cane planted 

 in January, Cuba's drj'est season, was four 

 feet high May 1st, of a deep green, strong 

 and healthy. _ 



The State School of Agriculture, of 

 Xew York, recommends the mixture of 

 fertilizers by the farmers from raw ma- 

 terials, and the followinsf formula is rec- 

 ommended : Nitrate of soda, 400 pounds ; 

 acid rock, 1,100 pounds ; potash, 500 pounds. 



Out in the country. A small village near a sugar mill 



