24 T H E C U B A R E r I E W 



for a full crop of 75,000 bags, and this without making allowance for cane fires 

 and other losses. Where are the other eight million or more arrobas of cane to come 

 from? 



This tract of 30 caballerias is surrounded by approximately 95 caballerias divided 

 into several colonias, the land owned by outside parties though supposedly controlled 

 by the central. As a matter of fact such control is precarious, and in reality the 

 colonos maintain quite an independent attitude. The same may be said of the soil 

 of these 95 caballerias as of the thirty, that there is a waste of at least one-fourth, 

 leaving about 70 caballerias available for cane which under present conditions cannot 

 produce over 30,000 arrobas per caballeria at an average, or a total of some 2,100,000 

 arrobas. 



At a distance of six kilometers from the batey is an ancient mill which is being 

 demolished this year and its lands, consisting of 63 caballerias, have been leased to the 

 Central "Highview" for a period of time. Of these 63 caballerias about one-third, 

 or 22 caballerias, are now in cane and will produce a maximum average of about 

 35,000 arrobas per caballeria (the land is somewhat better than that owned by the 

 Central "Highview"), or say a total of three quarters of a million arrobas, but 

 there are in all about 55 caballerias of this tract available for planting. 



There is, therefore, a total of approximately 150 caballerias available for cane 

 in the immediate vicinity of the mill practically controlled by the central which under 

 existing conditions will produce not over four and one-half million arrobas of cane 

 if all were planted, with a low juice extraction and a sugar content barely reaching 

 11 per cent. And this without making allowance for cane tires. In other words, 

 the central controls (and even that control is precarious) in the neighborhood of 

 the mill less than one-half of the amount of cane it requires to make a full crop. 

 Consequently the central must go outside for the other half (or more), often under 

 unfavorable conditions, with high prices and long, expensive railroad hauls, which 

 leave but a very small margin, if any. 



A few years ago an attempt was made by the Central "Highview" to control a 

 zone of about 200 caballerias at a distance of some 30 kilometers from the mill. 

 Fully one-half of the haul is over a public service railroad at high freight rates; 

 a private branch road was constructed from the property in question to a point on 

 the public service road. The engineering difficulties are such, the grades so heavy, 

 that only four cars of cane can be hauled at one time; the delays occasioned in 

 transit over the stretch of public service road are many; and the cost of reconstructing 

 the private branch, and connecting the central's line running from the mill out to 

 the dependent colonias, would be almost prohibitive. 



More serious, however, is the question of cultivation in that district of 200 

 caballerias. It is broken land, not undulating but rough; the formation is basic 

 coral, and one-half of the area at least is taken up by boulders, the cane being planted 

 between these boulders. Cultivation other than with the hoe, and that even with 

 difficulty, is out of the question; the use of plow and harrow is an utter impossibility. 

 The cane is poor, low juice extraction and sugar content. Canes grown in the soils 

 of Oriente and Camaguey provinces that were left uncut for four consecutive years, 

 when cut gave almost the normal percentages of juice and sucrose; these canes, however, 

 that for various reasons were left uncut for from three to four years were dried out. 

 So poor were they, in fact, that it was considered expedient this last dead season 

 to burn them off and allow the ratoons to spring. Even this, however, will be of but 

 little avail, and the reason for this condition of the cane, and that the cane planted 

 in this zone cannot last, is due in part to the principle of "fireless cooking." From 

 the time of planting, or after cutting, while the cane is small and the stools uncovered 

 and unprotected, these rocks and boulders heat up under the burning sun and inevitably 

 affect the seed and stools or roots. Again, the expense, both of new development and 

 of weeding present cane fields, is prohibitive; and the haulage of the cane extremely 

 expensive. As has been said, one-half of the area at least is taken up by boulders. 



