28 



THE CUBA U E J' I E W 



ous, but the principal ones have been the 

 abundant crops of the past few years, the 

 reluctance on the part of the managements 

 of certain estates to admit the occurrence 

 of the disease on their properties or to 

 recognize its importance, and the desire 

 of the Department of Agriculture to wash 

 its hands of a problem too big for it to 

 attack successfully. 



In Porto Rico the disease has been re- 

 garded as the worst scourge known in the 

 cane fields and energetic measures, which 

 give every promise of being successful, 

 have been undertaken for its control. In 

 Hawaii it has been held in check by the 

 planting system employed and the prac- 

 tice of a rigid selection of seed cane. In 

 Java its importance has long been acknowl- 

 edged and control measures employed. 



Cuban Conditions Favor Spread 



Cuban conditions and field practice are 

 particularly favorable to the spread of the 

 disease, as replanting is infrequent on good 

 soils and, especially in recent years, the 

 principle of selection of seed cane has been 

 the reverse of that employed in the other 

 countries mentioned, the best cane being 

 sent to the mill and that of poorer quality 

 saved for planting. This practice, com- 

 bined with lack of information on the 

 part of the field management of the es- 

 tates, has been the cause of extensive 

 planting of seed cane affected by the dis- 

 ease, every stalk of which produces a 

 diseased stool. As the ill effects are not 

 at once visible to the eye entire diseased 

 fields have passed unnoticed, and only a 

 comparative analysis would show the ex- 

 tent of the resulting losses. 



Recently there have been signs of a par- 

 tial awakening among estate managements 

 to the serious nature of the situation pro- 

 duced by former neglect, and a growth of 

 interest in the means of combating the 

 disease. Although individual estates, by 

 proper measures, can rid their own fields 

 of the disease, its complete eradication is 

 something that can only be accomplished 

 by cooperation among the mills to this end 

 and by unflagging effort. Further atten- 

 tion to this serious factor in the industry 

 will be given as new information on the 

 subject is forthcoming. 



— Facts About Sugar. 



No Parcel Post to Cuba 



It is apparent from constant inquiries 

 made that there is a widespread misunder- 

 standing in regard to mail and parcel post 

 to Cuba, the general impression in business 

 circles being that it is merely necessary to 

 raise the weight limit of packages. 



There is no parcel-post service to Cuba, 

 since the Cuban Government has never 

 ratified either of the parcel-post agreements 

 to which the United States is signatory and 

 has recently declined to enter into a sep- 

 arate parcel-post convention. The reason 

 for this lies in the fact that the Revised 

 Statutes of the United States prohibit the 

 importation of cigars and cigarettes by 

 parcel post in quantities of less than 3,000. 

 The feeling in Cuba is that, as cigars are 

 the only commodity which would be 

 shipped in any great quantity by parcel 

 post, the institution of such a service would 

 offer no attractions to that countrj'. 



The sending of merchandise to Cuba 

 must be done, therefore, through the first- 

 class mail at a much higher rate and a 

 much lower weight limit. This results in 

 a serious congestion of mails with a large 

 amount of bulky matter, and a correspond- 

 ing delay in the handling of the more urg- 

 ent classes of mail. Although past efforts 

 to remedy this situation have proved un- 

 available, it is hoped that in the near fut- 

 ure a solution may be found that will per- 

 mit a parcel-post agreement. Such a 

 change would greatly benefit our export 

 business to the island and would be a de- 

 cided relief to the first-class mail. 



Lequeito 



The old sugar mill Lequeito which used 

 to grind in the Turquino district is being 

 dismounted and will be transferred to a 

 new sugar cane zone. The Cuban Cane 

 Corporation, owner of this mill, intends 

 to install the machinery in Camaguey 

 province on virgin lands. This measure 

 has been taken by the Company because 

 the cane fields in this district were already 

 old and produced small quantities of cane 

 and as small a percentage of sugar. Ac- 

 cording to news received, the old cane 

 fields will be purchased by the Caracas 

 Sugar Corporation, which will build a new 

 mill under the management of Sr. Gomez, 

 administrator of Sugar Mill Caracas. 



