42 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



MODERN DISC PLOW WHICH IS REVOLUTIONIZING CUBAN 

 AGRICULTURAL METHODS. 



or four dajs, it will cure with 

 soft silky texture and pecu- 

 liar lustre which makes it very: ,fl 

 desirable. Very few of even 

 the most experienced growers 

 can tell with certainty just 

 when this most favorable pe- 

 riod arrives. 



The curing of tobacco, as 

 at present conducted, is almost 

 entirely dependent upon the 

 state of the weather; heavv 

 losses in the barns often follow 

 periods of unseasonable rains. Some cheap provision for artificial drying, when needed, 

 would obviate these losses. The question of seed selection has received almost no atten- 

 tion in Cuba. A casual inspection in any tobacco field will show plants of many different 

 types growing side by side. There is the greatest imaginable difference in the shape, 

 number and quality of the leaves. The simple expedient of saving seed only from 

 plants of the best type would alone, in two or three years, practically double the 

 value of the crop. What greater opportunity could be asked than this? 



Climatic conditions are such as to admit of making good butter and excellent 

 cheese, but nearly all of these products consumed are imported. 



The greater part of the American settlers in Cuba are devoting their attention 

 to the raising of fruits and vegetables for export. The pineapple industry has been 

 longest established and has proven to be safe and fairly profitable; it is largely con- 

 fined to the red land district lying directly west of Havana. 



The planting of oranges and other citrus fruits on a large scale only dates from 

 the first American intervention. The earliest planted orchards are now beginning 

 to bear and give evidence that this business will be a paying one wherever good judg- 

 ment has been used in the selection of soils and management of the orchards. As the 

 subject of citrus fruits has recently been discussed in these pages no further treat- 

 ment will be attempted at this time except to repeat the opinion already expressed 

 that the orange industry here bids fair to rival that of California within a few years. 



The business of raising vegetables for export is constantly increasing, as many 

 people who are planting orchards grow vegetable crops between the trees, for the 

 first two or three years, with the reasonable hope of meeting current expenses. Ex- 

 perience here as in all other regions is that vegetable growing for distant shipmeut 



