THE CUBA REVIEW 



49 



The plants will live and make some growth and blossom during the summer months, 

 but as a rule all the blossoms drop without setting fruit. This is true of eggplant and 

 many other vegetables. 



A word might be said about the much talked-of rainy season in Cuba This Ts a 

 very variable affair. It may begin during April or May and last for several months, 

 with a long dry spell in July and August, or it may be dry until June, after which 

 will come two or three wet months, or there may be more or less rain through the 

 whole year; usually we expect a good deal of rain from May until October and these 

 rains usually come in the form of showers, occurring between noon and six in the af- 

 ternoon every day or two or three times a week, or there may be a dry spell of a week 

 to three weeks. From October until May we look for less rain ; it may come in the 

 form of a shower every few weeks and lasting only a few hours or it may come as an 

 easy rain and last several days. 



Before taking up the different kinds of vegetables which succeed in Cuba we 

 wish to say a little about the soil here at the Station, so that readers can have a 

 better idea of the work. Our soil is a heavy red clay which becomes very loose and 

 open during the dry weather and very sticky when wet. It is a very poor soil to 

 hold moisture, drying out so fast that shallow rooted plants suffer for waler In a 

 f6w days after a heavy rain. Several kinds of vegetables, that succeed in the sandy 

 and loamy soils of other parts of the island, will not grow well here. We have seen 

 squashes, melons, etc., that fail with us, doing well in the lighter soils. In this 

 paper we shall give a list of the varieties that have succeeded with us. 



For the convenience of the reader we will divide the vegetables into three classes : 

 first, those that have given good success ; second, those which have given only fair 

 success ; and third, those that have been practically a failure at the Station. 

 I. The Kinds That Have Given Excellent Success. 



These are tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, okra, lettuce, 

 beets, carrots, parsnips, radishes, rata bagas, salsify, - — — 



STRAW- 

 BERRIES 



GROW 

 WELL IN 



CUBA. 



A HEAVY 

 CROP OF 

 ./ BEANS. 



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YOUNG LETTUCE PLANTS. 



