THE CUBA REVIEW And Bulletin. 



19 



PiNAR DEL Rio wants an Experiment Sta- 

 tion. The Governor, Colonel Scbrado, Dr. 

 Gonzalez Alcorta and Ramon Cifuentes, all 

 leading citizens of the city and province, 

 have taken np the matter with Governor 

 Magoon. 



Continuous Drought. — The drought is 

 steadily becoming more serious. Tobacco 

 experts say that the crop would have been 

 the largest in the history of the island but 

 for the lack of water, which will cause it 

 to be below the normal. Porto Rico, like 

 Cuba, has sufifered from lack of rain. There 

 has been none since January i. 

 substituting fine, profitable trees for 

 inferior and medium kinds. 



Consul-General Richard Guenther, of 

 Frankfort, reports a movement among 

 German fruit growers for the purpose of 

 getting rid of all inferior and medium 

 fruit trees and replacing them with the 

 finest kind and best suited to the climate. 

 The desired result can be achieved, even 

 with very old trees, by grafting, and the 

 simple stock or slit grafting is especially 

 recommended. In Switzerland many 

 thousands of old fruit trees are annually 

 regrafted in order to better meet the 

 demands of the trade. 



Conditions not so Good in Cuba. — Sev- 

 eral days ago, from a private source of in- 

 formation, whose reliability cannot be ques- 

 tioned, we received a personal letter, under 

 date of April 8, from a party prominently 

 connected with the Cuban sugar industry, 

 in which he says of sugar conditions there : 

 "Lack of rain has burnt the cane to a ter- 

 ribly dry condition. Many houses in the 

 western end have closed down, and this 

 month (April) will see many more in like 

 condition. The new cane is not growing, 

 and no planting has been done. Pastures 

 are dead, water supplies dry, and cattle, in 

 consequence, are suffering badly. Next 

 year's sugar crop will be an extremely short 

 one, and it looks as if quite a number of 

 places may go under." — ■ Sugar Planters' 

 Journal, April 20, 1907. 



NOTES FROM BAYATI. 



Bayati is on the Canto River on the 

 line of the Cuba Railroad, halfway be- 

 tween Santiago and Antilla, at an alti- 

 tude of about 500 feet above the sea. 

 The Canto Valley has some of the 

 richest soil in the island. With numer- 

 ous small rivers and high undulating land 

 no overflow or swampiness is possible, 

 and the sanitary conditions cannot be 

 better. The colony consists of about 

 100 members, mostly of Swedish extrac- 

 most of them have been there about a 

 year. It requires work in Cuba as else- 

 where to make progress, and the one 

 tion, but all American citizens. The 



that comes with the idea to get rich quick 

 without any trouble generally gets dio- 

 couraged and returns. The most of our 

 farmers, however, are contented when 

 they get 40 bushels per acre twice a 

 year of corn and get $1.25 per bushel. 

 The main crops here as elsewhere are 

 sugar-cane and tobacco. The cane yields 

 in this rich soil 40 and 50 tons per acre 

 and need not be replanted for 10 or 20 

 years. There is a sugar mill about 10 

 miles south of the colony on the rail- 

 road. The cane has been sold at the mill 

 for 5% sugar or has been contracted for 

 on the root at 50 lbs. of sugar per ton 

 of cane, the contractor doing all the 

 work of harvesting. A canning factory 

 is started for tomatoes and pineapples 

 and a starch factory is contemplated tor 

 the cassava. Vegetables and cassava 

 grow luxuriantly; even during this ex- 

 ceedingly dry winter this soil seems to 

 hold moisture enough for a luxuriant 

 growth without any other moisture than 

 the heavy night dews. A saw mill has 

 been going for about a year and a cart 

 factory is now being installed in con- 

 nection with it. A good sized hotel has 

 been erected this winter. 



HARD LABOR REQUIRED IN CUBA AS ELSEWHERE 

 IF FINE FRUITS ARE WANTED. 



Ceballos is an attractive place, and tne 

 soil will apparently grow anything. As- 

 paragus, butter beans, beets, kohlrabi, 

 chard, peas, lettuce, tomatoes, eggplants, 

 squash, peppers were growing freely last 

 February in the garden of the Hotel 

 Plaza and looked strong and had proven 

 productive. Some of these, perhaps 

 peas, beans and asparagus, while attain- 

 able for the table, will probably not 

 become a commercial factor for some 

 time, although as Cuba's soil is system- 

 atically and scientifically tilled, as it al- 

 ready is and will be by skilled farmers, 

 there can be no prophecy worth uttering 

 regarding the great possibilities in store. 

 But some of the settlers seem to lose 

 heart when they find that labor and hard 

 labor is required in Cuba as elsewhere 

 in order to secure fine vegetables and 

 fruits which will command the best 

 prices. Besides, new and unknown ob- 

 stacles confront the newcomer. While 

 useful plants grow tremendously with 

 proper cultivation, so do the weeds, and 

 to clear land and to keep it cleared costs 

 labor and money, and as many in the 

 smaller colonies have little or no reserve 

 capital when the land becomes theirs, 

 there is not much improvement work 

 possible and discouragement comes soon. 

 These, when able, sell out and go back 

 to the States and have no good word 

 for Cuba. Every intending settler should 



