THE CUBA REVIEW And Bulletin. 



JIaricultural and JUnerican €olony note$ 



CUBA S AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES. 



The Island has enormous natural re- 

 sources, one of the principal being the 

 amazing richness of the soil, a gift such 

 as nature seldom bestows. Hence the great 

 capacity for growing crops, particularly 

 those which flourish best in a tropical cli- 

 mate. Cuba already ranks high as an agri- 

 cultural region, but so far its surface has 

 been merely scratched. There are possi- 

 bilities of growth in sugar, tobacco and 

 grain culture and in various other lines of 

 agricultural effort, as well as in many kinds 

 of manufacturing that have as yet been 

 hardly suggested. The Cuban Secretary 

 of Agriculture estimates that the Island can 

 support in comfort a population of 

 12,000,000, whereas at present the inhabitants 

 number but a little over 1,500,000. — Troy 

 (N.Y.) Times. 



TO RIPEN BANANAS BY ELECTRIC LIGHT. 



It is said that an English electrical ex- 

 pert has discovered a means of ripening 

 bananas to order. The bunches are hung 

 in an airtight glass case, in which are a 

 number of electric lights. The artificial 

 light and heat hasten the ripening process 

 in proportion to' the number of lights 

 turned on. Records have been made which 

 enable the operators to make delivery of 

 any quantities at any agreed date. — Steward's 

 Bulletin (May), New York. 



RESULTS OF IRRIGATING CANE FIELDS. 



Sr. Eduardo Ferrers system of irriga-' 

 tion on the Magdalena estate at Cayamas 

 is simple, but complete. Tne water from 

 six natural springs is conducted to a nat- 

 ural reservoir conveniently located and con- 

 ducted through a galvanized sheet iron 

 aqueduct 150 feet long, and discharged into 

 the principal reservoir, which is carefully 

 constructed and has a concrete bottom. 

 From here the water is directed over the 

 fields in irrigation ditches. It can be ex- 

 tended to an area of thirty caballerias. 

 Cane planted in June, 1906, and 

 cut in April under this system of irriga- 

 tion yielded 80,000 arrobas per caballeria, 

 and the juice showed a percentage of 19^ 

 of sucrose. 



A GREAT CONVENIENCE FOR LA GLORIA. 



A municipal court has been established 

 at La Gloria to the great convenience of 

 the American settlers there. It means a 

 great saving of time and expense, for the 

 journey to the municipal court at Las 

 Minas, forty miles away, was no light mat- 

 ter, and meant considerable outlay and 

 about three days in time. 



IMPORTANT LITTLE THINGS WHICH MAKE FOR 

 SUCCESS IN GROWING SWINE. 



Goo'd feeding is, of course, one of the 

 great essentials, but careful observation is 

 also necessary. He should watch his ani- 



mals daily, and see that each eats with 

 a relish and that the bristles look smooth 

 and bright, and if they are free from ver- 

 min. The pens should also be frequently 

 cleaned and disinfected. To keep the diges- 

 tion good they should have some charcoal. 

 The best is made from burning corncobs. 

 We use a pit made somewhat after the 

 form of a cistern, about six feet in diam.- 

 eter and about the same depth, laid up in 

 stone. We start a fire at the bottom and 

 fill with corncobs, and as it comes to a 

 bright glow more cobs are added until 

 the pit is full ; then we pour in salt water 

 in which some powdered copperas has been 

 dissolved and cover the pit as nearly air- 

 tight as possible. The best kind of char- 

 coal will result, and every pig on the farm 

 will eat and relish it. One must get the 

 idea out of his head that anything is good 

 enough for a hog; the fact is that nothing 

 is too good for him — A. J. Lovejoy in Farm- 

 ing, for June. 



Cuba's cane possibilities. 

 A report of the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture of Cuba on the comparative condi- 

 tions of the crops for 1903, 1904 and 1905 

 indicated the working of about 10 millions 

 of tons of cane each year and the produc- 

 tion of about a million tons for each of 

 the years, the yield being about 10 per 

 cent, and the averao-e yield of sugar cane 

 per acre being about 27 tons. Incidentally, 

 it is stated that the republic of Cuba in- 

 cludes about 28 millions of acres of land, 

 of which 16 millions are cultivable, and 

 of which only 450,000 acres are thus far 

 planted in sugar cane. If all the land 

 in Cuba should^ go into sugar cane and 

 the present yield be maintained, the crop 

 of sugar would reach some thirteen or 

 fourteen millions o'f long tons. 



NEVER so LITTLE CUBAN TOBACCO. 



The shortage of the tobacco crop, ow- 

 ing to the lack of rain, has been in a 

 measure compensated for by the excellence 

 of the quality. Not since 1902, it is said, 

 has the quality of the wrappers been so 

 good as this year. While the drought has 

 not affected the tobacco of this class, which 

 is grown under shelter and artificially ir- 

 rigated, it has played havoc with the lower 

 grades and created a scarcity of filler ma- 

 terial. — Boston Transcript. 



NOTES FROM OMAJA^ CUBA. 



Omaja is on the main line of the Cuba 

 Company Railroad, gi miles from Cama- 

 guey, 106 miles from Santiago, and 89 miles 

 from Antilla on Nipe Bay. We have two 

 mails every day and direct railroad con- 

 nections with Santiago and Nipe Bay. 



In Omaja townsite much road and bridge 

 work has been done, all residents keep- 



