THE CUBA REVIEW And Bulletin. 



RUBBER IN CUBA.* 



The shipment of some 450 pounds of 

 rubber from Cuba to New York was the 

 prime reason for a visit recently paid the 

 island by Mr. Henry C. Pearson, of "The 

 India Rubber World," and he embodies his 

 experience and observations in an interest- 

 ing illustrated article which appears in the 

 current number of his journal. That the 

 climate and soil of Cuba are suitable for the 

 cultivation of certain species |o'f rubber 

 trees has been known for half a century 

 or more. 



Even with very considerable outputs of 

 sugar and tobacco only some 10 per cent, 

 of the 30,000,000 cultivable acres in Cuba 

 are being worked, and Mr. Pearson esti- 

 mates that there are at least some 20,000,000 

 acres of fertile land still available. The 

 rainfall is heavy enough for rubber, and 

 the soil in many parts of the island very 

 suitable for the cultivation of these trees. 

 So far next to nothing appears to have been 

 done in the planting of the Hevea Brasili- 

 ensis variety. 



At the Cuban agricultural experiment sta- 

 tion at Santiago de las Vegas there are Cas- 

 tilloas S years old which seem to be the most 

 fancied variety for Cuba, for, in Mr. Bak- 

 er's opinion, they might just as well be 

 planted as a shade for tobacco instead of 

 the worthless trees at present used for that 

 purpose. As far back as 1830 Castilloa 

 Elastica seeds were distributed from the 

 Havana Botanical Gardens among plant- 

 ers. Some of the seeds managed to find 

 their way to mother earth, and are now 

 represented by small clumps of well-grown 

 trees, with thousands of naturally-reared 

 seedlings growing up under their shade, 

 in each case furnishing, as Mr. Pearson 

 points out, "a natural nursery that could 

 easily be developed into a large planta- 

 tion." The secretary of the Secretaria de 

 Agriculturia was equally at a loss with the 

 editor of our contemporary to discover any 

 planting of Hevea Brasiliensis in the island 

 on a scale extensive enough for an expert 



AMERICAN CRUISERS LEAVE CUBA. • 



The cruisers Tacoma and Des Moines 

 have gone from Cuban waters, the former 

 going to Boston and the latter to New 

 York, both for general overhauling and 

 cleaning. The Dixie in Havana harbor is 

 now the only naval vessel in Cuban waters. 



BRITISH VICE-CONSUL. 



The cl:pj.rtment of state has authorized 

 Mr. Richard Brooks to discharge the duties 

 of British vice-consul at Guantanamo, dur- 

 ing the absence of Consul Theodore 

 Brooks. 



NEW BRANCHES OF THE NATIONAL BANK 

 OF CUBA. 



A new branch has been established at 

 Sancti Spiritus and at Cuarto Carriinos. 



to judge of the fitness or unfitness of the 

 variety for cultivation in Cuba. The Ficus 

 Elastica seems to do well, and, apparently 

 indigenous to the island, are a number of 

 rubber-bearing plants. Mr. Pearson directs 

 attention to a number of possible rubber 

 producers in the province of Pinar del Rio. 

 These are indigenous plants, and are known 

 to the natives as "goma," "gomero," and 

 "palo babo.'' 



So far, however, comparatively little at- 

 tention has been paid to the rubber planta- 

 tion potentialities of Cuba. Mr. Pearson 

 says, "the unfortunate part of the Cuban 

 rubber cultivation proposition is that to-day 

 there is only one producing plantation— 

 away down at the eastern end of the is- 

 land—and there the chief attention is paid 

 to coffee, cacao and other crops, and no 

 definite records of rubber are obtainable. 

 This plantation is known as Olimpo and 

 IS owned by Senor Arturo Mourthe. It is 

 situated some 40 miles from the city of 

 Santiago, in a section where the land is 

 exceedingly rich and well adapted for Cas- 

 tilloa cultivation." When American enter- 

 prise does develop the industry in Cuba, 

 the output of the rubber plantations, it is 

 safe to assume, will follow those of the 

 properties now controlled by Americans in 

 Mexico and Central America to the United 

 States, where the demand for the com- 

 modity is, if possible, even greater than it 

 is to-day in Europe, and is bound, human- 

 ly speaking, to show an even larger ratio of 

 increase in the future. The hint given by 

 the botanist in charge of the station at 

 Santiago de las Vegas need not be over- 

 looked by those already engaged in planting 

 in the island. Such planters might well 

 grow Castilloa as shade for coffee, cacao 

 and tobacco, for the tree would unques- 

 tionably serve its primary purpose, and the 

 cultivation under varying conditions would 

 supply scientists and others with valuable 

 data for future and further operations. — 

 Rialto, London, Eng. 



SR. BACARDI, ONE OF CUBANS OLDEST MER- 

 CHANTS, IS DEAD. 



Jose Bacardi, brother of ex-Senator Ba- 

 cardi, owner of the celebrated Ron Bacardi 

 Distillery, and of which he was general 

 manager, died June 24 at Santiago de Cuba 

 after a month's illness. Sehor Bacardi was 

 also a member of the city council of Ha- 

 vana, and very well known in business and 

 social circles, both in Santiago and Havana. 



He was one of the oldest of Cuba's mer- 

 chants, and part owner of the rich sugar 

 plantation Central San Jose at Melena del 

 Sur, and interested in extensive business 

 affairs in Santiago and a prominent member 

 of the Board of Trade. 



* See article entitled "A Typical Cuban Farm," on page 7, for some curious discoveries of 

 seedlings on a Cuban farm, and the earning power per acre planted to rubber. 



