THE CUBA REVIEW And I'.ullotin. 



Jigricultural and Jlntcrican Colony notes 



A SHIPMENT OF CANNED PINE- 

 APPLES FROM CUBA. 



Prices Secured — Hints of Market Re- 

 quirements. 



During August, two j-oung men form- 

 ing the Matanzas Fruit & Rubber Co. 

 shipped north some i,6oo bt)xes of 

 canned pineapples. Their farm is at a 

 place called Potrerillo, across the bay 

 from Gibara on the north coast. This is 

 their first shipment, as their plant has 

 just been installed. It may interest 

 readers of the Cub.\ Review to learn 

 some facts concerning this enterprise 

 secured frcim Mr. P. F. Smith of the 

 firm : "We canned the Red Spanish, and 

 we canned them full ripe. We began 

 canning in the middle of May and put 

 up 6,6/0 gallons, in gallon tins, and 

 shipped them all north. Ihe machinery 

 for canning and the cans came from the 

 States. The plant has a capacity of 

 10,000 pines a day and cost to install 

 $3,000. "Remember," cautioned Mr. Smith, 

 "it might cost another man a good deal 

 more, for I set up the plant myself, and 

 built the house myself, and if labor is 

 hired for this work the cost will be cor- 

 respondingly increased." The cans cost 

 14 cents each, which included freight 

 and duty. In exporting the cans came in 

 free. Mr. Smith has 200, cod plants, all 

 Red Spanish, they averaged 3 to 6 pounds 

 each. The machine can handle a 6- 

 pound pine only. The smooth Cayenne 

 he found unsuitable, as it must be peeled 

 by hand, and that meant hired labor and 

 consequently increased expense. Mr. 

 Smith is more than satisfied with the 

 prices he received ana will make a ver\' 

 much larger shipment next season. He 

 found the dry weather very discourag- 

 ing and injurious to the pines, keeping 

 them small in size. Suf^ar lands, he 

 was satisfied, were not good lands for 

 juneaoples and neither was black soil. 

 The best were red soils and a mixture 

 of red and black. 



Mr. Charles T. Howe, of Howe & Co., 

 who sold the "ineapples for Mr. Smith, 

 said that as specimens of Cuban fruit 

 they "were all right." They left nothing 

 to be desired. Such fruit put up as re- 

 quired by the New York market would 

 sell readily and at remunerative prices. 

 There is a good demand for canned pine- 

 apple and the demand was increasing, 

 but Mr. Howe advised the grower in 

 Cuba to get in touch with reliable firms 

 in New York for information as to the 

 best manner of canning pineapples in 



order to secure prompt sales. He said 

 further: "There are many different ways 

 of canning pineapple, the public demand 

 one kind and then another. Some are 

 canned with sugar and some with<;)Ut. 

 These Gibara pineapples though without 

 sugar were so sweet ti.at I almost ac- 

 cused the grower of sweetening them. 

 There is also grated or crushed pine- 

 auple largely used by pie-bakers, v^rushed 

 pineapple takes care of the waste and 

 small pieces. Then there is sliced pine- 

 apple and pineapple in chunks and in 

 cubes. In fact, there are about 134 dif- 

 ferent styles to please the New York 

 market." 



The trade in canned Porto Rico pines 

 is growing and the prices secured will 

 give our readers an idea as to the profits 

 of a similar venture in Cuba: 



Sliced pineapnle, 3-inch slices, sells for 

 IOC. to 10V2C. per lb. to the retailer. This 

 price is for fruit alone, excluding the 

 weight of the cans. There are about 

 5 lbs. in a gallon can. Grated pineapple 

 with sugar sells for $5 to $5.50 per 

 dozen gallon cans. Put up in pound 

 cans, sliced pineapples would sell at 

 retail in New York readily for 20c. per 

 can. The demand is great and con- 

 stantly increasing. The firm mentioned 

 disposes of 185,000 cases per year and 

 there are many other firms dealing in the 

 same product. We might add that any 

 American community in Cuba could make 

 arrangements with this firm u])on the 

 receipt of assurances as to their relia- 

 bility and secure financial assistance in 

 the establishment of a canning industry 

 in their colony. 



Los Indios, hicated on the 

 Xotcs from west coast of the Isle of 

 Los Indios. Pines, on the deepest har- 

 bor on the island's coast, is 

 an entirely new town, pooulated by Am- 

 ericans. A good many of the people are 

 employed in the sawmills of the Canada 

 Land & P^ruit Company. From the saw- 

 mills a long tramway leads to the Los 

 Indios river, where the lumber is loaded 

 on schooners and shipped to Cuba, where 

 it finds a good, readv market. The best 

 pine lumber brings from $20 to $30 per 

 i.coo feet; red Spanish cedar and ma- 

 hogany un to $150 and $200 per i.oco 

 feet in Havana. There are large tracts 

 of land under cultivation with citrus 

 fruit and there are fine vegetable gar- 

 dens. .\ company store and a rooming 

 house with up-to-date modern improve- 

 ments afford comfort to newcomers and 

 visitors. 



