THE CUBA REVIEW And Bulletin. 



23 



Twenty years ago the banana 

 Increased was an unfamiliar fruit to 

 Consumption many in America. To-day 

 in Tropical several of the Pacific Coast 

 Fruits. markets consume a carload 

 each of bananas per day. A 

 few years ago grape-fruit was practically 

 unknown. To-day its increasing consump- 

 tion is surprising wholesale dealers. 



The pineapple has only begun to gain in 

 popularity. The avocado is a rarity in a 

 few markets and never reaches most of the 

 large cities. The mango is not known. All 

 these and a number of other tropical fruits 

 will certainly make a large place for them- 

 selves in the American market, and the 

 eastern markets will be supplied by Cuba, 

 and other tropical regions. — J. E. Higgins, 

 Horticulturist, Hawaii Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station. 



There were 112 vellow fever 



Yelloit.1 cases in Cuba during the 



Fever in year igc6, of which ^,3 



igo6. proved fatal. Havana had 



71 and 12 deaths. Fifty 



cases occurred between October i and 



December 31. — Bulletin Int. Bureau of 



the American Republics. 



Coffee was introduced into 

 A Short Cuba as early as 1720, and 

 History of the first coffee plantation was 

 Coffee. established near Havana in 

 1748. French immigrants 

 from Hayti extended the cultivation 

 of this berry in 1780, and the in- 

 dustry thrived so well that in 1846 there 

 were about 2,328 coffee plantations in Cuba. 

 The price of coffee went down, and iis cul- 

 tivation began to diminish in 1850. and in 

 1894 there were only 191 estates. The 

 cause of this decrease was not simply owing 

 to the lower prices it commanded, because 

 coffee was imported from South America 

 and East India, and on account of com- 

 petition, but principally owing to the care- 

 less methods employed in the cultivation 

 of coffee, so it decreased in quality and 

 quantity. Furthermore, it was found to 

 be more profitable to raise sugar cane and 

 make sugar. A small patch of ground, 

 about two hundred feet, would be sufficient 

 to produce enough coffee to supply a fam- 

 ily of eight persons. Mountainous or hilly 

 regions and a fertile soil, loose and fresh, 

 are the requirements for producing a good 

 crop. The tender shoots are easily injured 

 by dry weather and heavy winds, so' it is 

 desirable to plant them in a shady place, 

 well sheltered from storms and rains. 

 Therefore, the plantations are generally de- 

 voted to other products and the plants are 

 raised between orange, banana or other 

 trees. The plantations begin to produce 

 the berries within three or four years, and 

 within seven years the crop is usually very 

 flourishing. The little plants bloom from 

 December to May, and the berry takes from 

 seven to eight months to ripen and develop 

 fully. The harvest is in October. Usually 

 the cultivation of other products will cover 



Nezv 

 $1,000,000 



Sugar 

 Company. 



Governor's 



Decree 

 Welcome. 



the cost of cultivating the coffee plants and 

 after a few years the harvest will bring in 

 good profits. 



Albany, August 19, 1907. — 

 The Colombia Sugar Co. of 

 New York, $1,000,000 cap- 

 ital, has filed articles of in- 

 corporation with the Secre- 

 tary of State. The direc- 

 tors are: F. Velez, of Havana, Cuba, 

 and A. T. Hanabegh and F. H. Field, of 

 Brooklyn. 



The governor's decree na- 

 tionalizing the sanitation of 

 the island, is welcome. It 

 centralizes the service and 

 obliges municipalities to 

 contribute services and funds to a por- 

 tion of the work. The new board will 

 consist of one chief and five members 

 holding office four years. The decree 

 was signed August 2p. ' The army con- 

 trol over sanitary matters will be a re- 

 lief to those American otficers who up 

 to now have had the general supervision. 

 ]^Iajor Kean, supervisor of the Depart- 

 ment of Sanitation, and his assistants 

 were constantly hampered by the indif- 

 ference and jealousy of the municipal 

 doctors, who, protected by political in- 

 fluence, resented army suggestion and 

 direction. The nationalization of the 

 sanitary work takes all their authority 

 away and places it wholly under the 

 direction of the U. S. Army. The ex- 

 penses of the department will be de- 

 frayed by the state and city councils will 

 contribute ten per cent, of the cost. Dr. 

 Lopez del Valle has been chosen local 

 sanitary chief of Havana. Presidents 

 and chiefs will be elected or appointed 

 and the biological, chemical and bacteri- 

 ological laboratorv will be sustained in 

 Havana, supplied with the necessary 

 equipment for carrying on the work. The 

 chief surgeon and medical doctor shall 

 be appointed for a term of four years, 

 and a sanitary board shall be appointed 

 to direct matters in the capital, and 

 local chiefs at each town with such em- 

 ployees as may be required. 



p. , Week ending August 10, 



rweappie ^^^^ crates. Week ending 



nxpoits. August 17, 1351 crates. 



from Havana. ^^^^ ^^^-^^ ^^f^^^^ ^^^ gg^ 



crates. Week ending August 31, 450 

 crates. Total from January i to August 31, 

 inclusive, 640,276 crates. 



Some new buildings facing Matanzas harbor, in 

 course of construction by the Matanzas RR. & W. Co. 



