THE CUBA REVIEW And Bulletin. 



22> 



TOBACCO. 



Effects o£ the Cigarmakers' Strike. 



■" I 'HE strike of the Cuban cigarmakers, 

 J- who wo]i their demands for payment 

 in money of the United States, which 

 was equivalent to an advance of lo per 

 cent., says the Philadelphia World, was fol- 

 lowed by a similar demand by the planters, 

 who insisted that goods sent into the United 

 States must also be paid for in American 

 coin. This is a direct advance to the Am- 

 erican factories of lo per cent. 



The strike in Cuba also set producers 

 back many months in their orders, and the 

 factories in Key West, Tampa and other 

 cities are advertising for cigarmakers, be- 

 ing short of ihelp, the demand for cigars 

 now being almost unprecedented. The 

 strike has even affected the holiday box 

 trade, and the largest producers will not 

 book orders for any kind of holiday pack- 

 ages, and Christmas gifts of cigars, usually 

 packed in fancy boxes, will this season be 

 sent out in ordinary boxes. The strike, say 

 some independent producers in the United 

 States, is also' responsible for the cutting off 

 of a popular 5-cent brand which cannot now 

 be made at a profit. Money is scarce in 

 Cuba, says the Tobacco World, October 7, 

 and rates of interest on loans forbiddingly 

 high, consequently now is the time to buy 

 in the island, for many dealers wish to les- 

 sen their holdings, and the man with cash 

 can make favorable purchases. 



While Havana cigar manufacturers are 

 working with full forces, the World says 

 a new strike would cause no surprise. The 

 cigarmakers committee's demands include 

 among other things that instead of reducing 

 his help 'during slack season, that he re- 

 duce the hours of labor, and thus keep all 

 e:nployed. In reply to this the Manufac- 

 turers' Union said they intended to remain 

 sole masters of their factories and would 



conduct their business according to their 

 own best judgment. Owing to the friction 

 m the cigarmaking field, buyers are com- 

 pelled to overlook many blemishes in color 

 and workmanship. 



FORMALIN AND BORDEAUX MIXTURE PREVENTS 

 AND CHECKS DAMPING OFF. 



Circular No. 28, issued in September by 

 the Cuban Agricultural Station, and pre- 

 pared by Mr. W. T. Home, gives the re- 

 sults of experiments made to overcome the' 

 damping off of young plants, especially to- 

 b.^cco. 



Full description is given of experiments in 

 sterilizing the soil by means of formalin 

 au'd bordeaux mixture. The former was 

 found to be a preventive only, for if the 

 disease appeared in the sterilized seed beds 

 it spread as rapidly as in the unsterilized 

 beds. 'The bordeaux mixture is recom- 

 mended to stop the pudricion or damping 

 off after it has appeared. The circular 

 gives full directions for making this mix- 

 ture, but cautious against its careless use, 

 if not carefully made, for it will kill all 

 seedlings. It gives the costs of the forma- 

 lin preparation as $14 for 5 gallons and 

 the cost of 30 pounds of copper sulphate to 

 make the bordeaux mixture as $4.50. This 

 latter will be sufficient for treating 2,000 

 square feet. 



Later experiments carried on after the 

 circular referred to was issued gave the 

 following interesting results. No further 

 data regarding the action of formalin was 

 recorded, as the weather being dry no' 

 pudricion appeared in the open fields. It 

 did appear, however, in the closed beds 

 and bordeaux mixture was found to effect- 

 u.^lly check the damping off and unexpected- 

 ly protecting the beds from cut worms, 

 another very destructive insect enemy. 



AGRICULTURE. 



We have already mentioned 

 A Machine to this curious machine, about 

 Wrap which some details have 

 Oranges. reached us, says the Paris 

 Journal d'Agriculture Tropi- 

 cale. The machine receives the oranges as 

 they come out of the sorter on an endless 

 chain furnished with pockets of felt and 

 rubber. The wrapping paper comes from 

 a roll. It is printed, cut into the_ desired 

 sizes and wrapped around the fruit. The 

 latter is held between a fixed pad covered 

 with felt and a piston of rubber, while a 

 single operation twists the paper so as to 

 completely envelop the orange. There is in 

 all this a notable saving of paper over 

 wrapping the fruit by hand about 20 per 

 cent. Moreover, this avoids the buying of 

 paper of different sizes, as it is possible to 

 adjust the machine for oranges of all sizes. 



The machine operates with such delicacy 

 that even eggs can be handled without the 

 slightest injury. The inachine wraps 72 

 o'^anges a minute, or 40,000 in ten hours. 



EXPORTATION OF CUBAN PINEAPPLES. 



The exportations of Cuban pineapples 

 from January i to November 2, inclusive, 

 were as follows: 



1906 1907- 



920,542 crates. 650,776 crates. 



The abnormal drought all through the 



pineapple season of 1906-07 had the effect 



of materially decreasing the crop, as the 



figures show. 



Nevertheless the exports for the four 

 weeks ending- November 2 show an in- 

 crease over the same period of 1906. The 

 exportations were : 



1906 1907 



5,170 crates. 6,295 crates. 



