36 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



AN INTERESTING PLANT IN CUBA 



Dr. N. L. Britton, director-in-chief of 

 the New York Botanical Gardens, who, 

 in the course of many exploring expedi- 

 tions, has made an exhaustive study of 

 the flora of the West Indies, was pre- 

 sented on his trip this spring to President 

 Gomez of Cuba, who consulted him on 

 the matter of Havana's parks and gardens 

 and approved nis work in the Antilles. 



Dr. Britton was accompanied by John 

 F. Cornell, director of the Buffalo Botan- 

 ical Gardens. The professor made some 

 interesting plant discoveries, all described 

 in his detailed report to the scientific di- 

 rectors of the garden. The most inter- 

 esting is as follows : 



"But by far the most interesting 

 plant observed and collected in the re- 

 gion was the tall cycad of western 

 Cuba (Microcycas calocoma). We had 

 long known of the existence of this re- 

 markable plant, but had never before 

 succeeded in seeing it in its natural 

 habitat; it grows in valleys in oak and 

 pine woods on shaly oil at an elevation 

 of about 600 feet above sea, and is lo- 

 cally abundant. The tree attains a 

 maximum height of about twenty feet, 

 usually forming a single trunk which 

 tapers somewhat toward its summit, 

 and is there crowned by a magnificent 

 tuft of large pinnate leaves, sometimes 

 as many as one hundred in the tuft ; its 

 general aspect is similar to that of the 

 common sago palm of the greenhouse 

 {Cycas revoluta), but the trunk is more 

 slender and the leaves more numerous ; 

 when fruiting, the pistillate plants 



form very large cones, often a foot 

 long or more ; these from their re- 

 semblance to pineapple are called 

 'piiias' by the Cubans, whose name 

 for the plant is 'palma corcha.' We 

 were so much interested in this rare 

 tree that three different expeditions 

 were made to its localities and three 

 valleys containing it were visited ; by 

 the aid of friendly Cubanos, a team 

 composed of a cow and a young bull 

 drawing a wooden drag, an abundant 

 supply of the trunks was brought out 

 from the hills and transported by cart 

 to the city and subsequently shipped to 

 the garden, the largest taken being 

 seven or eight feet tall." 



The Confluente Mill in Oriente Prov- 

 ince on the line of the Guantanamo and 

 Western Railroad, which was almost des- 

 troyed by fire three years ago, is being 

 gradually rebuilt. The owners have 

 realized a handsome sum in the last two 

 years from the sale of the cane to other 

 mills and are in a position to finance a 

 new structure. It is believed that re- 

 pairs and new construction are so far ad- 

 vanced that the mill may begin grinding 

 next December. 



Claus Spreckels in a recent interview on 

 the sugar situation said: "Owing to_ a 

 shortage in the present Cuban crop, which 

 will be between 350,000 and 400,000 tons 

 smaller than last year, the price of raw 

 sugar has been working upward and I 

 think it will continue to do so." 



How the bagasse is carried to the furnaces. "Link-Belt'" bagasse carrier with automatic 

 feeders to furnaces. Mill of Nipe Bay Co., Central "Preston," Nipe Bay, Cuba. 



