THE CUBA R E \' I E W 



RAILROAD AND COMMERCIAL NEWS 



COFFEE DUTIES, PRICES AND IMPOR- 

 TATIONS 



The duty imposed on all coffee imported 

 into Cuba is nearly lie. per pound, except 

 the Porto Rico product, which pays 8^^c. 

 per pound. It will be seen that no_ foreign 

 coffee can be imported and sold in Cuba 

 with any profit for less than ISc. per pound 

 wholesale. As a matter of fact the lowest 

 grade coffee now being sold in Cuba 

 brings about $21.50 per hundredweight, 

 while the Cuban-grown coffee sells for 

 about $28 per hundredweight, command- 

 ing this premium because of its excellence 

 and its fine aroma. Coffee produces all 

 the way from 700 to 2,000 pounds per acre, 

 and the trees, with proper care, will bear 

 continuously. There is no crop in Cuba 

 which offers better prospects to the grower, 

 because there is probably no other country 

 which consumes more coffee per capita 

 or which grows a better article. At pres- 

 ent there is not sufficient coffee raised in 

 Cuba to supply one-fourth of the local 

 demand, and the population is constantly 

 increasing, which offers growing opportu- 

 nities in the local market, fostered by a 

 protective tariff, irrespective of the market 

 in the States. — From the Bureau of In- 

 fonnatiou, Department of Agriculture, 

 Co!umerce and Labor of Cuba. 



According to the year book of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, Cuba's 

 imports of coffee for five calendar years 

 are as follows : 



1905 23,916,707 pounds 



1906 21,357,127 



1907 23,250,910 



1908 24,432,111 



1909 25,407,861 



BREWERY FOR CIENFUEGOS 



Domingo Nazabel, a planter near Cien- 

 fuegos, aided by Senor Castano and other 

 merchants of the city, propose to form a 

 company, capitalized at $500,000 to estab- 

 lish an ice plant and a beer brewery near 

 the bay. The preparatory steps for the 

 formation of the company were taken a 

 few weeks ago. It is stated that $250,000 

 of the sum required has already been 

 subscribed. Cienfuegos is a thriving city 

 on the south coast of Cuba in the province 

 of Santa Clara, and at the last census in 

 1907 had a population of 30,100. 



Among the Spanish-American countries 

 Cuba is the largest consumer of raisins. 

 Shipments thither averaging about 1,940,- 

 000 pounds yearly. 



Vento, on the Almendares River, from whence Havana obtains its water supply from numerous springs 



