THE CUBA R E \" I E W 



29 



crates, which was a decrease of about 20 

 per cent from that of the year preceding. 

 The majority of this shipment of pine- 

 apples went to the port of New York, 

 while Mobile and New Orleans about 

 equally divided the remainder. 



The shipment of vegetables, including 

 tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, okra, etc., 

 from Havana, amounted to 239,511 crates, 

 about 70 per cent of which went to New 

 York. 



The total shipments of grapefruit and 

 oranges from Havana, which takes in at 

 least one-half of the citrus-fruit territory 

 of Cuba geographically speaking", amounted 

 to 19.501 crates, of which 1.3, S90 went to 

 New York, 4,740 to New Orleans, and 871 

 to Mobile. This statement, says United 

 States Consul James L. Rodgers at Ha- 

 vana, wdio compiled the figures, will give 

 a fair idea of the nonexpansion of the 

 citrus-fruit business of Cuba. 



The total shipments of mixed fruits, 

 which means mangoes, aguacates, sapota 

 mameys, etc., were 5,1S3 crates, the ma- 

 jority of these going to New Orleans. 



MANGOES ANO A\'OCADOES 



There are set in orchard form, in 

 Florida and Cuba (which does not include 

 the great number of places where there 

 are from one to five trees) about three 

 hundred acres of mangoes and avocadoes. 

 More than half of this is in avocadoes. 

 There are about seventy-live acres of 

 mangoes and one hundred and twenty-five 

 acres of avocadoes now bearing. The 

 bulk of this fruit is sold in New York." 

 — Isaiah L. Roberts in tlie Isle of Pines 

 yews. 



THE COCOANUT DISEASE INQUIRY 



Prof. F. G. Earle, one of the commis- 

 sioners appointed by President Gomez to 

 investigate the disease which is killing 

 cocoanut trees in Cuba, especially at 

 Baracoa, Oriente Province, made a pre- 

 liminary report to the government this 

 month. 



He states that the exports of cocoanuts 

 from Baracoa have dropped from 18,000,- 

 000 to 6.000,000, that more than half the 

 trees are dead and that many more are 

 affected. The factory for making oil from 

 unshipped nuts that formerly operated day 

 and night, now operates only two days 

 a week. 



The disease has been virulent five years. 

 Affected trees are found on all kinds of 

 soils and all altitudes. Whole plantations 

 have been completely destroyed. It is a 

 serious calamity to the district, as cocoa- 

 nut groves are the prime source of 

 revenue. 



Some trees die within a few weeks, 

 while others last longer, but all succumb 

 when the terminal bud is attacked. 



Royal palm trees are sometimes attacked, 

 but no other native growth is affected by 

 the disease. 



The commission has reached no deci- 

 sion as to a cure, but all the members 

 favor destroying by cutting down and 

 burning the diseased trees whenever 

 found. 



THREE FORMULAE FOR CANE 



The last annual report of the Queens- 

 land Sugar Experiment Stations mentioned 

 that there were three manurial mixtures 

 which had been found to give good pay- 

 able results wherever tried. 



The first consisted of : 



250 lbs. sulphate of ammonia, containing about 



50 lbs. nitrogen; 

 100 lbs. sulphate of potash, containing about 



50 lbs. potash; 

 and 300 lbs. superphosphate, containing about 45 



lbs. water-soluble phosphoric acid; 



650 lbs. to be applied per acre. 



On a percentage composition, this mix- 

 ture would contain approximately : Nitro- 

 gen. 7.7 er cent; potash, 7.7 per cent; 

 w^ater-soluble phosphoric acid, 7.0 per cent. 

 It would be more useful still if half the 

 nitrogen were applied with the rest of the 

 manure as a first dressing, and the re- 

 mainder added two to three months later 

 as a top second dressing. 



No. 2 mixture was : Sulphate of am- 

 monia, 150 lbs. ; sulphate of potash, 150 

 lbs. ; meatworks manure, 300 lbs. ; the 600 

 lbs. to be applied per acre. The sulphate 

 of ammonia should be divided, the first 

 half being applied with a drill with the 

 sulphate of potash and meatworks manure, 

 the rest being applied on the surface 

 around the cane two months later. 



The following mixture, which contains 

 more nitrogen and potash per acre, can be 

 advantageously given in some cases : 



200 lbs. nitrate of soda, containing about 30 lbs. 



of nitrogen; 

 200 lbs. sulphate of ammonia, containing about 



40 lbs. of nitrogen; 

 150 lbs. sulphate of potash, containing about 75 



lbs. of potash; 

 300 lbs. superphosate, containing about 50 lbs. of 



water-soluble p.iosphoric acid; 



850 lbs. per acre. 



Here also the nitrogen could be advan- 

 tageously divided, one-half being applied 

 with the other ingredients and the other 

 half ,two or three months later. In this 

 second application the scattering of the 

 nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia 

 on the surface near the stools will suffice 

 as it rapidl}' becomes absorbed by the soil. 



Mixed fertilizers are best applied to the 



