THE CUBA R E V I 1<: W 



downward and ready to spring to the 

 mulch pile for safet}'. None of these crea- 

 tures can live in the open, as birds and 

 hawks, as well as chickens, devour them 

 unmercifully. The mulch his their pro- 

 tector and home. If they spy an enemy, 

 thej- shoot like an arrow into the mulch, 

 and are safe. They multiply rapidly when 

 protected. 



The snakes are as harmless to man as 

 the frogs and lizards. They have no 

 more fangs than either, and are beautifully 

 colored. When attacked they coil or show 

 fight, but run like the lizards. 



I suspicioned that these creatures w^ere 

 responsible for the absence of all insects, 

 but how to prove it, was the point. I 

 secured some of the citrus beetles and 

 Dut them on the trees, and sat down at 

 a little distance to w-atch. The expected 

 happened. The lizards crept as stealthily 

 as a cat after a mouse toward them, and 

 when in springing distance they shot like 

 a dart, and never missed the beetles. I 

 saw plainh- then why there w'ere no leaf 

 eating insects in, around or about the 

 mulch or trees, and never will be as long 

 as the mulch lasts. So I know now that 

 the way to keep vermin away from trees 

 is to mulch them. 



Those who have had no previous knowl- 

 edge of horticulture or agriculture have 

 done as well in Cuba as those who brought 

 with them a large fund of American and 

 European lore. When I found this 

 out I began to learn. I will give an 

 instance. I thought if there was any one 

 thing I knew how to plant and w'hen to 

 plant and cultivate, it was sweet potatoes. 

 In the States we get them in just as 

 early as possible, so of course I did this, 

 notwithstanding the natives told me not to 

 nlant before July and August or Septem- 

 ber, but I planted in May. My potatoes 

 made more vines than I ever knew it was 

 possible to grow. They stood thirty inches 

 deep on the level and many were twenty- 

 five feet long — but not a potato. Finally 

 in November the vines died, and then they 

 out out a few small vines near the roots 

 which did not resemble the summer ones 

 and these began to bloom and potatoes be- 

 -o^an to appear in the ground. By February 

 I had a fair crop, but nothing like what 

 I would have had if the_ plants had not 

 exhausted themselves making vines. — /. L. 

 ' Roberts in the Isle of Pines Appeal 



INSECT INJURY COSTLY 



EV C. H. POPEXOE 



Until a few years ago the peanut had 

 been considered as almost immune from 

 insect injury, the plant being affected by 

 few insects, and the "nuts" being pro- 

 tected by their thick shells against most 

 of the usual insect enemies of stored- 



Si 

 USTED 



ESTA' 

 INTERES- 



ADO 



EN 



MAQUINAS PARA HACER 

 BLOQUES DE CEMENTO 



MEZCLADORAS DE HORMIGON 



(Cement Block Machines and Concrete 

 Mixers) 



Pida hoy detalles descriptivos de las tnd- 

 quinas "Climax" las mejores en el niundo 



GALBAN & CO. 



Habana Nueva York 



Lonja del Comercio 78-80 Wall Street 



Dpto. de Ingfxifkia y Maquinaria 



nroducts. There are, it is true, one or 

 two species of beetles which by reason of 

 their horny jaws are able to cut readily 

 through the woody tissue, but the injury 

 from any of these had been infinitesimal. 



Since the advent of the mechanical 

 thrasher or "peanut picker" conditions 

 have changed to a great degree. The 

 machinery is by no means perfect as yet, 

 and the tendency of the operator to feed 

 the peanuts too quickly through the ma- 

 chine results in a large percentage of 

 broken shells, and affords easy entrance to 

 several of the common stored-product 

 pests. It is estimated that between 20 

 and 30 per cent of the peanuts are injured 

 in this manner, consequently becoming 

 "seconds," and in nearl}^ every case be- 

 coming infested in a short time after be- 

 ing stored. 



The value of the peanut industrv in the 

 United States in 1910 was $15,000,000, and 

 the loss through above described causes 

 20 per cent damage or about $3,000,000. 

 Entomological Assistant, United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 



ORANGES AND LEMONS 



There is a steady increase in the demand 

 for oranges and lemons in European 

 countries, especially for fruit of the 

 higher grades. The exports of lemons to 



