AGRICULTURE. 



289 



After the suppression of this monopoly, it has had to 

 contend with the more popular and profitable pur- 

 suits of coffee and sugar planting, which have suc- 

 cessively competed with it for the employment of the 

 skill, capital, and labor of the island. Its increase, how- 

 ever, has been rapid and prosperous, as will be seen by 

 the table of exports below, and with the increasing 

 capital and wealth of Cuba, it is receiving a greater 

 proportion of the labor of the country than has hereto- 

 fore been bestowed upon it. When a still larger share 

 of the skill and capital now absorbed in the cane-fields, 

 shall be turned to the tobacco vegas, we may look 

 for more regular and certain crops, and a correspond- 

 ing ratio of prosperity. There is also room for great 

 improvement in the classification and method of 

 packing the tobacco. 



Export of leaf tobacco and segars from Cuba : 



Tobacco. Segars. 



1825 to 1830.. Qqs. 128,644 M. 245,097 



1830 " 1835 " 124,704 " 471,993 



1835 " 1840 , ... " 244,259 " 790,285 



1840 " 1845 " 306,090 "" 941,467 



1845 " 1850. " 364,183 " 896,008 



1851 ** 94,366 " 270,313 



1852 " 97,374 " 180,610 



These figures serve to show the progress of this 

 branch of agriculture, but not its actual state ; for 



13 



