THE AGRICULTURE OF CUBA.—NO I. 
Ill 
that they had somehow acquired great fixedness 
of character, or, in other words, strength of blood. 
This was evinced by their close uniformity of 
breeding, as well as by the fact that, when bred or 
crossed with other kinds of sheep, their own pe¬ 
culiarities proved to be not only transmissible, but 
were found to predominate, and to be strongly im¬ 
pressed on the progeny. On the introduction of 
the Merinos, the ewes of the Otter breed, like 
the best of the natives, were crossed with Merino 
rams, and thus, with the occasional aid of the 
butcher, the Otter breed of sheep was extinguish¬ 
ed. They have probably, long ere this, totally 
disappeared from the country. I have met with 
none of them for many years past, though I have 
since not unfrequeritly seen their places occupied 
with worse sheep than themselves. 
We have now arrived at the period when the 
native and Otter breeds gave place to the Merino, 
the large and choice importations of which, from 
Europe, upward of thirty years since, supplied us 
with the best, hardiest, and most profitable breed 
of sheep which tfiis country or the world ever 
saw. But this portion of our subject is entitled, by 
its importance, to more of our consideration than 
your space will at this time allow, and it must ac¬ 
cordingly be the topic of a future communication. 
May, 1843. Americus. 
We need not say to the'author of Sylva Ameri¬ 
cana , and other well-known works, that a contin¬ 
uation of his letters upon Cuba will be particularly 
acceptable. Notwithstanding its contiguity to us, 
and the frequency of its being visited, we scarcely 
know of a good work having yet been written 
upon its soil, climate, agriculture, commerce, 
scenery, and inhabitants. We hope that our cor¬ 
respondent may be induced to set himself about a 
thing of this kind. No one is more capable than 
himself, and we are confident the book would have 
a good sale. We think we can easily find him a 
publisher if he will undertake it. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
THE AGRICULTURE OF CUBA.— No. I. 
Puerto Principe , May 10, 1843. 
Bear Sir : I herewith send you a short sketch 
of the agriculture of this section of the island, 
which may be interesting to a portion of your read¬ 
ers ; and, should it prove acceptable, at a future time, 
I can furnish you with an account of the product 
and manufacture of sugar, and of the rearing and 
management of the honey-bee, as practised here. 
Of all countries connected with the New World, 
from whatever nation its inhabitants may have 
originated, or under whatever form of governments 
they may exist, the island of Cuba stands pre-em¬ 
inent for its constant and uninterrupted increase of 
wealth and prosperity. Laboring under the dis¬ 
advantages of a despotic government, with no means 
of internal communication except by roads almost 
impassable, and more recently a few railroads, we 
find she possesses a flourishing commerce, based 
almost exclusively upon her agriculture, and near¬ 
ly exempt from those periodical revulsions which 
have so often prostrated the affairs of the rest of 
the civilized world. 
In this district, that is, the Intendencia of Puer¬ 
to Principe, a greater portion of the land lies in a 
state of nature, and the chief branch of agricul¬ 
ture, is the rearing of cattle for domestic consump¬ 
tion. It is not uncommon to see here potreros, 
owned by one family, containing twenty or thirty 
square miles of land, with a stock of 10,000 or 
15,000 head of cattle, valued, when fully grown, 
at $10 or $15 each. The cattle are almost entire¬ 
ly of the old Spanish breed, although some recent 
attempts have been made to introduce British and 
American stocks. But little care is required in 
rearing the cattle after they are one year old; it be¬ 
ing only necessary to guard the calves against the 
attack of wild dogs, and see that they have a prop¬ 
er supply of wholesome water to drink. The for¬ 
age of the cattle consists chiefly of a species of 
coarse wild grass, the boughs of trees and shrubs, 
and what is particularly valuable and nutritious 
is the leaves, bark, and fruit of the Guacimer , a 
tree somewhat resembling in its qualities the 
American slippery elm ( ulmus rubra). It is said 
that the fruit of this tree, which is full of muci¬ 
lage, affords more nourishment to cattle than the 
same weight of corn. Working oxen are mostly 
fed on maize, millet, sugar-cane, calabashes, and 
a species of Guinea grass ( Yerba de Guinea), late¬ 
ly introduced. It is believed that this species of 
grass can be cultivated to advantage in Florida 
and the southern states of the Union. 
Although agriculture forms the most important 
branch of industry among all classes of society, 
yet, with few exceptions, all the processes em¬ 
ployed in preparing the ground, planting the seed, 
and gathering the crops, are slight and simple. 
The only plow adopted by the Cubanos is the 
same rude instrument as is used in Spain; con¬ 
structed entirely of wood, except a small iron 
point or coulter, which just serves to scratch and 
break the surface of the earth, and is put together 
in the roughest possible manner. It is drawn by 
one or more pair of oxen, and but little effort is 
requisite to keep it down. 
Few inducements are held out by the Spanish 
government for improvements of any kind, and the 
people here possessing, in general, that natural 
languor of mind which characterizes nearly all the 
inhabitants of tropical climates, and an.hereditary 
aversion to the introduction of modem inventions, 
do not advance one- step beyond the modes that 
have been adopted for centuries. Unfortunately 
their disposition and enterprise do not correspond 
with the advantages which nature has lavished on 
these regions. Possessing, as they do, a soil of 
unbounded fertility, and a climate susceptible of 
growing a succession of crops of almost every prod¬ 
uct of the temperate and torrid zones, they will 
not exert themselves beyond that state which na¬ 
ture renders productive. 
In addition to the three great staple products, 
sugar, coffee, and tobacco, the various garden ve¬ 
getables which are common in temperate latitudes, 
are raised, and most of the fruits peculiar to trop¬ 
ical climates. The orange, the plantain, and the 
