186 
THE STANDARD GUIDE. 
sixth of the crop and Havana about one-sixteenth, the proportions pro¬ 
duced in the other provinces being trifling. 
Tobacco is produced in all the provinces, but three-fourths of the entire 
production, as measured by the area under cultivation, comes from the 
province of Pinar del Rio, and nearly all the remainder from Havana and 
Santa Clara. 
Coffee, which was once a product of great importance in Cuba, has 
diminished in recent years, and now but little is produced, that little com¬ 
ing from the provinces of Santiago and Santa Clara. 
There were in Cuba in 1899, 207 sugar mills, or centrals, with a daily 
production of 61,407 bags of sugar. There were also 85 stills, with a daily 
capacity of 161,751 gallons. 
Mineral Resources. 
The mineral resources of the island, so far as developed, are limited, and 
consist almost entirely of iron ore. Iron has been mined for many years 
at the south base of the Sierra Maestra, a few miles east of Santiago. The 
ores are hematite, with a little limonite, and are found principally as float 
ore in the boulders. It is not certain that any ore has been found in place. 
The ore is of excellent quality, containing about 62 per cent, of iron, and 
easy to work. The developments are in the hands of three companies, and 
nearly all of the ore produced has been shipped to the United States, prin¬ 
cipally to Baltimore. Copper deposits, said to have been of enormous rich¬ 
ness, were worked for many years under the Spanish regime, in the neigh¬ 
borhood of Cobre. 
Asphaltum has been found in several places, particularly near the city 
of Santa Clara, where it has been utilized in making illuminating gas. 
A little gold and silver has been mined in past times, but for many years 
the island has not produced any of these metals. 
Climate. 
The climate of Cuba is comparatively simple, and can be briefly de¬ 
scribed. With the long, narrow shape of the island and its great extent 
of coast line, it has, in high degree, an insular climate, with a high mean 
temperature, great humidity, and ample rainfall. Lying within the tropics, 
the island is subjected to the northeast trades, which blow over it steadily 
and constantly. They bring to the north coast and the northern slopes of 
the island an ample rainfall, while the southern slopes—especially at the 
eastern end, protected by the mountains from the trade winds—receive a 
much less amount of rainfall, although sufficient for the cultivation of most 
crops. At Havana, on the north coast, the mean temperature is 77°, and 
the range of temperature between the mean of the hottest month and that 
of the coldest month is from 82° to 71°. The highest temperature on record 
in Havana is 100.6 0 ; the lowest, 49.6°. 
