cuba is, first and last, an agricultural country. the climate, soil, and proximity to favorable markets, create unusually favorable conditions. the recent extensions of the railroad system, and the additions to the calsadas, or government highways, of which one thousand miles were built in the last year, have greatly improved the facilities for interior transportation. the government has established experiment stations, and in other ways encouraged farming and stock raising; railroad and development companies have extended generous aid in the same direction. millions have been sunk, during late years, in organized efforts to promote agricultural industries in different parts of the island, aside from the investments in sugar and tobacco. but, notwithstanding, agriculture has not advanced in cuba at anything like the rate that should have been experienced.{217}
before the last war there were upwards of one hundred thousand plantations, ranches, and farms in the country, of which the value was not less than $200,000,000. very few of these properties were made to yield adequately. among the sugar and tobacco estates, good management was the exception, rather than the rule. despite the natural advantages that he enjoyed, or perhaps because of them, the cuban farmer hardly ever made the most of his opportunities, nor displayed a respectable degree of enterprise. it is true that he labored under heavy handicaps in the political and economic conditions, but since these drawbacks have been removed he has not shown any marked improvement. nor has any great advance in agricultural development followed the introduction of american capital and american settlers, save in the sugar and tobacco industries. the former has often been misapplied, and the latter do not appear to have gained a grasp of the situation.
that something is radically wrong in the state of cuban agriculture is made glaringly apparent by the fact that the country imports annually $25,000,000 worth of foodstuffs that it might produce. not only that, but several{218} of the items that make up this aggregate represent products that might be raised in cuba to an extent sufficient to supply the domestic demand and leave a considerable surplus for exportation. it is not to be supposed, however, that under present conditions any such results are possible. the cubans might do much more than they are doing to make their country productive, but until the population is greatly increased no approximation to the utmost agricultural possibilities can be attained. estimates differ widely as to the extent of the area under cultivation, but it is certainly a very small proportion of that adapted to agriculture.
although the soil is distinctly suitable to such treatment, intensive cultivation and scientific methods are practised only in a few places, and by foreigners, the usual proceeding is to plant over an extended tract, burning the fields in the dry season and leaving the ashes on the ground. when the rains have sufficiently moistened the earth, holes are made in it with a pointed stick, called a jan, and into the holes are dropped the seed or root from which the crop is to be derived. this method continuously robs the soil of the elements in{219} which its fertility consists and at length it becomes “tired,” as the natives say. it is then necessary to fertilize the ground, or to abandon its cultivation. the farmer usually adopts the latter alternative and, moving into the forest, clears another tract and starts a fresh finca, to be treated by the same process. this is what the scientific agriculturalist liebeg termed “a system of cultivation by expoliation.”
the great difficulty in cuba is that, in proportion to the land available, there is little labor, and less capital. the most complete and effective remedy will, of course, be found in an increase of the population, but in the meanwhile conditions would be greatly improved if the cubans could be taught to handle their lands more intelligently and with greater energy. there is no man on earth more susceptible to an object lesson than the cuban. abstruse theories are slow to penetrate his mind, but he readily grasps the significance of a visible exposition. for this reason it is believed that the experiment stations, of which there are now half a dozen or more in the island, will not be without effect in promoting better farming.{220}
nearly all the crops of northern latitudes may be raised satisfactorily upon the uplands of cuba. it is questionable, however, whether wheat, barley, and oats, would be as profitable crops as some others to which the ground might be devoted. corn of an indifferent quality is widely grown and fed to stock. there seems to be no reason why the very best varieties of this grain should not be produced on cuban soil, and efforts are being made to induce farmers to use selected seed and better methods in the cultivation. two crops a year are secured and, unfortunately, the ground is often sown continuously in corn for long periods. rotation is something that the cuban farmer has yet to appreciate. on the lands about the coast, a great deal of rice is raised, but the domestic consumption of this cereal is very large and there is no surplus for export. this is, however, one of the crops which might be increased without any extraordinary effort, and the united states market would be open to the importation of all the excess product.
another instance of neglected opportunity is found in the potato. the cuban tuber, which has only recently been introduced to the united states, is of excellent quality and might be{221} made a serious rival of the famous bermuda potato. two crops a year, with an enormous yield to the acre, are harvested, but the output is far from reaching the quantity that could be profitably marketed. at the present time the united states is sending yearly to cuba potatoes to more than twice the value of all the vegetables received from the island, and the quality of the imported article is far from as good as that of the domestic product. cuba also buys beans annually to the value of more than two hundred thousand dollars, despite the fact that every variety of this vegetable grows abundantly in almost any part of the island, and with little cultivation. the natives consume large quantities of beans, and should not only grow all that they eat, but also ship considerable amounts to the ready markets which are open for them. an excellent quality of sweet potato will grow almost anywhere in the island, with a large yield to the acre. the yam, a large variety of sweet potato, abounds everywhere, and with a little cultivation the quality could be improved to the point of creating an export demand.
there is very little cultivation of beets, but where they are raised the quality is so unusu{222}ally good and the yield so great, that it is believed beet culture might with ordinary effort be made one of the leading agricultural industries of the island. in fact, the question of beet-sugar production has been raised more than once, but naturally enough it has not met with encouragement in a country where the beet is anathema.
it has been demonstrated that two crops a year of the highest grade of peanuts can be raised in cuba. it is claimed that the largest recorded production to the acre of the nut has been secured by a cuban planter. there are great possibilities in this industry, but it does not appear to be systematically carried on anywhere in the island, and the peanut has no place in the statistics of exports. mention has been made elsewhere of cuba’s great need of comparatively small manufacturing enterprises and the benefits that might be expected to accrue from them. the peanut affords an opportunity in this direction. it is practically certain that several factories for the extraction of the oil and the manufacture of the butter could be run in the island with profit, especially if the factories maintained their own plantations for the supply of the raw material.{223}
none of the vegetables are cultivated to the extent which they might be with profit. cuba should export fresh vegetables in large quantities to the new york market, where the winter and spring demands are insatiable. cucumbers, radishes, onions, lettuce, and other table delicacies grow all the year round in the island. and instead of producing and shipping them, as she should, cuba is even importing cabbage. the chinese truck-gardeners are the only people in the island who appear to have any understanding of intensive and careful cultivation, if we except a few foreigners who have not yet had sufficient experience to produce the results which they are aiming at, and which they will doubtless achieve in time.
all classes of cubans eat quantities of plantain. the vegetable is rarely absent from the table, where it appears in all manner of forms,—dried and fried, baked and boiled. the banana is also consumed in large quantities and in various forms. there are a great number of varieties of the fruit, the best known being the “manzano” and the “johnson.” the latter is the variety that is cultivated most extensively for export. the banana industry is an important factor in cuba’s commerce,{224} but its development is due entirely to the fact of the cultivation having been taken in hand by foreign capital and conducted under foreign direction. the demand for bananas might have continued until doomsday without the cubans having taken advantage of the obvious opportunity afforded by it. the united states takes one million dollars’ worth or more of bananas from cuba every year.
commercial fruit culture in cuba was only commenced in late years and, if the banana business be left out of consideration, is still in a backward state of development. the several colony enterprises of american and canadian land companies have had for their principal objects the sale and cultivation of fruit lands. on the whole these projects have been unsuccessful viewed from the standpoint of the settler. this has been due to a variety of causes which will be considered in the following chapter. although various marketable fruits have grown wild in cuba for centuries the natives made little or no effort to turn them to commercial account.
in the past few years pineapples have been systematically raised with profit. the cuban product is particularly hardy and of an excellent
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gathering cocoanuts.
{225}
quality. the pi?a blanca is the sweetest variety, but it does not keep well and is therefore not adapted to exportation. the pi?a morada is smaller, more scaly, and less juicy than the former. it has, however, greater resisting qualities and represents almost the entire export of this fruit, whilst the pi?a blanca meets the domestic demand. the united states market takes several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of pineapples annually from cuba.
when the industry was first started, the fruit fetched one dollar per dozen in habana, for export. the price has now fallen to about one-fourth of that figure on account of the increase in production of several countries, but even at present rates the pineapple can be raised in cuba at a very fair profit. little labor is involved in the cultivation, preparation for shipment is simple, and the yield is very great. one caballeria of land devoted to pineapples will cost about $4,000 to keep up during the five years that the plant bears. in that period it will give five crops of 18,000 dozen pineapples each. the last crop, however, will be too small for use except in the manufacture of preserves, and the full market price can only be counted on for the yield of the first three{226} years. but, even at that, if 54,000 dozens of the fruit are marketed at twenty-five cents per dozen, there is a balance of $9,800, after paying expenses, in addition to the profit to be secured from the last two crops.
from this it would seem that pineapple culture is well worth while to the man of comparatively small capital, especially as the necessary ground can be bought in hundreds of places at less than ten dollars an acre.
it must be admitted, however, that practical growers scout these statements of profits, which are derived from official sources. the owners of pineapple plantations, americans and spaniards for the most part, declare that they are actually shipping at a loss. but for some inscrutable reason they continue to raise the fruit with a constantly increasing output.
one of the chief difficulties experienced by the investigator in cuba lies in the proneness of all classes of planters to deny that there is any money in their business. they declare that the transportation companies and commission merchants are absorbing all the profits. on the other hand, a railroad manager will take paper and pencil and demonstrate convincingly that
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pineapple field.
{227}
the pineapple grower or the citrus fruit shipper is earning a very fair income.
it is probable that the cuban growers may find the canning business profitable, as those of hawaii have done. if the government would lend its encouragement to such an enterprise by reducing or removing the high duty on sheet tin and cans, there is no doubt but that a cannery could be successfully conducted in western cuba, where the greater part of the pineapple cultivation is carried on.
although, for lack of proper cultivation, cuba has long produced an orange of second rate quality, it has been demonstrated by actual accomplishment in several instances that the fruit can be grown in the island to equal any in the world. but this result can only be attained by the expenditure of considerable money, the application of considerable knowledge, and the exercise of considerable patience. without either of these necessary factors, hundreds of americans have entered upon orange growing, and thousands have invested in orange lands during the past ten years or so. the citrus fruit boom was launched on a very unstable basis and its decline was as rapid as its growth.{228}
there is as little ground for the statement frequently made nowadays that there is nothing in orange culture in cuba, as there was for the former claim that a fortune was easily to be made out of it in ten years. the simple fact is that the man who has the means to buy suitable ground, to plant and tend and fertilize it properly, and maintain himself until the grove yields, may depend upon a satisfactory return from his investment. at present the margin is small, owing mainly to the expenses incurred in marketing the product, but there is every reason to believe that this burden will be considerably lightened in the next few years.
many growers have abandoned their orange groves in cuba. others have turned to grape-fruit, which appears to promise a greater prospect of profit, although there is some danger of over-production injuring the business. in cuba the grape fruit grows to perfection. the cost of its production and shipment is no greater than that of the orange, and it stands carriage a great deal better. the prices at present obtained for it leave a considerably higher margin than can be secured from oranges.
though by no means great as yet, the market
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breadfruit.
{229}
for what may be called fancy fruits, such as the mango, guava, and alligator pear,—which perhaps would more properly be classed as a vegetable,—is constantly expanding in the united states. cuba produces a number of delicious fruits which are quite unknown to americans at home, but which they soon learn to enjoy when resident in the island. it is altogether probable that a persistent effort to introduce some of these to the united states market would result in a permanent demand at profitable prices. there is a large class of new york consumers of delicacies who are ever ready to pay for the pleasure of having their palates tickled.
in the middle of the nineteenth century there were upwards of two thousand coffee plantations in cuba, and the annual output amounted to more than two million arrobas of the berry. during the latter half of the century the industry rapidly declined under the severe competition of south america, until it became almost extinct before the war. there is little doubt, however, but that the product of the island might have withstood the competition in question had a more rational system of cultivation and preparation been in vogue.{230}
in the past few years there have been signs of a revival of the coffee industry, especially in oriente, where the tree can be cultivated to the best advantage. all classes of cubans drink the beverage freely and about two million dollars’ worth of the berries are imported yearly. it will probably not be long before native plantations are taking care of the entire domestic demand, after which they may be able to make an entrance to some of the foreign markets.
efforts are being made in several directions to revive the old-time cotton industry in cuba, whence upwards of one million arrobas of the fibre were shipped in the year 1842. the upland and sea island varieties grow well in many parts of the island and recently several small plantations have been set out under the direction of americans of experience.
ramie and henequen grow well in cuba and seem to deserve greater attention than is at present being paid to their cultivation. as these plants thrive in what is generally classed as barren land, there is a distinct economy involved in their culture.
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hemp field above matanzas.
