The Portland daily press., 1896-03-24
cuBA's uNoEvELoPED WEALTH.
A Hint of the Islands Capacity in the
Way of Profitable Products

(From the New York Independent
The soil of Cuba has no rival, especial
ly for tobacco and sugar. One hundred
pounds of selected cigar wrappers will
sell for $500 or $500. Sugar. cane yields
a larger percentage of saccharine matter
than that grown elsewhere. Thousands
Of dollars worth of bananas are yearly
imported into this country, the planta-
tions having been greatly developed dur
ing the past few years, still l leaving mil
lions of acres Of land adapted to the
growth Of the fruit The plaintain
grows in abundance, requires little culti-
v6ion, and, as an article OF food, is alone
sufficient to nourish the human system.
It can be dried, ground and used as flour,
and should be as popular in this country
as oatmeal, and will be some day when
it becomes BETTER known. The cocoanut,
in point of prodactiveness, Is next to the
banana. Cuban oranges will rank with
the Florida fruit, and the finest pine
apples are raised, though the demand in
this country seems TO be for the cheaper
qualities. Among comparatively I'M
known fruits which could be cultivated
as soon as market is opened for them
are 6wos varieties of the sopodilla, the
brown and green calmito, the red
Nancy, the yellow NANCY, the former
having been described by some Europe
ans as "a fruit fit for the gods" Then
there are the manon, two species OF
guayas, the mango. and several species
of fire berries to which no attention is
paid on account of the plentiful supply
of the larger fruit The berries are called
furitas de pajaros (birds' fruit).
The potatoes III Cuba are as fine as the
Bermuda variety, and considerable guam
tides are imported into this country, sell
ling at 81 and S. barrel. There are
varieties OF the yam, which sis second
only to the plaintain in its nourishing
properties. The cassava, or manioc
plant is wholesome ana nourishing
food. The soil of the country is particu-
larry good for the growth of garden vege-
tabl,s, and the yield under new political
conditions, with capital, enterprise and
scientific methods Of cultivation, will be
enormous The sugar crop, which now
represents over $40, 900, 600, could be in
creased tsn-fold. The island contains
about Is, 600, 600 acres OF fine arabic land,
about one-eighth of which is under Gul-
tivasion, much of it heing workedG in
such primitive way that it yields only
about one-hah of what it would return
under improved methods.
A vast amount Of wealth is represented
in the forests Of Cuba. The common
mahogany of the island sells in Europe
at from $40 to $50 thousand feet, some
of very fine quality is worth from $500 to
$500 per thousand feet, and one variety
has been sold for the remarkable price of
$3.50 per thousand feet. There are mil
lions and millions Of feet of this wood
on the island Cedar is abundant and
finds ready market There is a great
need Of better facilities for preparing
and transporting these woods for ship
inent. The lignum vitae has no superior
In quality. the ordinary selling from $25
to $50 ton, the choice from S35 to $40
and the best at about $45 per ton. There
are 80 varieties of the palm tree, which is
available in the manufacture of hats,
baskets, the bark of the royal palm being
used for boards in the construction of
the homes of the small farmers, the
leaves OF the same tree being used for the
roof. Among othsr hard woods may be
mentioned the ebony, the acana, used for
f3fters; the sablna cimarona, something
like cedar; the jiqui and caguiaran, for
POSTS the noble blanco and roble amaril-
10 for window and door frames, car
riages and ship building; the grandillo.
u cabinet wood, and many other varieties
including the majagua from the fibrous
bark of which ropes are made almost as
good as those of MANILA hemp. The area
Of the Cuban forests is about 5000, 900
acres and they can fur nist all the mater
isls for building frame house without
the use OF single nail, strong and dura-
bic lanas being used to fasten the heads
OF beams. There is also curious vine
called the water vine, about three inches
IL diameter which, when cut in two, will
yield a large quantity of pure, fresh
water.
Within the past 80 years it has been
discovered that there are rich deposits Of
iron in the eastern and toward the CEN
trail part of the island. Some of this
IRON Is now being used by Pennsylvania
smelters and, an expert saw. that 1.-THE
whole eastern part OF the island is an
iron mine" Manganese has also been
discovered, and there are millions of tons
of this ore available. An English syndi-
cate has extracted millions of dollars
worth OF copper from the mines near
Santiago. When intelligent experts make
thorough exploration of their mines,
gold and silver win doubtless he