The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1898-08-18
.ARlCHC0UNTRY.
Some Of the Natural Resources of the
Province Of Santiago dc Cuba.
naire' fam', sweet Potatoes aud Other
Vegetables Grow Everywhere With
Little Cultivation - Forests OF
Valuable Hard Woods

SANTIAGO, Aug 6-The province o
= Santiago dc Cuba, especially that par
! east OF line drawn between Sagua d,
). Ianamo, San Luis and Santiago. /
to-day of vital interest to thousand
in the United States
The natural resources Of the countr,
and its fertility, its products and it.
Industries are of paramount import
ance. The richness of the soil here. a:
elsewhere in the island, entities il tc
consideration from an agricultural
standpoint The raising of cane and
the manufacture of sugar are the chief
sources of wealth in the province. In
the Immediate eighborhood Of Santi.
ago are many sugar estates.
Manzanillo, further westward on the
south coast boasts OF many large
"centrales," or central sugar estates
where the cane grown on neighboring
field is brought and grown, SO many
carloads of cane being delivered
against so many pounds of man.
ufacturcd sugar, the grinder, or
owner, of the estate making his
profit out of the immense amount Of
cane brought him, OF which he keeps a
percentage or royalty, the "Colono."
or small planter, finding it to his ad-
vantage to have his cane ground on a
royalty basis instead OF laying OUT
large sum OF money Tor machinery,
etc, unwurranted by tho smallncss- OF
his holding or cane crop.
Guantanamo, Santiago aud Mauza-
Milo are tho three important sugar
shipping ports Of caste rn Cuba.
Next in Importance, agriculturally,
come the coffee and cocoa plantations
with which Santiago province is thick.
ly covered. Coffee and cocoa plants are
generally grown on the same "fincas",
or plantation, the frail coffee plant re-
quiring for its growth the shade of.
fered by the tall and over
hanging cocoa tree. The coffee
shrub yields its crop in November, but,
as 1t is not regular and uniform, three
harvests are made annually, the first
in November, the second in January
and the third in March.
Maize, ynms, sweet potatoes and
other vegetables grow everywhere,
with little care or supervision. Ia six
months they bear Coffee shrubs need
the shade and these plants offer it
The result is that on most coffee plan
tations these vegetables are grown,
which amply feed and sustain tho
planter, who after six mon tbs is on q
self-sustaining basis, with goodly
coffee crop ahead as clean profit.
Tobacco is grown extensively at
Palma Soriano, San Luis. Paire, Jigu-
any and Guica, most of which has
hitherto been shipped to Germany, the
to the Spanish reggie. Guica
produces the best leaf, although, of
course, OF an inferior grade as com.
Jared with Vuelta and Partidos to-
)acco.
The woods and forests of eastern
uba abound in every variety OF hard
woods, the principal being mahogany,
edar, rosewood aud "majagua," a I
wood known the world over as the
trongest and most durable OF all
goods, OF a greenish ashy hue and an |
xceedingly close grain. Most of them, {
4 fact nine .tenths Of the woodlands '
re virgin forests which 1t would take a
ears and years to deciminate and d
7hich have so far escaped the destruc. r
i've hand of man owing 10 the lack
transportation facilities to the sea- b
Oast. 4
The "Yaya, " or iancetshar, grows by S
ne thousand acres, and SO does the {
gnum vite, so much sought utter for Ii
he manufacture OF block sheaves and O
heavy balls used in bowling alleys. n
Palm leaf in great quantities is ex-
DI Icu W Europe anu the CultcQ
tates for the manufacture OF hats,
I'D "palmiche" finds a ready market L
broad for the manufacture Of oil. c
Honey and beeswax are other very "
nportant articles of export, and mod- g
n hives on the plan of the French /
I'd Dutch hives would amply repay Z:
e investment
Next in Importance to its agricul-
raj products, Santiago de Cuba's iron ,,
ID manganese mines demand uni L
rssl attention. As Is well known u
e Santiago ore, with its low percent
e OF PHOSPHORUS ranks, together +
tn the Swedish and the Spanish De.
,rara mineral as the "crack ore" Of p
c world,
With a wealth of natural resources, -
h in agricultural and mineral soil, y
ntiago de Cuba only awaits Amer -
N brains, enterprise and capital TO p,
Ike II one of the richest, as well as W
e of the most beautiful, spots in the II
rid. o.
The News at Hong Kong. ~
IONG HoNG, Aug. 15.-News OF the a,