Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-06-19
TOBACCO RAISING N CUBA
Where the Finest Grades OF
the Fragrant Weed on
Earth Are Grown.
THE "VUELTA ABAJO."
Peculiarities of the Soil Which the
Most Expert Chemists Have
Failed to Penetrate.
THE "VUELTA ABAJO."

Great Profits to he Realizsd- Planters
Borrow Money Upon Their Growing
Crops, Paying Enormous Rntos of Inter-
est-A Multitude Of People Employed
in the Industry.
American capital to the amount OF
$100 100000 stands pledged to the en-
terprise of uniting under one manage
ment, II not ownership, the great to
bacco producing plantations of the
"Vuelta Abajo" diGtrict in Havana ano
Pinar del Rio provinces. In this dis
trict Is grown the finest grade of to
bacco to be found IN the world the ex
cellence of the weed being due un
doubtedly to peculiarities of the soil
Samples of Cuban soil have been
submitted to the most expert chemists
none of whom has been able to pene
trate natures secret So capricious is
the combination of soil and plant that
thorough agricultural experiment is
necessary to separate the good from
the bad tobacco land. In apparently
the same soil, but with a few feet
dividing them, will be found tobacco
plants growing. one producing leaf
that Is cheap at $40 per pound, the
other dear at an equal price per hun.
dred weight. And more, the right
kind of soil never wears out, while the
ordinary soil can be improved by no
known method of treatment. In Vuelta
Abajo are plantations of thirteen thou
sand acres, n scant seven hundred Of
which will grow tobacco, but this COM
paratively small tract gives great
value to the entire plantation. Plants
brought from other districts or foreign
countries to Vuelta Abajo require only
careful cultivation to give them rank
with the native tobacco, while a re-
versal of the process invariably results
in the plant transferred from Vuelta
Abajo to any other district deteriorat-
Ing into the commonplace weed Of
"Pittsburg" or wheeling" commerce.
Under slipshod Spanish methods no
attempt was ever made at agricultural
classification in Cuba, for which rea-
son there are few official statistics
concerning the growth of tobacco, and
absolutely no figures upon which to
base an estimate of the acreage of to-
bacco growing lands. Undoubtedly
there are few men who know within
hundred "caballeries" s"-caballeria Is
the unit In measuring land, being
equal to 1916 acres-just how much
first-class tobacco land there Is In Ha-
yana and Pinar del Rio. but as they
are interested in the latest movement
to form mighty trust they cannot be
betrayed into hnzarding a guess. In
deed, men who have been experts In
tobacco for two generations have sud
denly forgotten all they ever knew
about the business.
That there are great profits to be
realized is apparent when IL Is known
that the small planters borrow money
upon their growing crops. paying
about twenty per cent for a six
months loan. and yet In normal times
are prosperous. The wealthy planters
count that q poor year which does not
realize for them fifty per cent. upon
their entire investment. including the
price OF the plantation. AS the United
States has always been the one great
market for Cuban tobacco. and, In.
deed, all other products of the island,
the closer relations which have been
and are to be established should in
crease even the enormous profits of the
past.
Twenty-siX thousand men and about
ten thousand women and children
have been directly employed In the
production Of tobacco in Vuelta Abato
Within three years it is believed that
district will give employment to fully
sixty thousand men. The rate Of
wages has been high compared vii
that of other employment In Cupa