The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-07-15
THE CHANGES IN CUBA
ANSWERS TO SOME FREOUENTLY Y
 ASKED QUESTIONS
Concerning Things In the Fertile Island-A gricultnral Possibilities Are Practically Unlimited.


 Trinidad de Cuba, June 29,-Though American immigration has been tempo rarily suspended by the yellowf fever scare, people seem to be as full of curi- osity as ever concerning the industrial possibilities of this modern Canaan Letters containing all manner of quer- les on subjects ranging between natural history, political economy and the sci ence of agriculture, from the price of discarded army mules to the cultivation of Easter lilies continue to arrive as by wholesale, and nothing short of Com plete Encyclopaedia of Useful Informa- lion could answer a quarter of them Among the score, more or less, received by your correspondent during the last week, several of them signed by Inter- esated Reader" of the Journal and Cour- ier, is one from former New Englander who now resides in Arizona; and I take 1t as the text for general reply, be- cause it contains number of the ques- tions most frequently propounded. He asks: What show do you think man with family and only four or five thousand dollars capital would have in Cuba?"
 Gould an industrious person do any, thing in the dairy business?"
 What about the price of land?"
 "Can improved land be leased at fair rental?"
 Would it be a foolish venture to send down working oxen to sell in Cuba?'
 'Is there an opening for chicken Harms on the incubator plan?'
 ''How about fruit culture?"
 ''Are the cabinet woods of the island worth considering for their marketable value?"
 "Are there many dangerous reptiles and annoying insects such as ticks, flies and mosquitoes"
 One feels like rolling up his sleeves and drawing a long breath before begin ming on such catechism! In the first place the family man should take into account the chances of homesickness for his wife and children, remembering that without contentment life is not worth living. With the working capital above mentioned he ought to be tolerably com fortable at home and should conslcer whether it is well to fly from ills he has to those he knows not of, if merely to gratify a rowing propensity. Heaven forbid that any word of mine should en- courage the aimless spirit Of unrest which aff1icts so many of my country men, The chronic emigrant who is tor- ever moving on and taking root nowhere is the most unfortunate lndlVual on earth-next to the homeless ones whom he drags about with him. He who pulls up stakes and transfers them elseWhefe, after careful deliberatiOn and with a! definite purpose in view, is quite another fellow. It may be taken for granted that his family have also counted the cost, realizing that everything is differ ent in foreign country and Willing to foNego much to which they have been accustomed. As a rule, the climate or Cuba compares favorably with that or the United States, and the natural beau- ties are greater. The absence of coid and dreary winters and the continual ,resence of exuberant vegetation go Tar to compensate one for the loss of social p1aslres But it cannot be denled lud' Cuba is still desolated country, III snite of all that has been done for her since American occupation. Peopie fresh from a land of comfort and plenty are made heart-sick by the poverty seen on every side. Thousands are still dy- ing by inches of "miseria'-the strange disease born of the war-partlcularly m regions where army rations have not ye' beeu distributed. Around Sancu spirit 11s midway between Sagua and Trihl- dad hundreds are hiding in the woods, subsisting on roots, nuts and wild things growing, unable by reason of absolute nakedness to return to thef Villages where food and clothing might be ob- tained Taken as whole, there ha' heeu vast improvement among the re- ooncentrado class within the last half vear. Unnumbered thousands or then dropped into their graves during th{ sloomy months that followed the bloch ade. and most of the survivors are now doing something toward their own sup mort. True, they are Wretchedly poo and need all the support that the Uhltee States is giving them; but belng aSaii r,,t into the way of eking out a living fror, the soil, the army rations may II lime he dispensed with. These are the hind of neighbors the American farmer in Cuba will have, in place of th thrifty. intelligent Well-to-do farming class at home.
 As to dairy-farming, there is no doub +bat if is the safest and surest openln$ which a man of average means ana ca nahiIities can find to-day in Cupa. u +bis province of Santa Clara, as well a In Pinar del Rio and other parts of th leland are immense stretches Of grazlh' lands which may be bought for feV dollars. the "cabellera" thirty-three ant a third acres) equivalent to a rev oorts ner acre. On this point l canno ,,ive exact figures, because here, as else
 ,bore land varies in value-not so muc nn account of the quality of the soil a fo,, it's nearness to railways or markets ~,,oter-nriviIeges, etc. For pasture land s,, fsvorabIe localities, without building or cultivation. from thirty to fifty cent ,,er acre would be fair average b tlo ,r.v the newcomer is likely to mee ,h,,oerican and English cattlemen her -,,bo will discourage him by every mean 4, their power, telling him there is Il ,,,ora1, in the Cuban cattle-trade, that ie, "a loosing game" etc. They stick r. ,.,,rlxablv well themselves, however, | +bn trade which has already grown | oopsiderable proportions out ot free TIT
 to+ior The natural inference t,a+ paving invested money in the bus .l.ars tbev want a monopoly of the frs aI,,,cee and therefore issue unfaVofa 1,1a renorts to keep others out of tn field. .. # ,,o,,se
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