The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-05-28


famous districts the forest appeared to
me sparse and thin. Immense areas
have been cleared in times past for
| cane and tobacco plantations, and al
most everywhere on uncultivated land
fires have been set to improve the pas
| turage, Cuba has always been a great
cattle country and this no doubt, at
| least in part, accounts for the lack of
| luxuriant forests in comparison with ia
maica and other tropical districts.
| owing to the lack of proper means of
communication there is a lack Of wood
in certain districts, especially the CEN
trail portion. Wood and charcoal are in
great demand for fuel fence material is
scarce; and even small poles which are
extensively used in drying tobacco, in
the field, are expensive. The planting
of forests in Cuba would pay as well, L
believe, as elsewhere on the western
continent.
Charcoal is the fuel most in use in
Cuba, and is in fact the only practical
BILE fuel for general cooking in the ma
tive houses, as coal or woode emits too
much heat to be bearable during the hot
season. Mr.. Clifford suggests the plant
iiS VI tue eucalyptus tlcC III elONCa w
be used for the production of charcoal.
and believes that money thus invested
would bring in good returns, as the de-
mand for charcoal Is great. He believes
also that under present conditions 1t
would pay to export charcoal from the
gulf coast to Cuba. Another pressing
need of the island is good fence materi-
al. There has always been heavy de-
mand for this, particularly for fence
post material, and this demand will
doubtless be greater than ever, now
that Cuba is about to wake up CONNER
cially. To-day the fences are almost
entirely Of barbed wire propped and
patched with heterogeneous sticks and
brushwood Chestnut, locust and og-
wood, thinks Mr.. Clifford, could be
planted to advantage in Cuba and used
as fence material.
Considerable quantities of mahogany,
cedar and lignum vitae have been
shipped from Cuba in the past, and the
large number of structures on the island
containing mahogany shows that It
must formerly have been much more
plentiful than 1t is now. Both the ma
hogany and the cedar trees are far
apart and are becoming rarer every
year, so that Mr.. Clifford predicts their
disappearance in a short time. In the
mountains lignum vitae Is still album
dant, and is exported largely, being used
for pulleys, blocks croquet mallets and
balls and many other purposes. In the
forests of western Cuba the Cuban pine
is abundant and Is much used for tim
Ter. The finest tree of Cuba is the royal
palm, which grows in fields and planta-
tons and along water courses, without
which the Cuban would be hard put to
it for building material. 1t is not a
very ornamental wood, but is peculiarly
fitted for building purposes, as it has
the valuable quality of shutting out the
heat, and houses built of 1t are cool.
The nuts Of the tree are good food for
swine. The mango is rather common
and its fruit is very popular with the
natives, who eat 1t so inordinately that
mango belly" is a recognized ailment
all over the island, not dangerous but
unsightly, as it causes remarkable
and ridiculous distension of the abdo-
men, particularly In children. The
mango is a splendid shade tree. Anoth-
er magnificent shade tree is the ceiba or
silk cotton tree, but 1t is worthless in
any other sense as the wood is too soft
for use. The great ceba tree under
which the surrender of the Spanish
commander was received near San Juan
hill Mr.. Clifford notes has been so
Clipped and hacked by souvenir van
dals that there was danger of it being
destroyed, and now a barbed wire fence
protects it. In the cities the common
shade trees are the Spanish laurel, the
beefwood, Ficus Indica, which is the sa-
cred Bo-tree Of India, and is something
like poplar, though not so tall and
erect; the West Indian al
mond which Is not an almond at all,
and the sand-box tree which has the pc
culiar trait of exploding its fruit with a
sharp report and scattering the seeds
far and wide, Because of this the ma
tives call it the monkeys dinner bell as
they say that at the sound of the report
rush in from all sides to eat
the delicate seeds.
1t Is peculiar that northern plants,
such as irish potatoes and other vegeta-
bles, grow well here by the side of ba-
nanas, poneapples and other tropical
plants. The soil Of Cuba Is of such a
nature that everything can be raised
easily and in abundance 1t is in need
of energetic gardeners and fruit grow
ers. 1t needs orchards and forests. 1 |
have no doubt but that olives, grapes,
English walnuts. oranges, prunes, chloe
Jlate and hundreds of other fruits may |
be easily grown there. What is needed |
n Cuba is an experimental station and |
l botanic garden-such as exists in ia |
naica, where plants of all kinds from |
everywhere may be tested-because in
his line Cuba is capable of almost linn
tless possibilities. 1t would be an ex-
,ellent place for northern students to go
or study, just as Europeans go to Butt
anzorg in Java. In fact the tropics are
biological headquarters, where every
hing is intense, where plant physiolo-
1y. the basis of forestry, agriculture and |
horticulture may be studied to the best
advantage.
TRAMP SMITH AND HIS DOGS.