The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-02-20
MORE Light ON CUBA
John Rhodes Tells What
Crops are Grown
AND THE VALUE OF THEM
No Starving Nova Swim
ding Relief Agency.

| Guthrie O. T., Feb. 19.-John d. Rhodes
the Hennessy boy who went to Cuba with
Roosevelt's Rough Riders and remained
there in a governmental capacity. con-
tinues his interesting series Of letters
concerning that country, which are pub
nshed in the Waukomis Hornet. His lat
est letter reads:
The last weeks mail brought me sew
eral letters in regard to things here.
Some asking questions I have already
answered, and a few new ones. They are
as follows:
"Does it rain during the winter
months?
Eyes. but not the heavy flooding rains
of summer 1t is during the winter
months that all vegetables grow best
During the last month 1 have seen hun
dreds of acres in onions, potatoes and
garden truck Everything is fiourishing
and the new potatoes and onions are be-
ing harvested The potatoes being 81 per
bushel and from their looks must yield
several hundred bushels per acre. The
onions are worth cents per pound and
yield about 500 bushels per acre. They
are harvested tops and all, the tops be-
ing used to plat them into long strings,
which are then hung up in the shade and
dried. There is an American truck gar
dener. here who is raising vegetables for
the New York market. He shipped lately
thirty barrels of egg plant and has tur-
nips now ready for shipment Two other
Americans in Matanzas are buying up all
to
They bring fancy prices there now and
will till May.
Can cattle live here in winter with
out feed%
"That question fairly staggered me af-
ter all I had written about the grass.
Cattle and other stock not only live but
are rolling fat. The grass is green and
healthy This morning 1 saw a piece of
land that had been mown ana the grass
burned not over a month ago. It is now
nearly knee high again with tender nutri-
tious grass. 1t is this the year around.
Is there any wild feed for hogs?
CT hardly understand what is meant by
this question unless it means feed that
is not cultivated. The pelnas here all bear
a small nut that is used exclusively by
the natives for hog feed. These nuts fan
when ripe and seem to bear constantly
as there is always about four punches in
different degrees of maturity from bloom
to ripe seed. Sweet potatoes grow after
planting for years, without replanting
and are good feed. The only thing neces-
sary to grow them is to prepare the
ground and plant the vine, as they will
take care of themselves for years. They
are not shipped here for seed as in the
states, but are set out from the old vines
cut into convenient lengths. Yucco is
also grown, but as it does not grow from
root, but from stem only, it is necessary
to replant for each crop. It is almost
pure starch and very nutritious. The ma
tives eat it and also manufacture the
starch for their laundry from it. I am
informed that it is raised extensively in
Florida, where there are mills for the
manufacture of starch.
"'Do bananas, oranges and lemons do
wen?'
Oranges are fine, sweet, plump fruit
and as fine as any ever saw anywhere,
while every Floridan is enthusiastic in
their praise, saying they beat the best
ever grown in Florida. A number of men
from that state who lost their orchards
by the freeze have emigrated here pur-
chased land and put out fruit. They
claim that ten acres of oranges after the
fourth year will bring in enough income
to support a family in idleness and lux