The Savannah morning news., 1901-05-03
FRUIT GROWING IN CUBA.
Deceptive Circulars of the Lands
Schcmers.


u. !. c. Clarke in New York SUM-
DO you want a Cuban home with an
orange grove and pineapple plantation
and all the various tropical fruits and
plants natural to Cuba, such as cocoa
nuts lines, lemons grapefruit, guavas,
bananas, mangoes' bread-fruit, sugar APP
pies, etc.? If you do, secure it by etc.
One need not follow the particulars of
the circular which a slab-sided individual
with very down East accent confided to
me the other day in Havana, but let us
get at the philosophy of it. The mental
picture of tropical or sub-tropical lands
drawn by those who have never been
there always has a palm tree in the fore
ground and oranges, pinespples, cocoa
nuts everywhere. The native is pictured
sitting under the palm tree, dividing his
attention between oranges, pineapples,
bananas and cocoanuts, until the teeth
of the onlookers water for the cool sue
culence of ambrosial repast of the person
in scanty clothes.
Those fruits are sold In the North for
a goodly price. They are among the luxu-
ries of the cooler climes. What, then,
more attractive to the man who is I'M
easy at home, than the idea of camping
comfortably upon southern land and min
istering probably to the sweet tooth Of
civilization? Nothing of vulgar farming
about it, You have your orange grove
and your pineapple plot and so forth
and you sit in the shade smoking cigars
while the things ripen and walk off to
market and bring your gold gains. These
be the traps to catch fools. Farming is
farming in Cuba, as well as elsewhere.
There is nothing automatic about it. You
can no more rub Aladdin's lamp and get
your wish in the ever faithful isle than
in Saskatchewan county, Montana
Fertile, fruitful, fecund the island is in
great part, but you can be deceived in
the name of fertility as we'll as in any
other kind of green goods. The particu-
lar circular from which / have quoted
spreads it's glittering bait far from the
scene of the La Gloria enterprise. 1t is
scarcely possible that anything else can
turn out so disaslrously for the confding
subscribers as that has done, but any
one investing in the scheme before me
on the strength of the prospectus would
infallbly meet with disillusion.
Take the first item in the line of at
orange grove. After buying and paying
for your land at an exorbitant price, rep
resenting probably 10 times the option
price or even purchase price of the COM
pany (if the outfit has actually purchased
what it sells) you get some figures for
laying out an orange grove of 20 acres.
Including the cost Of the land, you are
told you can clear, plow purchase young
trees from Florida, plant and look after
a 2O-acre orange grove for $500.
have consulted several men who are
versed in such matters, and have actually
planted orange groves in Cuba, and they
assure me it cannot be. done properly for
less than $500 an acre, excluding cost of
land; so at the start here is a call for
four times the outlay proposed. That Is
where the shoe pinches most.
The people whom it is sought to at
tract are the people of limited invest
ment capacity. They are not to be con-
founded with the rich men who go to
Florida in search of health and turn to
oranges for picturesqueness and anus
ing occupation. Here we have a circular
Understanding the needful outlay by
200 per cent. and overstating to the same
extent the probable result. rich man
would not mind it, but 1t cuts the poor
man. the man who has saved a little
money, both ways.
But after you are Satisfied that the
title is sound and the price only 200 or
500 per cent above the present value OF
the land. you should know whether the
land is really good orange land pine
annie land and so on. Can they point
out to YOU 20-acre groves or one-acre
matches bearing orange trees in the vicin-
| Nv of your purchase? In 1899 the entire
| acreage Of oranges In the island was only
| 200 acres. That is not to say thai II
might not be multiplied by 100 but go
softly. brother. You are. you see, practi-
cally a pioneer in orange cultivation IN
Cuba. o.oo
There were at the same time only 2COO
acres under pineapples l am not aware
! that there are many parts OF the island
where pineapples will not grow but be
s,,re that. as with oranges, there are
nlaoes better than others for growing
| them. and that there are niceties OF plant
| ing and culture. as well as mere sltua-
tions. which cannot be imported IN
| otrc,,Iar and of which undoubtedly the
circular writer's are ignorant. To put
| down 10 cents apiece as the cost OF set
ting out orange trees is TO give a very
| false idea Of the work needed at the cur
rent rate Of wages.
N5ert and IL might we'll have been put
erst what Is the rate and what the
r,ethod OF transportation to market!
All chances Of profit naturally depend
! liron that. It hss been the custom IN
| C,uba where railroad transportation Is
,,ecnssarv. 10 milk the producer as nearly
drv as Is compatible without putting him
ont az business altogether. The railroad
n,annates calculate your profits and pro
coed to impose rates which Will just let
YOU through alive. There has been no
Improvement in this respect since the
American occupation. There II no suen
thlng as a general mileage rate. Inc
rate punlahmeut Is made to III the crime
| ~ ..rnd,lctlnn as closely as the eAlstenec