The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-09-30
CUBAN TRUCK FARM.
The Country Said to be We'll Fitted for
 Gardens-There is No Frost

The Country Said to be We'll Fitted for
 Gardens-There is No Frost.
 Previous to the advent of the Ameri- cans, trucking for the northern markets was unknown in Cuba, and, in fact, the industry so practiced for the local mar kets was conducted on very unenter- prising scale.
 As early as the fall of 1899 American farmers, principally Georgians and Floridians, began experimenting in va rious localities in the neighborhood of Havana. These experiments were un- successful financially, but they resulted in a great deal of good. The soil differs so much from that in the States that the lesson of it's cultivation had to be ac- quired by even the most expert farmers. The ground is hard, and in some places almost f1inty when dry, and thick and heavy when wet. This, added to the heavy mat of grass and the packed condition of the soil by reason of its long disuse, made the original breaking task of great labor. After the ground is once thoroughly broken, however, it TeIndlIS IlicllOW WlLll fCLS lANhAN hNAAe'
 This stage of experimenting is now practically past, and the American farmers who went through the mill' are now in position to get good re- turns.
 Guines, a small town about thirty five miles from Havana, is the center of the trucking industry on the island. It | has long been known for it's excellent potatoes and onions. It is now becom- | ing known to the commission houses in the States because of it's heavy ship ments of early vegetables to the north ern markets. The land is especially | adapted for all tender crops, particu- larly those of thirsty nature. river rises in the hills to the north of Guines and runs down the valley to the Carib- bean sea- A series of ditches was made during the slavery days and the water from the river was distributed among the farms as far east as San Nicholas, each farm having a fixed water privi- lege.
 These lands are not on the market, as a rule, because the owners can rent them to such great advantage The an- nual rental will range from five to ten dollars per acre. All the Americans now engaged in trucking at Guines rent the farms they are operating.
 Land in this vicinity, where held in small tracts, can probably be bought for about one hundred dollars per acre which, considering its producing capac- ity, may be said to be cheap. The ab' sence of frost enables the grower to get in some of his crops as early as Christ mas if he so desires and from then un' til May, he can have a continuous pro fitable crop without competition iron Florida or Crystal Springs. Miss. Tht demand in the markets, however, does not become heavy until February March and April are really the banner months for the Cuban shipper.
 The fast steamers now plying to New York give the Cuban grower an advan' tage over the Florida grower. Th' freight rate from Cuba to the commits sion house, including all changes ant duties amounts to from forty-two tc forty-three cents per crate, taking to matoes as a basis. The same crat' from Florida will cost at least twelve cents more, and from the more southeri parts of the state even as much as for ty cents more.
 Thus the Cuban grower has many ad vantages, such as immunity from fros
 which destroys six out of every tel crops in the most southern states shorter duration os transit in man. cases, always cheaper freight and cer
 tainty of getting his product on tn market at time when it is at its best Cuban Correspondence of the NeV York Herald.