The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-09-19
CUBAN TRUCK FARM.
The Country Said to Be We'll Fitted
 for Gardens.

The Country Said to Be We'll Fitted
 for Gardens.
 Cuban Correspondence of New York
 Herald.
 Previous to the advent of the Ameri- cans. trucking for the Northern markets was unknown in Cuba, and, in fact. the industry as 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 Flo ridians. began experimenting in various localities in the neighborhood of Hava- na. These experiments were unsuccess- full financially, but they resulted in a great deal of good. The soil differs so much from that in the States that the lesson of its cultivation had to be acquir- cd by even the most expert farmers. The ground is hard. and in some places al- most fiinty when dry, and thick and heavy when wet This, added to the mat of grass and the packed condition of the soil by reason of it's long disuse, made the original breaking a task of great labor. After the ground is once thoroughly broken, however. it remains mellow with very little work.
 This stage of experimenting is now prac- tically past, and the American farmers WnO WeHL InTouBn llle mn are uo" III a position to get good returns.
 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 an donions. It is now becoming known to the commission houses in the States because of it's heavy shipments of early vegetables to the Northern markets. The land is especially adapted for all tender crops, particularly those of a thirsty nature. A river rises in the hills to the north of Guines and runs down the val ley to the Caribbean sea series of ditches was made during the slavery days and the water from the river was dis tributed among the farms as far east as San Nicholas each farm having a fixed water privilege.
 These lands are not on the market, as a rule, because the owners can rent them to such great advantage. The annual rental will range from 8 to $l0 per acre All the Americans now engaged in truck ing at Guines rent the farms they are operating.
 Land in this vicinity, where held in small tracts. can probably be bought for about $1OO per acre. which, considering its producing capacity. may be said to be cheap. The absence of frost en-
  crops as early as Christmas if he so de- sires and from then until May, he can have a continuous profitable crop with out competition from Florida or Crystal Springs, Miss. The demand in the mar kets however, does not become heavy until February, March and April which are really the banner months for the Cuban shipper.
 The fast steamers now plying to New York give the Cuban grower an ad- vantage over the Florida grower. The freight rate from Cuba to the commission house including all charges and duties amounts to from 42 to 43 cents per crate. taking tomatoes as basis. The same crate from Florida will cost at least l3 cents more and from the more southern parts of the State even as much as 40 cents more.
 Thus the Cuban grower has many ad vantages. such as immunity from frost which destroys six out of every ten crops in the most Southern States-shorter du- ration of transit in many cases. always cheaper freight. and certainty of getting his product on the market at time when it is at is best.
 The normal school girl may have an