Industrial Cuba Part 39

In the majority of these, no active mining operations have been carried on. Whatever conditions of taxation, duties, and other expenses on the production of manganese existed previously have been changed by the war, and entirely new conditions are presented now for the continuance of the work. It is believed that the mines are practically inexhaustible, and that the metal, while varying considerably in quant.i.ty, is in the main high grade and can be mined and shipped at prices which will extend the industry until the United States steel manufacturers will get their entire manganese supply from this nearest known manganese district.

Copper. It is believed that the natives mined copper long before Columbus discovered the Island, for copper ornaments have been found, not only in Cuba, but in Florida, long antedating 1492. Whatever may have been true of prehistoric periods, it is known that the mines at Cobre in the province of Santiago de Cuba were opened as early as 1524 and became the greatest copper-producing mines of the world. As high as fifty tons of ore a day have been mined from them. Some of these mines were sunk to the distance of nine hundred to twelve hundred feet. Before the development of the great copper deposits in the United States, this country received the output of the Cuban mines, which were worked by English capital. From 1828 to 1840 between two million and three million dollars' worth of copper was annually shipped to this country, besides shipments to other countries. Owing to the fact that below three hundred feet these mines were beneath the level of the sea, the pumping problem was difficult of solution and expensive, and at last, in 1867, this hindrance, combined with the development of copper deposits in the United States, which cut prices materially, stopped work. The shafts filled with water and have remained so. The only work that has been done was an attempt by a Cuban company to work the copper found in solution in the water. It is believed that there are still rich and valuable deposits of copper in this section and that the time will come when the red glory of Cobre will again be restored to its ancient prestige.

Gold and silver. Some discoveries of gold have been made in various parts of Cuba and in the Isle of Pines, and some placer mining has been done along a few of the rivers, but it is believed that the quant.i.ty found will scarcely justify the opinion that Cuban gold will ever make much of a showing in the world's product of the yellow metal. Silver appears far better. Deposits have been found in the provinces of Santa Clara, Puerto Principe, and Santiago. Some silver has also been found in other parts of the Island and on the Isle of Pines. As early as 1827 silver was mined in the Manicaragua district, province of Santa Clara, said to yield seventy-five ounces per ton; and near the town of Santa Clara deposits yielding $200 per ton were prospected fifty years ago. In the lead mines of Santiago de Cuba, some silver has been found yielding nineteen ounces to the ton. More work was done in the Santa Clara mines than elsewhere; in fact little has been done in any of them, but the deposits in Santa Clara did not continue of sufficient richness to pay for working them, and in recent years nothing has been done in Cuban silver mining. Reaching a conclusion by way of the geology of Cuba and of the other West Indian islands, it may be safely predicted that the prosperity which is promised for Cuba, and which is sure to come soon, will raise the Cuban silver mines to their former productiveness.

Lead. This metal, reported to exist in several localities, has had no development save in Santiago de Cuba, where two or three mines have been opened. One of them shows a twenty-inch vein, forty-six per cent.

copper, with some silver and zinc and a trace of gold. The mines so far have been opened by American "boomers" for the purpose of bringing the properties into notice.

Coal. A serious deficiency in Cuban products is mineral fuel; and although coal is said to exist and, again, said not to exist on the Island, Mr. Frederick W. Ramsden, late British Consul at Santiago, made the following report in 1895:

"A deposit of coal has been found at five leagues of the Dos Caminos railway station, or about fifteen leagues north-north-west of Santiago. A sample sent to the United States a.n.a.lysed as follows:

[Ill.u.s.tration: ORE BANK OF JURAGUA MINES.]

Per Cent. Remarks.

Moisture 13.20 Specific gravity 1.368.

Volatile combustible 49.20 One cubic yard weighs 2303 pounds.

Half sulphur 47.76 Fixed carbon 28.48 This sample is fairly black, and when powdered it contains visible layers of pyrites and no appreciable bitumen.

Half sulphur 27.04 Ash 9.12 Sulphur 2.88

"I understand, however, that since this sample was taken the mines have been partially opened up and a better cla.s.s of coal found lower down. No estimate has been formed as to the quant.i.ty of coal there, as no investigations have so far been made with this object.

I am informed, however, that the geological formation is favourable."

Some of the coal reported in other sections of the Island proves to be either a lignite or a hardened bitumen. Possibly workable deposits of coal exist somewhere, and efforts will be made to explore thoroughly every locality where there is the slightest coal prospect, as so much depends in the development of manufacturing industries upon contiguous and cheap fuel.

Asphaltum. Asphaltum appears to be a very general product of the Island and of the water along its sh.o.r.es. Deposits of it show in every province, in some localities in inexhaustible quant.i.ties; the deposits at Cardenas and Santa Clara take the lead in development. As much as ten thousand tons a year have been shipped from Santa Clara. At and near Cardenas the deposits are found in the bottom of the bay, and the method of securing it is peculiar. A shaft eighty feet or more in depth below the surface extends into the sea-bottom; and into this the asphalt runs or filters. It is supposed that the supply is brought from the interior through the subterranean rivers which prevail in this locality,--from which, indeed, Cardenas gets its water supply. Over this shaft the ship is anch.o.r.ed; from her deck a heavy bar of iron attached to a rope is dropped, and the asphalt is broken from the sides of the shaft and falls to the bottom, where it is scooped up into a net and loaded into the vessel. As this work has been going on for years and the asphalt replenishes itself constantly, it is fair to suppose that the run will go on for ever. It is of such quality as to be worth from $80 to $125 per ton in New York, and a ship has gathered as much as three hundred tons in three weeks. This and two other mines, of not such good quality, are immediately in the bay of Cardenas; and near Diana Key is the great Constancia mine, covering a circ.u.mference of one hundred and fifty or more feet, from which twenty thousand tons have been taken; yet there is no diminution in the quality of the deposit. There are several other smaller deposits in this locality. As asphalt is so general in Cuba and the mines are so generous in their yield, even under the crude methods adopted, it is only to be concluded that the asphaltum industry of the Island has a bright outlook; and when it is understood what a fine paving material asphalt is, and how greatly paving is needed in the streets of Cuban towns, it seems to be almost providential that so sore a need has healing so close at hand, demanding only enlightenment and energy to apply it.

Quicksilver is known to exist, though in small quant.i.ties, and as yet not enough has been found to pay for the working. Nickel is also said to exist. Petroleum is found in several parts of the Island, and in and near Manzanillo it comes out of the ground and rocks in a remarkably pure state. Natural gas may yet be found, for a gasoline mine near Santa Clara clearly indicates its presence. Marble of fine quality is reported in the Isle of Pines and in a number of localities in Cuba, but its superiority may be slightly doubted, as its grain is somewhat coa.r.s.e and it lacks the proper density. The same may be said of such building stone as has been thus far produced. However, so very little has been done in developing any of these products and giving them fair tests, that definite conclusions as to quant.i.ty and quality cannot be justly reached at present.

CHAPTER XXIII

AGRICULTURE AND STOCK

Data of any kind on the farming interests of Cuba are difficult to collect, and those obtained are, as a rule, meagre, indefinite, and unsatisfactory. Statements vary as to the acreage under cultivation, estimates vary from 2,000,000 to 9,000,000 of acres. One writer says there are 100,000 farms, plantations, and cattle ranches in the Island, valued at $20,000,000; and Cabrera, in 1862, gives these figures: 18 cocoa plantations, 35 cotton plantations, 782 coffee plantations, 1523 sugar plantations, 1731 bee farms, 2712 stock farms, 6175 cattle ranches, 11,541 tobacco plantations, 11,738 truck farms, and 22,748 produce farms, a total of 59,001. Spanish official figures show a total of 37,702 farms, cattle ranches, sugar, tobacco, and coffee plantations.

What these properties may be worth or valued at now cannot be stated; but before the war their value might be fairly estimated at from $275,000,000 to $300,000,000.

The Cuban farmer, despite what nature had done for him in climate and soil, was never equal to his opportunities. True, the mother country, by taxation, had kept him over-burdened with debt, and by not giving him the benefit of progressive ideas had forced him to use only the most primitive implements and farm machinery. When he used these at all, they were of Spanish manufacture, the worst in the world; but even under such adverse circ.u.mstances he might have done much better than he did. That he did not is due largely to himself, for indeed there are thrifty Cuban farmers, who have good farms and do as well as farmers anywhere, all things considered. But they are not in a majority. As one evidence of the general lack of thrift, the Cubans imported from the United States in 1893, a good year, animal products (largely hogs), worth $5,718,101; bread stuffs, $3,164,541; provisions other than the foregoing, $1,315,097; a total value of over $10,000,000, all of which except, possibly, wheat flour, might have been raised at home, with a fair amount of care and industry, under a decent government.

While all parts of the Island are not adapted to such agricultural development as is found in higher lat.i.tudes, nearly all the products of northern soil may be grown in Cuba. Our common corn is very generally raised, on the uplands especially, and two crops of it will grow yearly.

It is smaller than the corn of the north, but is said to be more nutritious. It is fed to stock in the ear and as fodder. Wheat growing has never been attempted to any extent, and while the lowlands are impossible for it, in the mountain regions, according to theory, it might be accomplished successfully. However, all the chances are against Cuba's entering the wheat market against Minnesota and the Dakotas. Oats and barley are not in the list of Cuban products. A great deal of rice is raised in the lowlands along the coast; but the Cubans are great rice eaters and none is exported. A careful handling of the Cuban rice crop would bring it into the markets of the United States.

Although, to insure good quality, seed potatoes must be brought to Cuba each year from the United States, the crops raised are enormous, and they come twice a year. We do not get new potatoes from Cuba in the spring, but there is no reason why we should not, if the farmer will raise them for export. The Cuban potato is worth considerably more in Havana than those imported. The sweet potato grows everywhere and anywhere, and is not only of great quant.i.ty but good quality. To Cuba it is almost what the white potato is to Ireland. The yam, another and larger form of the sweet potato, is prolific and prevalent. It is not cultivated for exportation. In fact it can scarcely be said to be cultivated at all in Cuba, so common is the growth.

Beans are an article of import into Cuba, and the people consume great quant.i.ties of them, yet every variety of bean grows there rankly, and that they are not grown not only to meet the home demands but for export as well, is simply because of a lack of industry in their cultivation.

Asparagus may be grown and greatly improved, as that now produced is small and inferior. Beets, as far as produced, show that by proper cultivation they might become a leading product. Cabbage, too, is so neglected that it is imported to meet the demand that Cuba easily could supply. Watercress of good quality grows along most of the streams.

Spinach is found in the home market-gardens, but none is raised beyond that. The sago palm, furnishing sago flour, is neglected though it grows in profusion. Radishes grow all the year. Two crops a year of fine peanuts might be produced, but not enough for export are raised. So far the Cuban onion, though it flourishes with very little cultivation, is not in compet.i.tion with the Bermuda onion, so popular in American markets. Lettuce is perennial and of the best quality. The cuc.u.mber is another vegetable growing profusely but never exported. Yuca is a root much used in place of potatoes. It is rendered palatable by pressure or by cooking. The sweet variety is used raw as a table vegetable. Bitter ca.s.sabe flour, made from yuca, when parched in pellets, is known as tapioca, and is a popular edible in various forms of soups, puddings, etc., in northern countries. Celery, which is found in the local gardens, is inferior by reason of neglect. Millet is raised for local fowl food.

Cotton, although it is mentioned as an agricultural product of Cuba, is only a possibility, for its cultivation has been so slightly attempted as scarcely to warrant an opinion of what may be done in its cultivation. Sea-island cotton, which is of famous excellence in the United States, may be raised along the Cuban coasts; and there is no known reason why the general cultivation of cotton would not be fairly profitable. Whether or not it may be developed under the new order remains to be seen.

The indigo plant grows easily, but it has never been cultivated profitably. The future may bring to its producers more knowledge and better methods than the past has known.

Gra.s.ses grow rankly almost anywhere in the Island. In the province of Pinar del Rio one variety grows to the height of six feet; another is a bunch gra.s.s similar to our species. Of these two gra.s.ses stock is very fond, but a third variety has such sharp edges that stock cannot eat it.

Little of this gra.s.s is used as hay, and the hay crop has not been of especial significance in Cuban agricultural products, but it might well be, if it were given proper cultivation and care.

The fibre plants of Cuba are numerous, and many of them are of the best quality; moreover, they grow upon soil not very useful for any other purpose. The best known of them are the henequin, lanseveria, and lengua de vaca. The first produces from twenty-five to thirty leaves a year for twelve years, each leaf from five to nine feet long, weighing from four to seven pounds.

So far as Spanish statistics may be correct, there were in Cuba in 1891 a total of 2,485,768 cattle of all kinds; but at the close of the war in August, 1898, it was estimated by American stockmen, who were apprised of the condition of affairs throughout the Island, that not over 75,000 head were left. For a number of years past, owing to excessive import duties and other exactions, shipments of cattle to Cuba have been kept far below the demand, not only for working, but for slaughtering purposes; and as the Cubans raised few cattle, though every natural condition of climate, forage, and water was favourable to grazing, there was never a surplus to meet any emergency. Therefore the result was that, when the war came the ports were blockaded and no new supplies could be brought in, the people, as well as the soldiers, had to be fed, and the cattle were slaughtered indiscriminately. It should be stated here that just prior to the war, cattle were admitted free, and the imports, chiefly from South American countries, reached from 70,000 to 80,000 head per month. These were nearly all beef cattle. From August, 1897, to May, 1898, 83,868 head of cattle were received at Havana, of which 37,129 came from the United States. These cattle came chiefly from Texas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana, for southern cattle are much better suited to the Cuban climate and conditions than northern or western cattle. The fact that cattle are bought by weight in the United States and sold by the head in Cuba has been against the American stockmen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN OX CART.]

From a report of a dealer in Havana, under date of October 5, 1898, these extracts are made:

"The average of cattle weighs about seven hundred pounds, for which I get between $32 and $48. On these I have to pay all the freight and customs charges, etc., so that by the time that the meat gets into the butcher's shop, it is up to about 42 cents silver (say 38 cents gold) per pound, although it is the same that costs in the United States from 3 to 3-1/2 cents. Cottonseed-fed steers give between sixty-five and seventy per cent. of meat, nett; gra.s.s-fed cattle from the United States only nett fifty per cent. Tampico cattle give only about fifty per cent. There is no advantage in selling good cattle in Cuba, as they buy these by the head. On my St. Louis cattle I lost money, they weighing about fifteen hundred pounds and costing in the United States about $65, and I sold them for about $52. A good team (yoke) of oxen for working purposes is worth between seven and eight onzas (an onza equalling $17), and I give a statement of what it costs to get such a team into Cuba":

Cost in Texas for one team of oxen $90.00 Freight to Havana 14.00 Exchange 11.40 Duty 20.00 Risk, about five per cent. 5.00 -------- $140.40

"Milk cows in Cuba are worth from $60 to $80 each and cost as follows:

Cow costs in United States, with calf $40.00 Freight for the two 8.50 Exchange 2.50 Duty: cow, $8, calf, $4 12.00 Risk 2.50 ------ $65.50

"The food of cattle for the trip from the United States to Cuba costs about fifteen cents a head. We pay an extra twenty-five cents a head for the attention."

Though Cuban estimates of the Island's cattle capacity are fanciful and unreliable (one estimate sets the "untilled land for cattle raising" at 28,300,000 acres, every acre of which when tilled will support at least one head), it is an undeniable fact that within a few years, by ordinary care in the selection and handling of stock, Cuba will be in a position to export cattle. The fact is worthy of American stockmen's attention that at least a million cattle of all kinds, for breeding, beef, and work, are needed in Cuba, that the best cattle so far received in Cuba have come from the United States, and that by contiguity and sentiment the United States is first choice against all South and Central American and Mexican compet.i.tors. It is as well worthy of the attention of the Government authorities that in restocking the Island with cattle, careful and scientific attention should be given to the cla.s.s of cattle used for breeding purposes in order that the very best results be obtained. The estimate of a million head to meet the immediate demands may seem to be large, but when we come to consider that one sugar plantation of 3000 acres requires from 250 to 400 yoke of working cattle, not to mention cows and beef cattle,--and that there are thousands of sugar and tobacco plantations, besides other thousands of farms of various kinds,--and ox-carts for general transportation all over the Island, it will be seen that a million head will be scarcely enough.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A FOWL VENDOR.]

"Jerked beef" has been an important article of import into Cuba, and it may become still more so in the future, as Texas, with its millions of cattle, has a climate peculiarly adapted to the preparation of this form of beef product. On this subject a report made by Mr. Modesto Trelles of Cienfuegos, under date of September 19, 1898, may be of more than pa.s.sing interest:

"The Island of Cuba has about twenty-eight million acres of land.

Under cultivation, producing sugar cane, there are 1,980,000 acres, about 1,000,000 in roads, towns, etc., and 1,500,000 acres of fallow land. The cattle here pay consumption duty of 5-1/2 cents per kilo. The jerked beef pays $3.96 import duty, per hundred kilos. The import duty on each head of cattle is $8. The consumption tax $5.50 a head. Buenos Ayres has been sending about 500,000 head of cattle to Cuba in the shape of jerked beef. The reason of this is a treaty between Spain and Buenos Ayres, obliging the latter to take in Spanish wines, in lieu of which provision Cuba was to import jerked beef. We have, therefore, been importing jerked beef to the extent of 500,000 head of cattle, owing to the advantages given Buenos Ayres. One of the secrets of this great importation has been that in the first place, when the Cuban merchant called for jerked beef, he went directly to Spain for it.

Certain Spaniards sent a ship from Barcelona to Buenos Ayres, loaded with wine, etc., from which point the ship came here with a cargo of jerked beef. It lands the cargo here, and then goes north with a cargo of sugar; then takes a new cargo of cotton from New York to Europe, and goes back to the first point of shipment. This is one of the reasons why they had cheap rates on jerked beef.

"The whole thing has been done to chastise the cattle breeding in Cuba, owing to this reciprocity treaty which Buenos Ayres had with Spain. One of the greatest errors Spain has made has been in killing the cattle breeding here by these great advantages given to foreign meat markets. I wish to open your eyes in regard to this, because if it remains as it is we will always be under the same disadvantage of importing jerked beef to the detriment of the cattle breeding. You must remember that jerked beef is a great detriment to salubrity, due to being salt, and obliges the people who eat it to drink large quant.i.ties of water which generally brings on anaemia. Of 1,500,000 inhabitants 1,000,000 have eaten jerked beef heretofore, and that is equivalent to the amount of 1600 head of cattle per day of three hundred pounds each, and naturally Cuba very well could produce this number of cattle with the utmost ease because the pastures are very good here. It will be an economy of $5,000,000 or $6,000,000 a year of what we pay here for the jerked beef to Buenos Ayres, and if the importation of this jerked beef is avoided an equal amount could be grown, and we would besides have the benefit of the hides, tallow, and the horns of the cattle, which const.i.tute a big industry in itself. Naturally, with the breeding of cattle here, all this land which is now idle could be used, and in addition would give employment to many cowboys, etc. The people here are very fond of cattle raising. Under the basis of having all these farms in a condition to produce cattle, we could employ almost all our idle in this business."

In 1891 it was estimated that there were 531,416 horses in Cuba and 43,309 mules, yet a report dated as late as October, 1898, is to the effect that there are practically no horses in the Island. The same authority states that there is a great demand for cheap horses, and that now, since the prohibitive duty of fifty dollars a head is gone with other Spanish customs, the American "plug horse" would bring a quick sale all over the Island. The Cuban horse, of Andalusian ancestry, is a fair average animal for a low, hot country, but great improvement could be made in the stock by careful selection and breeding. At present he is a substantial, small horse of the cob style, is very easy under the saddle, and does well in harness. Stallions and mares are needed, and the surplus horse-flesh of the United States, increased by the introduction of electricity as a street-car motor, might easily find profitable use in this new country. The Cuban horse will hardly achieve the proud position of the Arabian or Kentuckian, but he may be as useful in his humbler fashion.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROYAL PALMS, YUMURI VALLEY.]

The mule in Cuba as elsewhere, "without pride of ancestry or hope of posterity," is a most patient and useful animal, and his virtues and his scarcity make him more valuable than the horse. A fine mule commands a fancy price, and a pair are worth from $600 to $800. What the mule raisers of the United States can do in Cuba is left for them to determine.

Sheep of good quality are among the impossibles to Cuba, for the climate has the peculiar effect of straightening their wool into harsh hair, like that of the goat.

Although Cuba has not only every facility for hog raising, including the palm, the seed of which is one of the finest hog-fatteners on earth, and although the people of the Island use more lard, bacon, hams, and pickled pork than any other meat product, nevertheless, instead of raising their own, they have received from the United States over $35,000,000 worth of pork in the ten years from 1887 to 1896. Some hogs are raised, but it is because of the energy of the hog, not of the Cuban. Wild hogs (_jabali_) prevail in many parts of the Island, and the boar hunts are sometimes exciting sport. The wild hog is merely the domestic hog run away and grown up in the woods.