Industrial Cuba Part 40

Poultry of all kinds similar to that found in the United States was common all over the Island before the war. No attention is paid to its cultivation, except in the matter of game-c.o.c.ks. c.o.c.k-fighting is so wide-spread and popular that the game-c.o.c.k may be well called the national bird of Cuba.

Humboldt has said that the bee is not native to Cuba and came from Europe. However that may be, the busy little worker has found there a land of flowers, and his products of honey and wax are among the reliable exports of the Island. The value of honey shipped to the United States in 1893 was $39,712, and of beeswax, $45,504. The best honey comes from the uplands and the poorest from the swamp flowers.

Agriculture in Cuba promises rich results in the future.

CHAPTER XXIV

TIMBER AND FRUIT TREES

Of the approximately twenty-eight millions of acres in Cuba and its islands, it is estimated that from thirteen to fifteen millions of acres are covered with timber, the vastly larger portion of it yet untouched by the axe. Of this, mahogany and cedar lead in value as lumber, though, for the variety of its uses, the palm, of which there are thirty species in the Island, easily takes precedence. A notable peculiarity of tree growth in Cuba is the presence of the pine, a distinctively northern product, yet here it is found growing side by side with the mahogany; and on the Isle of Pines it is so plentiful as to have given the name to the island. The province of Pinar del Rio (River of Pines) also receives its name from the pines which are so numerous there.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SAGO PALM.]

Of the thirty varieties of palm, the first and foremost is the Palma Real, or Royal Palm, called also the "Blessed Tree" because of its manifold uses to man. This tree is common all over the Island, growing alike on hills and in valleys; but it is most frequent in the west, where the soil is generally richest and heaviest. It rises to a height of from sixty to eighty feet, like a tall shaft of rough, grey marble, and from its top springs a great tuft of green leaves. Its peculiar growth does not make it especially valuable as a shade tree, but an avenue of palms is unequalled in its impressive beauty. Of its uses in other respects an inventory can scarcely be made. Its roots are said to have medicinal virtues. The stem of its leaves, or _yagua_, often six feet in length, is like a thin board and can be used as a dinner plate by cutting it into shape; it may be folded like stiff paper when wet; and is bent into a _catana_, or basin, or a pot, in which food may be boiled, and there is sufficient salt in the wood to make the food palatable; it serves also as a basket for carrying farm products; it is said a dozen _catanas_ will produce a pound of salt. The seed of the royal palm furnishes an excellent "mast" for fattening hogs. Good weather-boarding is made from its trunk, and the lumber may also be made into plain furniture; its leaves form the roofs of houses; fine canes are made from the hard outside sh.e.l.l, which may be polished like metal; the bud of the tuft is a vegetable food much like cauliflower in taste, and is eaten raw and cooked; and hats, baskets, and even cloth may be made from its leaves and fibre. What further uses may be found for it, future Yankee ingenuity will develop.

Of the other palms, the guano and yarey are valuable for their fibre, from which very fine hats and baskets are made for export; the guano de cana produces the vanilla-bean parasite and makes the best roofing material; the cocoanut palm is another variety, probably better known abroad by its product than any other; the guano de costa is noted for its elastic and waterproof wood.

Mahogany is the most valuable wood for export, although Cuban cedar is probably better known, because so much more of it is shipped to the United States; for example, in 1894, a good year, 12,051 mahogany logs were received here, and 106,545 cedar logs. Cuban mahogany is the most valuable known in the market. The common variety is worth from $110 to $150 per 1000 feet, and the bird's-eye, or figured mahogany, commands almost any price. Ordinary prices for it run from $400 to $600 per 1000 feet, with more than double that for fancy varieties. Mahogany cutting in Cuba is done in the most primitive fashion and under numerous difficulties, and thus far it has been carried on in only the easily accessible places, leaving millions of feet yet standing in the dense forests of the interior. To begin with, the mahogany tree does not grow in groups, but takes its stand alone, a very monarch of the forest. Here it is found by the hunter, who sights its peculiar foliage from his lookout in some tall tree. Noting all the landmarks, he climbs down and cuts a path through the jungle to his prize, "blazing the way" for his companions. The trees are often large, sometimes thirty feet in circ.u.mference, and when they are very wide at the roots, the cutters build rude platforms of poles or saplings, called "barbecues," around them, and from these platforms the tree is cut from ten to fifteen feet up the trunk. Thus are wasted several hundred feet of the finest part of the wood about the gnarled and curly roots. It is fair to suppose that there are fortunes to-day in the mahogany "stumpage" of Cuba, and it is in the most accessible portion of the Island. A day's work for a man is to cut down two trees of from eight to ten feet in circ.u.mference; two men will cut three larger trees, and when a giant of a quarter of a hundred feet around is found, four men take the entire day, which is very short in the dense jungle, to lay it low. Great care is taken in felling the tree not to have it split or break and destroy its value.

When the tree is down, all of it that is available for market is squared. It is hauled either to the nearest stream or to the coast or to a railroad station, as may be. Three hundred trees, averaging 2000 feet each, are a fair season's work for an ordinary camp. Notwithstanding the poor methods of getting out mahogany timber, the shipments to the United States alone since 1885 have been 235,000 logs, aggregating 35,700,000 feet, valued at upwards of $5,000,000. The following statement of the shipments since 1894 will show the disastrous effects of the war.

1894 12,051 logs 1895 20,388 "

1896 3,607 "

1897 757 "

1898 (to December) 738 "

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAHOGANY CARRIED BY OXEN.]

Although the mahogany tree in the wilds, when it reaches its best condition, reaches enormous growth, much of that coming to market is comparatively small. Some logs are not over two feet in circ.u.mference, but fine logs are five times that. It may be explained that the mahogany which gives prestige to the Cuban product and which commands the highest price, comes from the Santiago district. In other parts of the Island the timber is smaller, but it is noted for its hardness.

The United States is most familiar with Cuban cedar in the form of cigar boxes. The shipments of cedar since 1885 have exceeded 700,000 logs containing over 70,000,000 feet, valued at $4,900,000, allowing $70 per 1000 as the average price in the market. Proportionately, cedar has suffered equally with mahogany by the war, as will be seen by the following table of shipments:

1894 106,545 logs 1895 61,888 "

1896 28,130 "

1897 4,055 "

1898 (to November) 5,204 "

Of the supposed forty varieties of hard woods in the Cuban forests, lignum-vitae is one of the hardest, and it grows fairly plentifully. Not a great deal of it has been shipped, and it is worth from thirteen to thirty dollars per ton according to quality. Cuban ebony is a fine wood growing generally about the Island, and is noted for its blackness. The majagua is a flourishing tree, forty feet in height at its best, and its bark produces a fibre which is made into rope equal to much of the hemp rope now in use. Its wood is also hard and durable. The baria is a fragrant flowering tree of hard wood, and the granadillo, though only a small tree of ten to twelve feet in height, produces a wood of great hardness and fine colour, from which handsome canes are made. The acana, roble blanco (white), roble amarillo (yellow), jique, and caiguaran are hard and durable woods, the last being especially useful for fence posts and other underground work, as it lasts like iron. The cuia is durable in water, and is useful for dock timber and such purposes. The caimitillo, yaya, moboa, and cuen are all useful woods in the making of house frames, furniture, barrel hoops, handles, and carriage shafts. The jaguey is a peculiar tree, beginning as a parasite on some other, from which it sends shoots to the ground, where, taking root, they grow up and choke out the parent tree, taking its place as a tree composed of innumerable stems or vines. It bears a fruit of which bats are fond, and they are thick in these trees in May. Its wood is used for walking-sticks and other small articles.

The ceiba, cottonwood or silk-cotton tree, is a tree of beauty and size, and of very general growth. It bears a pod filled with beautiful white silk-cotton, used for stuffing pillows, but too short of fibre for spinning. One of the notable trees of the world that travellers tell us of is the great ceiba tree in the Plaza at Na.s.sau, Jamaica. The rubber tree has been introduced, in addition to some native gum-producing trees, undeveloped; and though enough was done towards its cultivation to prove that it could be grown successfully, the usual fate of new industries in compet.i.tion with the Spanish style of taxation proved too much for it, and the business was ruined. The sand box receives its name from the peculiar rattling of its pods as of dropping sand. The trumpet tree is so called because of its hollow trunk which produces a trumpet-like sound. The banyan tree is noticeable along the coasts, where it generally prevails. One specimen, near Marianao just outside of Havana, has hung its branches down and taken root until it covers four or five acres, and is a great curiosity to the traveller.

Rosewood is plentiful in some parts of the Island, also logwood and other dyewoods, but little or nothing has been done to develop business in this direction, and they are holding their riches for the new discoverers from the north who shall explore the Island in good time.

Concerning the practical side of the timber and lumber industry in Cuba, Mr. Charles M. Pepper, journalist, writes as follows:

"I have heard a hint that some of the Pennsylvanians who know something of lumber have got ahead of the Michigan and Wisconsin lumbermen who were expecting to exploit the forests of the interior. It is of no consequence who does it so long as the industry is developed. A civil engineer came to me the other day to ask some points about reaching a certain part of the Island. He also wanted to know a good land-t.i.tle lawyer. His plan was to take the lawyer along and close up purchases of timber lands at once.

The men he represented must have had money or they would not have indulged in the luxury of a lawyer to accompany them to the wilds of the interior. But their idea was the right one. Their money is in Havana banks. When they find timber lands which suit their purpose they will buy the tracts instead of seeking options and going back to the United States to sell these rights. Options on land are hardly known in Cuba. n.o.body is likely to make money by that means.

"As to how far the woods can be cleared by native labor I asked the opinion of Major Van Leer, the government engineer who is superintending the construction of Colonel Hecker's little military railroad across the bay at Guanabacoa. He has had experience in South America, in Santo Domingo and in other parts of the West Indies. 'Native labor,' he said, 'will do for most everything except to boss the job and run the sawmills. They don't know much about sawmills in these tropical countries, but they quickly learn how to get out the timber. A few lumbermen from Michigan or Pennsylvania would be able to handle the work without trouble.'

"The Cubans have already learned how to get out the mahogany, though only the edges of the forests have been touched. They have also learned something of sawmills, for in Pinar del Rio I have seen the tracts which they cleared of pine and cedar.

"These remarks on lumber are a digression. They may be taken at sawdust value by real lumbermen who have been brought up in Wisconsin or Pennsylvania. They are made because some folks with money have come to Cuba to buy timber lands. As long as it was only promoters forming companies for the exploitation of an unknown timber country it was not worth mentioning. Other phases of investment are becoming live topics for the same reason."

Next in value to the lumber trees in Cuba are fruit-bearing trees of an almost innumerable variety, some of which are universally known in the United States. With a climate and soil peculiarly adapted to the highest development of all kinds of tropical fruits little has as yet been done, and what has been accomplished has not been by the natives. It is said of too many of them that when they are too lazy to pick the fruit nature so lavishly bestows upon them, they simply lie down under the trees and wait for it to fall. Though all kinds of southern fruits grow luxuriantly, the most valuable commercially thus far developed are bananas, cocoanuts, lemons, oranges, limes, and pineapples, and the north-eastern uplands seem to be, by climate and soil, especially adapted to the highest development. While some degree of progress has been made in the raising of bananas and cocoanuts, very little has been done with the other fruits, and the possibilities are wonderful.

The banana, of which millions of bunches are shipped annually, easily leads its compet.i.tors, in point of value. It is scarcely necessary to comment upon a fruit so well known to every American. As usual with fruits shipped out of the lat.i.tude of their growth, the banana of commerce is not the banana of its native garden, although it suffers much less by the transition than other fruits, as it ripens almost as well off the tree as on. It is much more wholesome for the foreigner in his own home than in Cuba. The banana has three stages of usefulness: in the first, roasted or boiled, it is nourishing and a good subst.i.tute for bread; at three-fourths of its growth it is sweeter, but not so nourishing; and at last it takes on an acid, bitter taste, healthful and palatable. Bananas of various kinds grow wild in many parts of the Island, and the poorer people practically live upon them free of cost.

The fig banana, which is much more delicate than the common kind, is used as a dessert everywhere, and is very fine, but it cannot be shipped. During the past eight years, shipments of bananas from the four ports handling the business were as follows:

Baracoa 7,570,547 bunches Gibara 7,369,193 "

Banes 4,751,000 "

Cabonico 3,118,007 "

[Ill.u.s.tration: CUBAN FRUITS.]

The war wiped out the banana business at Baracoa. The shipments fell from 1,552,700 bunches in 1894, to 2000 in 1896; but at the other ports the effect was not so serious. Gibara sent away 1,305,000 bunches in 1896 to 1,671,000 in 1894; Banes, 755,000 in 1896, to 1,028,000 in 1894; and Cabonico, 550,000 in 1896, to 643,000 in 1894. The plantain, another variety, may be called the vegetable banana, and is of very general local use as a food.

Cocoanuts are raised in the same north-eastern section, and Baracoa handles, or did handle, the business; 27,430,413 were shipped from 1890 to 1896. Here, again, the war laid its heavy hand, and shipments fell from 6,268,000 nuts in 1893 to 35,000 in 1896. Of cocoanut oil, 4672 barrels were shipped in 1890-1896, with the highest number of barrels, 1500, in 1896, as against 50 barrels in 1893. Shipments of cocoa in 1894-1896 were 2,930,445 pounds.

The cocoanut palm rises to a height of fifty feet or more. The nuts grow in bunches in the tuft at the top of the trunk; bunches which often weigh as much as three hundred pounds. The nut furnishes meat and drink to the hungry native. The milk of the green cocoanut, a most palatable drink, is said to have valuable medicinal qualities in kidney troubles.

A few other Cuban fruits are oranges, lemons, limes, mangoes, rose apples, pineapples, pomegranates, _sapotes_, tamarinds, citrons, figs, custard apples, guavas, and _aguacates_. Cuban oranges are considered by many experts to be the best and sweetest in the world and they are the favourite fruit of the better cla.s.ses of Cubans. One orange and a cup of coffee in the morning to a Cuban is what a chew of tobacco and a drink of whiskey is said to be to a Kentuckian. Although little attention has been paid to the cultivation of oranges, except for local use, they still const.i.tute the second most valuable fruit import from the Island. The United States received $530,680 worth from 1887 to 1896.

The imports reached their greatest value ($97,078) in 1887; in 1896 the imports amounted to $58,612. Cuban oranges are of the seedless variety and are extremely cheap all over the Island. The possibilities of their cultivation are limitless, and it is safe to say that within a few years the production for export will be enormous.

The lemon tree, with its white flower and its varicoloured fruit, is one of the prettiest trees to be found in Cuba. Its leaves are almost as fragrant as are those of our lemon verbena. The yield is continuous.

Generally the fruit is of large size, though the finest lemons are rather small, juicy, thin-skinned, and of full flavour. The larger variety is thick-skinned. Little or no attention is paid to proper cultivation and no lemons are exported. The same is true of the lime, the fruit of which is very largely used, for its therapeutic qualities, in beverages of various kinds.

The rose apple, or rose fruit, grows on a tree of remarkable symmetry, with glossy leaves, and is as large as a good-sized peach, smooth-skinned and cream-coloured; with an odour and taste of attar of roses, so strong in fact as not always to be agreeable after the first one is eaten. Cubans use it as flavour for soups and puddings. The mammee, or mamey, is an odd fruit, growing on high trees. It is as large as a muskmelon, with a firm texture and somewhat the taste of a peach.

It is of no commercial value. The natives eat it, but it is not agreeable to foreign palates. The mango, of Oriental origin, flourishes everywhere in Cuba, growing on a tree similar to our apple tree. It is the size of a pullet's egg, yellow in colour, grows in long bunches, is very juicy when fully ripe, and is agreeable to most tastes. The natives are especially fond of it. Whether it can be grown for shipment remains to be seen. Dates and figs find a genial climate and a good soil, but so far they have been left to look out for themselves. The _sapotilla_ is a fine tree with a bell-shaped white flower, as fragrant as apple blossoms; and the fruit is the size of a peach, in a rough russet skin.

When ripe it is delicious and melts in the mouth. The custard apple grows wild and is also cultivated. It is green in colour, tough-skinned, acid in flavour, and full of small black seeds. It weighs as much as a pound and a half, and is used for flavouring purposes. The star apple is so called because, when cut in half, a star appears in the centre. The meat is green in colour when the fruit is ripe. It is eaten out of the skin with a spoon, and has the flavour of strawberries and cream. The guava grows on a tree about like an American cherry tree, and though not eaten in its natural state, it is of universal use in making the well-known guava preserves and jelly. The guava has a peculiar odour which will scent a room for hours after the fruit is cut.

The pomegranate is a bush fruit of handsome appearance not unknown in American hothouses and in southern localities, and though not at its best in Cuba, it is a great favourite, taking the place there that apples take in this country. The well-known citron, with many other Cuban fruits, is waiting for the care and attention that will make it a valuable commercial product. The tamarind grows in a pod-shape on a lofty shade tree, and when ripe is of the consistency of marmalade, and quite as toothsome. It is a sweet acid, and is used in making a favourite drink in tropic countries. The tamarind can be exported. The wild or bitter orange is used for hedges, and the thick skin of the fruit makes a sweetmeat of some commercial value. The _aguacate_, better known to us as the alligator pear, is a vegetable fruit and is used as a salad.

The _guanabana_ is a green-skinned fruit with white meat, and is used chiefly for making a pleasant drink, although it can be eaten. Somewhat similar to it is the _anon_, a pulpy and rich fruit in great favour.

Neither of these can be shipped out of the country. The bread-fruit is not a native Cuban, having been brought in about a hundred years ago.

Little has been done in its cultivation. The cinnamon tree, introduced by Las Casas, will grow well, but nothing has been done towards its cultivation.

Humboldt mentions the fact that in the early times the Spaniards made wine of Cuban wild grapes, but grape culture is not of any value, though some fine varieties are grown. The water-and muskmelon and cantaloup grow easily, but they need more care than they have to be equal in flavour and popularity to those raised elsewhere.

The strawberry grows everywhere and produces two crops yearly, but the natives are too lazy to give it any attention. Strawberry culture in Cuba could be successfully carried on to supply the early markets of the United States. The zapote is a fruit of brown colour similar to our apple, and is not edible until it has rotted.

Last but not least is that delightful fruit, the pineapple. There are several varieties growing wild in Cuba and cultivation greatly improves them. The fruit grows out of a bunch of great leaves, eighteen inches or two feet from the ground. Each plant bears one apple weighing from one to four or five pounds. The fruit stem matures in about eighteen months from planting, bears one apple, and will bear an apple annually after that for three or four years. The plant is raised from slips. Pineapples are chiefly grown in the Isle of Pines and Western Cuba. This latter section, however, takes the lead in all fruit-growing. Thirty-two thousand pineapples were shipped from Banes in 1894. As yet the Cuban pineapple is a weak compet.i.tor of the Bahama fruit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COFFEE MILL, SANTIAGO DE CUBA.]