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 circumstances 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 latitudes, 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 quantity 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
quantities 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 competition with the Bermuda onion, so popular in American
markets. Lettuce is perennial and of the best quality. The cucumber 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
cassabe 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.
Grasses 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 grass similar to our species. Of these two grasses stock is very
fond, but a third variety has such sharp edges that stock cannot eat it.
Little of this grass 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.
[Illustration: 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; grass-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 competitors. 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 class 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.
[Illustration: 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
passing 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 quantities of water which generally
brings on anæmia. 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 constitute 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.
[Illustration: 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.
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-cocks. Cock-fighting is so
wide-spread and popular that the game-cock 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.