CHAPTER XIII

FUTURE FARMING IN CUBA

THE possibilities latent in Cuba's splendid agricultural resources are incalculably great. It is practically certain that at some day, not distant as the lives of nations go, this Island will be completely covered with plantations and farms, scientifically worked by intensive methods, and sustained by the capital of many large corporations. There is hardly room to doubt this conclusion. The demands of America and the great manufacturing countries of Europe for food supplies are constantly on the increase and must grow ever greater with the increase of their populations and the further development of their mechanical industries. There are few agricultural regions better situated and conditioned to take advantage of this demand. But before this can be done a complete reformation in the agricultural methods of Cuba must be brought about. Capital must be attracted, not in independent driblets, scattered

over the country, but in large sums, concentrated upon particular districts and devoted to definite developments. In a word, the arable lands of Cuba, now lying idle, or being wasted by a ruinous method of cultivation, must be subjected to a process of exploitation similar to that which has brought the sugar and tobacco industries to their present conditions of high development. Such a movement must necessarily tend to the uplift and prosperity of the individual farmer. It must influence his methods and his product for the better. It must open new markets to him and afford him increased facilities for transportation. Organized enterprise, with ample capital, could make Cuba a great exporter of food stuffs. Under good management the investments in such enterprises would undoubtedly be safe and profitable. Coincident with a movement of this kind a national agricultural bank should be established, and conducted somewhat after the manner of the Egyptian Agricultural Bank, which has a counterpart in the Philippines. In Cuba, almost more than anywhere else, the small farmer needs loans and credit on moderate terms. At present, if he can borrow at all, he must pay an exorbitant rate of interest.

Cuba is now importing annually forty millions of dollars' worth of food supplies. More than half of the commodities making up this purchase, enormous for an agricultural population of two millions, might be raised in the country, at lower cost and of better quality.

There is here an excellent opportunity for foreign capital. One or two such companies as have successfully developed new tracts in our Western States would find a profitable enterprise in the business of supplying Cuba's food demands from the product of Cuban soil. This statement is made on the assumption that such concerns would avoid the errors into which several colonization companies, which otherwise had good prospects, have fallen. No such project should be started, except with well defined plans, plenty of capital to carry them through, and, above all, a management familiar with Cuban soils and conditions.

To begin with, the acquisition of one thousand acres of the best arable land, well situated for the transportation of produce, will require the investment of one hundred thousand dollars, which would, however, cover the cost of buildings, water supply, and other necessary permanent accessories. Each acre would then

call for the further investment of one hundred dollars, which would include all expenses until the first crop should be secured. The expense of cultivation would average about fifty dollars an acre, and an average return of one hundred dollars could be looked for. This estimate of fifty dollars gross profit per acre will appear excessive, and doubtless most Cuban farmers would call it ridiculous. Nevertheless, there are directors of experimental stations in Cuba, who are prepared to demonstrate the feasibility of accomplishing it with ordinary staple crops, and several experts, familiar with local conditions, who endorse it. If it is possible to produce thirty, or even fifteen per cent. net profit from the cultivation of Cuban farm lands, then the fact is the most striking evidence of the shortcomings of the present methods of agriculture. Of course, a large proportion of the estimated results would accrue from the economies in production which a wellcapitalized corporation could effect by the employment of labor-saving mechanical devices, and the economies which would naturally arise. from shipping in great bulk.

In Hawaii, Mexico, and other tropical countries, the agricultural development has been