Foreign Agriculture Bulletin: The agriculture of Cuba

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U.S. Government Printing Office, 1942 - 144 pages

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Page 3 - Cuba, almost in sight of our shores, from a multitude of considerations has become an object of transcendent importance to the political and commercial interests of our Union. Its commanding position with reference to the Gulf of Mexico and the West India seas; the character of its population; its situation midway between our southern coast and the island of...
Page 3 - Havana, fronting a long line of our shores destitute of the same advantage; the nature of its productions and of its wants, furnishing the supplies and needing the returns of a commerce immensely profitable and mutually beneficial, give it an importance in the sum of our national interests with which that of no other foreign territory can be compared, and little inferior to that which binds the different members of this Union together.
Page 17 - Coffee plantations, and to a smaller extent cacao plantations, are almost entirely in eastern Oriente, with a few coffee plantations near Cienfuegos. These are essentially mountain industries, unlike any other major type of agriculture except that some grazing areas in the mountains are used for cattle. Banana production for export has been confined almost entirely to the valleys in the mountainous areas in the extreme eastern end of the island near Baracoa, where it constitutes a sizable industry...
Page 9 - ... located just south of the Tropic of Cancer, which passes between it and Florida, the climate is tempered by the prevailing winds and the ocean on both sides of the narrow island. Temperatures vary only slightly from day to night and from summer to winter. Havana, for instance, averages about 80'F.
Page 16 - ... actually under cultivation. Most of Cuba's farms are highly specialised, as for example, sugar centrals, producers of bananas for export, mountain coffee plantations, and cattle ranches. Sugar-mill lands are scattered in fertile areas throughout the island, but particularly in the central and eastern part. Most mill lands are devoted almost exclusively to the production of cane, as are also most of the medium and small farms surrounding the sugar mills. These farms have little livestock, and...
Page 3 - American public policy pointing in the same direction; for the peace of Cuba is necessary to the peace of the United States; the health of Cuba is necessary to the health of the United States; the independence of Cuba is necessary to the safety of the United States. The same considerations which led to the war with Spain now require that a commercial arrangement be made under which Cuba can live.
Page 93 - By all these- measures the Government hopes eventually to increase production to a point where it will supply from one-fourth to one-half of the country's requirements.
Page 97 - ... pasturing during all seasons of the year. This provides cheap feed, particularly for cattle, which are by far the most important kind of livestock. Large sections of the east-central part of the island consist of relatively poor land, suitable only for grazing.
Page 17 - ... yuca, malanga, rice, and bananas and plantains for local consumption. Peanuts for sale to oil crushers have recently also become an important cash crop for general farming. Most farmers do not keep much live-stock, the main production of cattle being on the large cattle ranches in east-central Cuba. The occasional sale of hogs and eggs constitutes the major portion of most farmers
Page 65 - ... crop. The remaining 70 per cent, of the growers, with about 40 per cent, of the crop, produced only for domestic consumption. The Provinces of Pinar del Rio and La Habana produce nearly threefourths of the total crop. There are two principal types of pineapple grown in Cuba. The red, known as...

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