Coffee Plantations-Tobacco and other Agricultural Products. 111 The coffee tree, if left to nature, grows to the height of from 12 to 18 feet, giving off horizontal branches, knotted at every joint, which, like the trunk, are covered with a gray bark. The blossoms look like the white jasmine, and form thick circular clusters around the trees are often seen. One tree yields from a half to three-fourths of a pound of coffee. The trees are in rows, at right angles, about four yards apart. Between the rows are planted plantains, corn, and other vegetables. To bring a coffee plantation into full operation requires about four years. Mr. Turnbull estimates that a coffee plantation of 200,000 trees would require, for the first seven years, an outlay of $40,000; and that the net annual returns, after that time, from the sales of coffee, corn, and the other products, after deducting all expenses, would be about $5,300; which would be 13 per cent. on the capital invested. The author of "Notes on Cuba," who, we believe, was a physician of Charleston, now dead, estimates that a coffee plantation of 350,000 trees will yield annually a net balance of $10,000, after the payment of all expenses; but the cultivation of sugar is found to be immensely more profitable. The coffee tree bears well when it is forty years old. branches. They appear from December to June, and last only two or three days. The berries at first are green, but become white as they enlarge and ripen, then yellow, and finally bright red, closely resembling the cherry in size and appearance. The trees are of ten loaded with them in closely-wedged circles around each joint of the branches. On a single branch two feet long there are often seen as many as ninety of the berries, each containing two grains of coffee, with their flat sides together, imbedded in a soft mucilaginous pulp. The berries ripen from August to December, and are gathered by the hand; and as three or four different crops are often ripening at the same time on each tree, as many separate pickings are required. The berries, when perfectly The wax of Cuba, now so extensively dried, are passed through a mill, consist- exported, is not the product of native ing of a large circular wooden trough, bees, but of bees brought from Europe. two feet deep, and in width, tapering The exportation of wax began in 1772. from two feet at the top to one at the The wax of Cuba was formerly sent bottom. A heavy solid wooden wheel, mostly to Mexico for consumption in about six feet in diameter, and eight the churches. The honey of Cuba is inches thick at the circumference, plays in the trough, crushing the berries which pass between it and the bottom of the trough. The husks are then separated by means of a fanning mill, which also separates the larger grains from the smaller. The broken grains are picked out by the negroes for plantation use, while the whole ones are packed for market. The whole crop is generally in market by the first of February. The coffee tree, like the cotton plant, has a deadly enemy in the shape of a small worm, which often destroys it by girdling it beneath the bark. Another species of worm bores into the trunk, traversing it in every direction, causing it to fall by the first high wind. There are also two species of moths which prey on the leaves; but the most destructive of all is a small fly which deposits its eggs on the leaf, from which spring caterpillars that speedily consume the entire leaves of the tree. The coffee trees on a plantation are often several hundred thousand in number. As many as 350,000 and 400,000 justly celebrated for its fine rich flavor. There is a native bee in Cuba, said to be stingless, which produces a black wax, and honey as limpid as water.t The next agricultural product which we shall mention is tobacco, of which we have the complete statistics since 1826, as furnished by the Diario de la Marina, for Jan. 1, 1852. They are as follows: 1826 Leaf Tobacco. Manufactured, The tobacco of Cuba is celebrated throughout the world. The custom of smoking was borrowed from the natives of Hayti, and was introduced into Europe towards the end of the 16th century. The plant is indigenous to America, and the term tobacco is probably derived from Tabaco, a province of Yucatan, where it is said to have been first found by the Spaniards. The honor of introducing it into England, about 300 years ago, is ascribed to Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. The name Tobacum Nicotiana is, of course, not classic Latin, the word Tobacum having been invented since the discovery of America; and Nicotiana is obviously derived from Nicot, (John,) who first introduced tobacco into France, in 1559. Some have derived the term tobacum and tobacco, from tabac, the name of the instrument used by the natives of America in smoking the herb; others from Tobasco in Mexico. 250,000 arrobas. From 1794 to 1803, the amount produced fell, owing to the government monopoly and other causes, to less than half that quantity. The total production of tobacco, however, in the island, is believed to have been, from 1822 to 1825, a gain from 300,000 to 400,000 arrobas. During the government monopoly from 10 to 12,000,000 lbs. of tobacco were sometimes accumulated at Seville, where all the tobacco of Cuba was deposited, and the revenue arising from it, in good years, was about 6,000,000 piastres. The best quality of tobacco comes from the Vuelta Abajo, the southeastern part of the island, and the seed from that place is sent over the northern and western parts. The tobacco lands of Cuba yield about 135 lbs. to the acre. During the government monopoly of tobacco, factories were established in the island, the officers of which were required to buy up the crop at prices fixed by themselves. These officers, called Visitadores des Vegas, had the inquisitorial duty confided to them of superintending the cultivation of tobacco, and in doing this they committed all sorts of abuses. They reduced the buying price so low that the unfortunate planters were brought to the very verge of ruin. To enhance the value of tobacco, by Humboldt says that the tobacco plant rendering it scarce, at one time they has been cultivated from time immemo- actually obtained an order from the rial by the natives of Oronoko. It is crown of Spain to burn, or otherwise not improbable that the Asiatics were acquainted with it long before the dis- hand. When by this operation they destroy, large quantities of tobacco on covery of America, as is supposed by had succeeded in raising enormously Pallas, Rumphius, and Louveiro, though the price of tobacco in Spain, they filled it does not appear that it was known in the market with large quantities which Europe before that time. Ulloa, however, has endeavored to show that the they had secretly withheld from desEuropeans learned the use of it from swindled its subjects out of immense truction, and thus the government the Asiatics. Columbus, on his arrival at Cuba, in 1492, beheld, for the first could not last long. In 1804 the raising sums of money. This system, however, time, the custom of smoking tobacco of tobacco in Cuba had become so much among the natives.* reduced that 40,000 arrobas were im The most ancient statements we pos sess, on the quantity of tobacco which the isle of Cuba has produced, extend back as far as 1748. The Abbé Raynal, whom Humboldt considers "a much more exact writer than is generally believed," states that, between 1748 and 1753, the mean annual amount produced by the island was 75,000 arrobas. From 1789 to 1794 the annual amount was * Irving's Life of Columbus, vol. i. p. 287. ported that year from the United States, to supply the retail demand in Havawent from the United States to Spain.† na; and a still greater quantity also Cuba is well known; and it would be a The immense fertility of the soil of bilities from the amount of its products. gross error to infer its agricultural capa *Humboldt: Cuba, p. 215. + Turnbull's Cuba, p. 317. See also De Bow's Industrial Resources, art. "Tobacco." Importations from the United States-Tariff of Cuba. 1826 to 1830. 1841 to 1845 Under a good government Cuba would Imported. 113 Exported. $12.717,929 12,887,339 21,662,766......16,503,648 22,472,355.. . 24,099,646 .27,150,754......28.828,988 From 1846 to 1850 the exportations of domestic products were as follows: 1846.. 1848. 1849. .$21,587,564 25,312,553 21,896,526 25,043,154 The foreign trade of Cuba is chiefly with this country. Our exports to, and imports from Cuba, during the last eight years, have been as follows: Having thus far spoken only of sugar, molasses, coffee and tobacco, it remains for us briefly to enumerate the other agricultural products. Indian corn, which is indigenous, yields two crops a year. There are two sorts in the island: the maiz de frio, and the maiz de agua. Rice is also produced in considerable quantities, in many parts, particularly in the low lands on the coast. Beans of various kinds are raised. Wheat was 1844....... formerly raised, but its cultivation is now abandoned. 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848. 1850. 1851. Plantains and bananas thrive aston- 1849. ishingly. So productive is the plantain that 600 plants will maintain a family of ten persons. One acre of ground will produce enough to feed five persons a whole year. Vast quantities, as is well known, are exported to this country. Cotton thrives in many parts of the island, and is raised at much less cost than any other product. It will grow well on the barren and stony grounds near the coast. Its cultivation has been neglected from the supposition that sugar and coffee were more profitable crops. In 1837, 26,987 arrobas were exported. Cacao thrives well in the island. The fruits of the island are the pine, or anana, oranges of different kinds, lemons, limes, figs, strawberries, the nispero, melons of different kinds, the red and yellow mamey apple, and other fruits. Among the roots are the yuca of different kinds, and various species of the sweet potato TRADE. Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Puerto Principe, Matanzas, Trinidad, Baracoa, Gibara, Cienfuegos and Manzanilla are the ports of the island licensed for foreign trade. The amount of the imports and exports of Cuba, since 1826, is given in the following table. The figures under each head being the average annual amount.† McCulloch estimates that only one-seventh of Cuba is under cultivation. + This table does not include slaves from Africa. This table is compiled from the official returns of our government. Without enumerating the different articles sufficient to say that nearly all our prowhich we export to and from Cuba, it is ducts go to Cuba in exchange for those of the island. Without undertaking to give in full the present existing Cuban tariff, we will here present so much of it as relates to those articles of commerce most consumed in Cuba, which are imported enormous duties on each article, and the from this country. The table shows the mode of valuation, so exaggerated as to double and triple the amount of the duties, etc. Summary of the importation of certain articles that have a large consumption in Cuba, produced by the United States, to which is added a classification of the prices on which they are valued by the tariff of Cuba, and the duties charged on them. $3 50....33% 150 00....33% Per cent. the duty is 64 per cent. There is also added, in every case, a balance duty of 37 50... 33 one per cent., determined by the amount 4 50.27% of the export duties. Tobacco exported 37 50...27% in foreign vessels, with a foreign desti10 00....33% nation, pays a duty of 1214 per cent.* The articles admitted free of duty,` are iron sugar kettles, steam engines and machinery for sugar works, rice mills, horses and mares. 3 00...." 0 50.. 66 14 00. 66 12 00. .100 00. 66 The articles exported free of duty, are green fruits of all sorts, lime juice and syrup; also gold and silver in bullion, and specie. A foreign vessel of 300 tons entering one of the ports of Cuba, has to pay, before it can get out of it, the following enormous charges: 0.064. Oakum, per qq. Fringe, cotton, per piece silk yard. 66 5 50 Blankets, each. Corn meal, per bbl. Sugar moulds, per doz. Cordage, per qq .... Piano Fortes, each "for horsemen, each. Cotton shawls. per doz.. 44 "ordinary, each Stockings, cotton, per doz.. wool 46 " .300 00....27% 6 00 .33% Custom-house charges, on visit of entry.. For an extract of the manifest.. For the cocket stamp.. For a translation of the manifest. For the captain of the port. For visit of health officer. 46 46 white, 26 inch. 46 30 66 8 25 12.00 5.00 6. 00 4 00 4.00 8.00 2.00 $645 12% 46 maple, Shingles Sperm candles per qq. 27/ REVENUES. The crown revenues of .33% the island may be divided into six classes: 1st. Rentas Maritimas, which include 27% the duties on imports, exports and tonnage, and the local or municipal duties, which are levied at some of the customhouses of the island. .33% 66 2d. Impuestos Interiores, such as the tax on home manufactures, the consumption duty on butchers' meat, the composition levied from hucksters and hawk27% ers, the sale of papal bulls and of stamped paper, the profits derived from the lottery, and the impost on cock-fights.† 15 50...." 3 75. 32 00. 12.00. 66 Tallow 66 The Cuban planter, before he can export his products, must also pay an ad valorem duty of 24 per cent., if their destination be a Spanish port, and if the vessel bear a Spanish register. If the destination be foreign, and the vessel Spanish, the duty is 414 per cent.; and if both vessel and destination be foreign, 3d. Deductions from the Rentas Ecclesiasticus, particularly from those called the royal ninths, and the consolidated and the annual and monthly revenues fund, the sinking fund, the media annata, of the clergy. 4th. Deducciones Personales, such as the contribution for exemption from military * Turnbull, p. 102. + Gambling is also licensed. Port Charges-Crown Revenues-Total Income-Taxation. 115 service, called the lanzas, the medias annatas seculares, the deduction for the pay of invalids, and the tax on pawnbrokers. 5th. Miscellaneous receipts, such as the product of the sales of royal lands, the returns of the old poll tax, the rents of vacant livings and of unclaimed estates, the produce of vendible offices, the hospitalidades, and the peñas de ca mera. 6th. Casual receipts, such as deposits, confiscations, donations, the recovery of arrears.* Of the Rentas Maritimas we have the most complete official accounts from 1826 to 1850, giving the totals of each year, but not the details, as these are never given by the Cuban government. 1843. 1844. 10,394,057 3 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848. 1849. 9,192,078 4% .11,140,778 7% 12.808,712 7% 12,922,573 5% .12,664,329 .12,248,712 6 In the elaborate official document in The following tables, as given in the Diario de la Marina for January 1, 1852, and which may be considered official, since every thing published in Cuba must first pass under the eye of the government, are the most complete connected account, we believe, of the revenues of Cuba that has ever been pub- the Diario de la Marina, from which we lished. The returns are in dollars and derive the figures of the above tables, reals. The writer in the Diario divides the writer labors to show that Cuba is all the revenues of Cuba into two one of the most prosperous and happy classes: the Rentas maritimas, or those countries in the world, even more so derived from the custom-houses, and the Rentas terrestres, which include all other revenues whatsoever, enumerated above under the heads 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th and 6th. Revenues of Cuba, derived from duties on Imports and Exports, from 1826 to 1850 inclu sive: Total Importation and Exportation duties 5,309,136 1% than the United States. He endeavors to show that we are lamentably oppressed by taxation, and drops a tear over the heavy burthens of imposts that weigh down our people—" los impuestos que sobre sus habitantes pesan!" From the last table above it will be seen that the people of Cuba have to sustain a taxation of about $12,500,000 annually, which is for the free population of the island (600,000) upwards of $20 per head, rich and poor. Now let us look at the "OPPRESSED" states of Ohio, New-York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, and see how much the people of those states are taxed per head. The 5,426,033 6% following table, which we compile, will show the oppression : 5,193,967 7 4,795,465 2% 4,792,178 6 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830.... 5,743,793 5 |