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 classes 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 constitute 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 competitor of the Bahama fruit.