The History of Cuba, vol. 5

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

The Zebu, although of somewhat self-willed disposition, and with an inclination to jump any fence under seven feet, is nevertheless proving a very important addition to the breeding stock of Cuba. This largest specimen of the bovine species, standing at the shoulders some six feet in height, when crossed with the ordinary cow of Cuba, produces a much larger and stronger animal, with this very important advantage, that at two years of age, a weight equivalent to or in excess of the ordinary three years old, is attained, while the quality of the meat is in no way impaired.

The Zebu is not only valuable for beef breeding purposes but is probably unequaled in the capacity of a draft ox. A pair of Zebus, when yoked to a cart or wagon, will drop into a trot with an ordinary load at daylight in the morning, and without serious effort make fifty miles by sunset. The strength of these animals is almost incredible, and the cross with the common cow will undoubtedly furnish a valuable adjunct to successful stock growing in the Republic.

In all stock raising enterprises, plenty of fresh water is absolutely essential. Rivers or running streams are most desirable acquisitions to any ranch. Where these cannot be found, wells are usually sunk and water met at depths varying from twenty to two hundred feet. In the foothills and mountainous districts, never failing streams are found in abundance.

There still remain hundreds of thousands of acres of well watered and well drained lands, that possess all the conditions desired for stock raising. Much of the territory formerly devoted to grazing has been recently planted in sugar cane, owing to the high prices of sugar, resulting from the European War. In spite of this fact there are still large tracts in nearly every province of the Island that not only are available for stock raising, but would, if sown in grasses and forage plants, produce, under proper management, returns per acre quite as satisfactory as those derived from sugar cane.

In both Havana and Matanzas Provinces good lands command a price that is rather prohibitive for grazing purposes. But in Pinar del Rio, and the three large eastern provinces of the Island, there are still extensive tracts, both in the level sections, and in the foothills, that are ideal grazing lands, and if not absorbed in the near future by the cane planters, these lands will eventually, owing to their advantages for stock raising, yield revenues quite as satisfactory as those of any other in the Republic.

These lands can be secured at the present time, in large tracts, at prices varying from $15 to $50 per acre, and if properly administered, will easily yield an annual net return from 25% to 50% on the investment. One prominent stock raiser in the Province of Camaguey, an American who, starting with nothing, has built up a very tidy fortune in the last ten years, stated that his return in the year 1918 represented a profit of 104% on his capital invested. This excellent showing, however, may have resulted from the practice of buying calves at low figures that have been dropped in less advantageous sections, and removing them to rich potreros where they were quickly fattened for the Havana market.

Cuba at the present time is importing approximately $10,000,000 worth of pork and pork products annually, notwithstanding the fact that this Island, owing to exceptional conditions for raising hogs economically, could not only supply the local demand, but could and will ultimately, export pork products to all of the Latin American countries bordering on the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

Hogs breed twice a year in Cuba, and the climate, free from extremes of heat or cold, enables probably a larger percentage of the young to be brought to maturity, with less care and less risk, than in any section of the United States. Science today has rendered it possible to eliminate the danger from contagious disease to pork; hence it is that raising of small stock, especially hogs, under the supervision of intelligent management, is bound to prove one of the most remunerative industries of this country.

Hogs were introduced into Cuba from Spain by the early Spanish settlers, but no effort was made either to improve the breed by selection or even to prevent its retrograding through lack of care and good food. Nearly all hogs raised in Cuba, even at the present time, are permitted to run in droves in the forests and foothills of the thinly settled sections, as did their ancestors four centuries ago.

Even the owners of these droves have but little idea of the number of hogs belonging to them. Monteros, or forest men, are hired to herd them, which is done with the assistance of dogs. The hogs in this way are followed from place to place where the forests may furnish natural food for the mothers and their progeny. As a rule, at evening each day, the montero or herder, in order to keep up a partial contact between him and his drove, carries a few ears of corn slung over his shoulder in a sack, or to the saddle of his horse. This he shells and drops as he rides along the narrow trails of the forest, uttering at the same time a peculiar cry or call, heard in the mountain jungles of the hog districts, when the monteros are coaxing their herds out into the open, so that they may catch a glimpse of them before they dodge back into the leafy glades of the interior.