The History of Cuba, vol. 5

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

Several acres have been given over to seed beds and nursery stock, which in a short time will supply valuable plants of many kinds to other parts of the Island. A section has been devoted to the cultivation of various textile plants, including the East Indian jute, the ramie, common flax, and the malva blanca of Cuba.

The large patio that occupies the center of the main building is adorned not only with many beautiful flowers common to this latitude, but also with quite a number of ornamental palms not common to Cuba, or at least, not to the Province of Havana. The charm of the spot is due not alone to the interest that arises from an opportunity to study animal and vegetable life under favorable conditions, but also the high degree of intelligent efficiency that has been introduced into the life of the Station with the advent of the present Secretary of Agriculture and Director, Dr. Calvino. Its beneficial influence is felt throughout the entire Republic.

Owing to the fact that agricultural products form the chief source of Cuba’s revenues, the protection of her various grains, grasses and useful plants from infection and disease of whatever nature, becomes a matter of prime importance. Plant diseases and insect pests have brought ruin to agricultural efforts in many parts of the world. Fortunately perhaps most of the country’s agricultural effort is devoted to the production of sugar cane, which is subject to less danger from disease than almost any other plant of great economical value or utility.

Tobacco, in the western end of the Island, has long been made the subject of study and care, with the result that efficient protection has been secured. Various other plants, however, and especially fruits, are extremely susceptible to disease and to infection. Some of these including citrus fruits, the cocoanut and the mango, have recently suffered severely from diseases that have been imported from other countries.

Cuba probably suffers less from these troubles than any other country within the tropics. Nevertheless her cocoanut industry, owing to the introduction of what is termed “bud rot,” a few years ago, was reduced from an annual exportation of 20,000,000 nuts to only a little over 2,000,000. A disease introduced from Panama also greatly injured a variety of the banana known as the “manzana.”

Not, however, until the unfortunate arrival of the “Black Fly,” discovered in India in 1903, and afterwards in some mysterious way conveyed to Jamaica, whence it found its way into Cuba in 1915, near Guantanamo, did the Government awaken to the fact that it was confronted by a serious pest that threatened not alone the citrus fruit industry, but the production of mangoes and also coffee.

As soon as the Department of Agriculture became aware of the nature of this new disease, steps were taken to combat it scientifically, and with all of the resources at the disposal of the Government. An appropriation of $50,000 was at once granted and afterwards extended to $100,000. With this fund the Bureau of Plant Sanitation was quickly organized, with a central office in Havana. Competent inspectors were assigned to the three principal ports, where supervision over both imports and exports is conducted.

Inspectors in each province were installed to investigate the condition of various crops with special attention given to the Black Fly. Squads of trained men were organized to combat this pernicious diptera, especially in the vicinity of the City of Havana, whence the disease had been brought from Guantanamo. Passengers probably carried infected mangoes from that city to Vedado, a suburb of the capital, and from this center the Black Fly spread over a radius of ten miles around the city, giving the Bureau of Plant Sanitation an infinite amount of trouble.

Expert entomologists and trained men were brought from Florida to aid in the eradication of the enemy. A systematic pruning, spraying and general campaign against the Black Fly has been carried on ever since with more or less success. Badly infected trees have been cut down and burned, while gangs of men, organized as “fly fighters,” are conveyed in automobiles with their apparatus from one orchard to another, keeping up a continual struggle against this destructive insect.

In the neighborhood of Guantanamo, where the pest had secured a foothold, a determined warfare is being waged. This enemy to several of the best fruits is undoubtedly one of the most difficult to contend with that has appeared in Cuba, but with the expenditure of time, money and much effort, it will undoubtedly be eradicated.