in the ground, when new and vigorous shoots spring up from
every joint, exhibiting the almost miraculous fertility of the soil of
Cuba under all circumstances.

The coffee-plant (_caffea Arabica_) is less extensively cultivated on
the island than formerly, being found to yield only four per cent. on
the capital invested. This plant was introduced by the French into
Martinique in 1727, and made its appearance in Cuba in 1769. It requires
some shade, and hence the plantations are, as already described,
diversified by alternate rows of bananas, and other useful and
ornamental tropical shrubs and trees. The decadence of this branch of
agriculture was predicted for years before it took place, the fall of
prices being foreseen; but the calculations of intelligent men were
disregarded, simply because they interfered with their own estimate of
profits. When the crash came, many coffee raisers entirely abandoned the
culture, while the wiser among them introduced improved methods and
economy into their business, and were well rewarded for their foresight
and good judgment. The old method of culture was very careless and
defective. The plants were grown very close together, and subjected to
severe pruning, while the fruit, gathered by hand, yielded a mixture of
ripe and unripe berries. In the countries where the coffee-plant
originated, a very different method is pursued. The Arabs plant the
trees much further apart, allow them to grow to a considerable height,
and gather the crop by shaking the trees, a method which secures only
the ripe berries. A coffee plantation managed in this way, and combined
with the culture of vegetables and fruits on the same ground, would
yield, it is said, a dividend of twelve per cent. on the capital
employed; but the Cuban agriculturists have not yet learned to develop
the resources of their favored island.

_Tobacco._ This plant (_nicotiana tabacum_) is indigenous to America,
but the most valuable is that raised in Cuba. Its cultivation is costly,
for it requires a new soil of uncommon fertility, and a great amount of
heat. It is very exhausting to the land. It does not, it is true,
require much labor, nor costly machinery and implements. It is valued
according to the part of the island in which it grows. That of greatest
value and repute, used in the manufacture of the high cost cigars, is
grown in the most westerly part of the island, known popularly as the
_Vuelta de Abajo_. But the whole west