Although, for lack of proper cultivation, Cuba has long produced an orange of second rate quality, it has been demonstrated by actual accomplishment in several instances that the fruit can be grown in the Island to equal any in the world. But this result can only be attained by the expenditure of considerable money, the application of considerable knowledge, and the exercise of considerable patience. Without either of these necessary factors, hundreds of Americans have entered upon orange growing, and thousands have invested in orange lands during the past ten years or so. The citrus fruit boom was launched on a very unstable basis and its decline was as rapid as its growth. There is as little ground for the statement frequently made nowadays that there is nothing in orange culture in Cuba, as there was for the former claim that a fortune was easily to be made out of it in ten years. The simple fact is that the man who has the means to buy suitable ground, to plant and tend and fertilize it properly, and maintain himself until the grove yields, may depend upon a satisfactory return from his investment. At present the margin is small, owing mainly to the expenses incurred in marketing the product, but there is every reason to believe that this burden will be considerably lightened in the next few years. Many growers have abandoned their orange groves in Cuba. Others have turned to grape-fruit, which appears to promise a greater prospect of profit, although there is some danger of over-production injuring the business. In Cuba the grape fruit grows to perfection. The cost of its production and shipment is no greater than that of the orange, and it stands carriage a great deal better. The prices at present obtained for it leave a considerably higher margin than can be secured from oranges. Though by no means great as yet, the market [Illustration: BREADFRUIT.] for what may be called fancy fruits, such as the mango, guava, and alligator pear,--which perhaps would more properly be classed as a vegetable,--is constantly expanding in the United States. Cuba produces a number of delicious fruits which are quite unknown to Americans at home, but which they soon learn to enjoy when resident in the Island. It is altogether probable that a persistent effort to introduce some of these to the United States market would result in a permanent demand at profitable prices. There is a large class of New York consumers of delicacies who are ever ready to pay for the pleasure of having their palates tickled.