Large beautiful groves of oranges, limes, lemons and grape fruit in full bearing, form a very interesting part of the station’s exhibit. Some sixteen varieties of the banana, the most productive source of nourishing food of all the vegetable kingdom, may be studied here under favorable conditions. 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.”