bringing the total production of sugar in Cuba up to a maximum of only 6,812,500 tons a year, or at most, in round figures, about 7,000,000 tons. It seems most improbable that a larger production could be developed and permanently maintained, unless through fertilization and improved methods of cultivation, including irrigation; and it appears doubtful if such measures would more than compensate for the natural deterioration of soil and exhaustion of lands, that will inevitably result from long continued cultivation; for much of the lands now under cultivation will not produce for periods longer than from three to seven or at most ten years. The Cienaga de Zapata is the largest and most easily drainable of the swamp areas mentioned. It is a vast alluvial plain, built up of the washings of the most fertile and durable cane growing lands of Cuba, enriched by the decomposition of the vegetable growth of uncounted centuries. It has a total area of 15,307 caballerias, or 505,154 acres; which is greater than the sugar-producing area of the Island of Porto Rico, or that of the Hawaiian Islands; indeed it is nearly as large as both combined. The net reclaimable area is not less than 450,000 acres; which is sufficient to provide cane for thirty “centrales” of 250,000 bags, or fifteen of 500,000 bags capacity each; equivalent to an output of 7,500,000 bags, or approximately 1,000,000 tons of sugar a year; the production of which would be effected under a combination of advantageous economic conditions not found in the production of sugar elsewhere in Cuba, if in the world. Chief among these advantageous conditions are the fertility of the soil, the extent and compactness of the area of land, its convenient and economical accessibility to a deep water port, and the fact that the entire area can be irrigated with water from the drainage canals at a maximum lift of not over ten feet. The drainage of these lands can be effected entirely by gravity and at a cost not exceeding twenty dollars per acre for the net sugar producing area. Comprehensive surveys have been made for effecting the drainage of this great territory by well known American engineers; and a plan providing for the utilization of the lands, when drained, has been prepared by Mr. R. G. Ward of New York City, who was one of the chief factors under Sir William Van Home in the building and putting into successful operation of the original main line of the Cuba Railroad, extending from Santa Clara to Santiago. Under the franchises or concessions controlled by Mr. Ward, the not distant future may, therefore, see the present output of sugar in Cuba increased by approximately one-fourth, from the now neglected lands of the Cienaga de Zapata.