The following is an authentic estimate of the cost of growing henequen and producing sisal or fibre from the same in Cuba. One hundred acres are used as the unit of measure: Cost of 100,000 plants @ $40 per M $ 4,000 Cost of preparing land 1,000 Cost of planting @ $5 per M 500 Cost of caring for and cultivation during four years 2,500 ------ $8,000 Cost of cutting, conveying, decortication and baling 4,000 ------- $12,000 The returns from the first cutting four years after planting should be: 100,000 plants with 30 leaves to the plant yield, 3,000,000 leaves 3,000,000 leaves (60 lbs. fiber each 1000 leaves) 210,000 lbs. @ 10¢ per lb $21,000 Cost of production 12,000 ------- Net profit per 100 acres $9,000 ------- Net profit per acre $90 Practical work in the field has demonstrated the fact that the cost of producing henequen fibre or sisal, if carried on during a period of ten years with the present price of labor, will amount to three cents per pound, or $6,300 for the production of 210,000 pounds of fibre coming from 100 acres of land. To this may be added for interest on capital invested and possible depreciation of plant or property, $1,700, making a total of $8,000. This sum, representing the average annual cost of producing, subtracted from $21,000, the normal value of the crop at 10¢ per pound, will leave a net return of $13,000 for the 100 acres, or $130 net profit per acre. CHAPTER XVIII COFFEE To either Arabia or Abyssinia belongs the honor of having been the birth place of those previous shrubs that were the forerunners of all the great coffee plantations of two hemispheres. And from the seeds of this valued plant is made probably the most universally popular beverage of the world. The people of Europe, North Africa and Western Asia all drink coffee. The same is true in most countries of South and Central America, while in the United States and the West Indies no breakfast is complete without it. Of all known nations, however, the people of Cuba consume the greatest amount of the beverage per capita. Both in the city and in the country, the fire under the coffee urn always burns, and neither invited guest nor passing stranger crosses the threshold of a home without being offered a cup of coffee before leaving.