CUBA 
171 
Cuba has 2360 miles of steam railways, over 
200 miles of electric systems, and 1246 miles 
of excellent macadamized roads, which are 
probably unsurpassed anywhere in the world, 
and are ideal for automobiling, being over six 
teen feet wide. 
Most of the rivers of Cuba are short, with 
currents too swift for navigation. Some of 
them can be used for short distances by shal 
low draft boats, a favorite means of getting 
sugar to ports. The Cauto is navigable for 
30 miles and the Sagua la Grande for 20 
miles. 
Sugar is king in Cuba, the 1914 crop being 
worth $240,000,000, with only 4 per cent, of 
the available soil under cultivation, and but 
172 estates growing and grinding cane. 
Tobacco ranks next in importance, the an 
nual production averaging $32,000,000. This 
industry is centered in the Province of Pinar 
del Rio which grows the famous Vuelta Abajo 
leaf. Much of this tobacco is made into 
cigars and cigarettes in the country, the local 
factories exporting in 1913 $13,878,436 worth