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Show H PALMS OP CUUA. H Not only Is the climate of Cuba fa- H Yurable to the planting of crops when- H ever the farmer chooses to plant them, H and the lands so rich that no fertlllia- tton Is ever required, but nature seems H to hae, with n beneficent hand, reared H many strange trees and plants to sup- H ply the wants of man without the H necessity of hla planting them himself. H Klrit among theso aro the palms, H some twenty-sU varieties of which H adorn the fields of Cuba, giving ahado, H food and life, saya the flclcntlrla Amer- H Iran At the head of theso stands the H royal palm. H The royal palm consists of a tall, straight trunk of a very fibrous nature H and supports a cluster of tennated H leaves like a bunch of plume on H a long stick The leaves aro large and H leathery these leaves continue to j (Tow trim tho center to n great length j When do lrnvcs cannot grow any H more, they drop to the ground from H the bottom of tho cluster, thus inak- H log room for tho now ones which aro H always coming out of the center. It H atao yields, In the proper season, ycl- H low flowers. The fruit cannot be eaten. H The stem of the long leaves Is pe- H ctillar It Is semicircular, and em- H braces tho trunk of tho Irro and holds B the lent In place until It wither and H drops to the ground. It resembles u H thin board and Is often of great slie, H and It has n number of uses. The H trunk at the tree Is without any bark H and Its renter Is very porous, Increas- H Iiik In density toward the outer stir- H face, l'rom tbo hard outer shell of the H trunk canes are made. The bud or B root of tho center splro from which the H leaves grow consists ot a tender sub- Vfl stance burled deep down within the H cluster of the green lcatos, and forms M a very palatable food cither In tho raw H state or rooked as a vegotable. It Is m also mado Into a preserve with sugar. B Tho royal palm Is one ot the most H common ot all tho trees In Cuba, It M U met with everywhere, and In tho H center of tho broad pasture lands It MVH often stands nlona. Ilordcrlng the cul- tlvated fields of rich planters, It forms Hj shade avenues which lead to Ihe dwell- |