PART II
_History of the Industry_
EARLY HISTORY
India, the land that Kipling has called “the grim stepmother of mankind,” is, according to the best authorities, the original habitat of the sugar cane; and there is but little doubt that the properties of the plant were known to the Hindustani many centuries before the Christian era. Nothing concerning it is found in the Old Testament, the Talmud or in the oldest Hindu literature; and even in Buddha’s time (500 B. C.) it was little known.
The legend runs that sugar cane was created by the famous hermit Vishva Mitra to serve as heavenly food in the temporary paradise arranged by him for the sake of Raja Trishanku. It was the desire of this prince to be translated to heaven during his lifetime, but Indra, the ruler of the celestial realms, had refused to admit him. In order to gratify Trishanku’s wish, Vishva Mitra prepared a temporary paradise for him. When a reconciliation between Indra and Trishanku was brought about, the paradise was demolished and all its luxuries destroyed save a few, among which was sugar cane. This subsequently spread over the land of mortals as a lasting token of Vishva Mitra’s miraculous deeds.
Among the Chinese the first historical mention occurs in writings of the eighth century B. C., where the fact is recorded that their knowledge of sugar cane was derived from India. That it was considered of great value by the Chinese is shown by manuscripts of 200 B. C., wherein it is stated that the kingdom of Funan paid its tribute to China in sugar cane. From this it may be inferred that the secret of extracting crystals from the sugar-cane juice had not been discovered.
More than three centuries before Christ, the triumphant progress of Alexander the Great was halted upon the banks of the river Indus by the refusal of his troops to venture farther eastward. On their return journey, the Macedonian soldiers carried the “honey-bearing reed” to Europe.
A number of classical writers of the first century allude to the sweet sap of the Indian reed and to the granulated, salt-like product imported from India under the name of _saccharum_, or σάκχαρι, from the Sanskrit _çarkarā_, gravel, sugar. The names of sugar in modern European languages are derived through the Arabic from the Persian _shakar_.
The people dwelling in the valleys of the Ganges possessed a knowledge of boiling sugar juice, and this spread from there to China in the first half of the seventh century. Sugar refining, however, could not then have been known, for Marco Polo[5] states that the Chinese learned this from Egyptian travelers only during the Mongol period, some five hundred years later. Von Lippmann says that solid sugar began to be known in India somewhere between 300 and 600 A. D., probably nearer the latter date.[6] In the Middle Ages, the best sugar came from Egypt[7]; and in India today, coarse sugar is still called “Chinese” and fine sugar “Cairene” or “Egyptian.”
The Nestorians, a Christian religious sect in Gondisāpūr, India, planted sugar cane in Persia about 500 A.D. When Heraclius,[8] the Byzantine emperor, pillaged the palace of Dastargerd, Persia, in 627 A. D., solid sugar was taken among the other loot.[9] This is the first authentic evidence of crystallization. At the time of the Arabian conquest in the year 639, sugar was “prepared with art” in Gondisāpūr; and its manufacture on a large scale was carried on at Shuster, Sūs[10] and Askar-Makram[11] through the Middle Ages. Thaálibí, a writer of the eleventh century, says that Askar-Makram had no equal for the quality and quantity of its sugar, “notwithstanding the great production in Irāk, Jarjān and India.” It used to pay fifty thousand pounds of sugar to the Sultan in annual tribute.[12] Persian physicians of the time attributed extraordinary healing powers to sugar, and used it freely in the practice of their art.
Mohammed’s[13] religious wars carried the knowledge of sugar throughout the cities of the then civilized world. The Arabs first learned of it when they overran Persia. They took to it eagerly, and under their rule a great number of plantations were started. Artificial irrigation was employed in the growing of the cane, and the juice was expressed by means of millstones. At this period, however, sugar was looked upon as a rare and costly luxury, to be indulged in only by the wealthy, and sparingly even by them.
Arabian doctors who were well advanced in learning gave sugar an important place in their pharmacopœia. The Moslem armies took it westward with them; and when Amru[14] conquered Egypt (640-646 A. D.), it was introduced in that country. Careful methods of cultivation, coupled with the Egyptians’ intimate knowledge of chemistry, brought about excellent results. This cultured people had a simple process for purifying and recrystallizing saltpeter, and they soon found that sugar could be similarly treated.
The first crystals were remelted; and to the liquor so obtained albumen and lime were added. The precipitated impurities were removed by filtration, and the clear syrup boiled down to a grain once more. The syrup, or mother-liquor in which these grains remained after boiling, was eliminated by washing, leaving the white sugar crystals, which in point of quality far surpassed any product then known.
From this time forward, the traffic in sugar began to gain in importance and volume. Nasiri Khosrau, in his account of his travels in Egypt in the eleventh century, narrates that at the celebration of the great Ramazán feast, the Sultan’s table was decorated with sweetmeats consisting entirely of marzipan[15] modeled into shapes of orange trees and statues.
The continuation of the movement of the Arabs toward the west carried the cultivation of sugar over the entire northern coast of Africa and thence into Spain in the year of the conquest of Granada by the Moors (715 A. D.). It made its way to Sicily in 703; it was found growing at Assuan, on the Nile, in 766, and the Crusaders discovered important sugar plantations in Tripoli, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, Antioch and other places in the Levant. Commercial relations between these points and the principal Italian cities were established during the Crusades, and a considerable trade in sugar followed.
Sugar-cane cultivation seems to have appealed to the Crusaders as a profitable venture—so much so that they actively interested themselves in it, making Tyre an important center of the traffic. King Baldwin and various orders of knighthood established large cane plantations in Antioch, Syria and Cyprus and did much to advance sugar production in those countries.
The Crusaders who had acquired a taste for sugar when in the Far east naturally wished to continue its use after their return home; thus, a trade sprung up between northern Europe and Venice, Genoa and Pisa.
After the fall of Acre in 1291, the Crusaders lost their foothold in Asia Minor; but Tyre, Beirut, Antioch and the valley of the Jordan continued to produce good crops of sugar, while Damascus and Tripoli became refining centers. Cyprus, still under Venetian rule, extended its trade in sugar, and sent considerable quantities annually to the mother city. All this time the production in Egypt went steadily forward.
This prosperity was rudely interrupted by the aggression of the Turks. Constantinople was captured in 1453 and Trebizond fell in 1461. The other commercial towns of Asia Minor and all of Genoa’s Black Sea colonies followed in quick succession. Trade between Europe and Asia Minor decreased as a matter of course and the manufacture of sugar languished under Turkish rule.
In 1517 Cairo was taken by the Turks, and Egypt became a province of the Ottoman empire, with disastrous results to the sugar industry there. In 1522 Rhodes, and in 1571 Cyprus, passed under the sway of the Turk; but by that time sugar cultivation in these islands had fallen off greatly, while in Sicily it had completely died out.
Other causes militated to bring about the decline of the sugar trade in these countries. The Portuguese took sugar cane to Madeira in 1419. In 1432 they captured and colonized the Azores; and between 1456 and 1462 they acquired the Cape Verde islands. São Thomé, Principe and Annobon were annexed in 1496; and in that same year the Spaniards colonized the Canaries. Sugar cane grew luxuriantly in the mild, moist climate of these islands, and the cost of production by slave labor was so low that neither Cyprus nor Sicily could compete; consequently, the once large and prosperous sugar trade of the Mediterranean became a thing of the past.
During the Middle Ages, Venice was the chief sugar-distributing center in Europe. One of the earliest references to sugar in Great Britain is that concerning one hundred thousand pounds shipped to London in 1319 by Tomasso Loredano, a Venetian merchant. Wool, which at that time constituted the most important staple of English products, was exchanged for sugar. In the same year, an entry appears in the accounts of the Chamberlain of Scotland, showing a payment for sugar at the rate of one shilling and nine pence halfpenny per pound. It is said that at the end of the fifteenth century a citizen of Venice received a reward of 100,000 crowns ($111,940) for having invented the process of making loaf sugar. Vasco da Gama’s exploit in finding the way to Calicut by sea in 1498 deprived Venice of her position as a dominant commercial center; and new routes for the world’s trade were opened up. The discovery of America exercised a still greater influence upon the production and distribution of sugar.
Christopher Columbus’ first attempt to establish sugar growing in Santo Domingo in 1493[16] was not a success; but when negro slaves were brought to the West Indies by the Portuguese and the Spaniards, the industry took a new lease of life, and with slave labor, ideal climate and fertile soil, it increased abundantly. As illustrative of the extensive development in Santo Domingo, it is interesting to note that Charles V of Spain obtained from import taxes on Santo Domingan sugar the vast sums of money expended in the building of the royal palaces at Madrid and Toledo.[17]
Brazil was discovered by Pinzon in 1499[18] and sugar cane was taken there from Madeira. About thirty-three years later plantations had been laid out and the first sugar factory built. The year 1590 saw one hundred and two mills in operation in the provinces of Bahia and Pernambuco; and in 1600 the quantity of sugar exported from Brazil was 15,000 tons. At that time Brazil belonged to Spain, which had annexed Portugal and her colonies in 1580. It was conquered by the Dutch in 1629, and a great many sugar plantations and factories were destroyed; but these were subsequently restored by the new rulers. The Dutch, in turn, were expelled in 1655; and in 1661 Brazil was acknowledged to be a Portuguese possession. The sugar trade suffered, however, on account of the banishment of twenty thousand Dutch in 1655, and also through the discovery of gold in 1725, which drew the laborers from the sugar fields and mills; and the production fell off to a large extent.
The island of St. Christopher (now St. Kitts) was occupied in 1625 by both the English and the French. Ten years later the French took Guadeloupe and Martinique; Barbados became a British possession in 1627, and Jamaica was annexed in 1656. Sugar cane was planted in all these colonies, but through lack of knowledge and experience the product obtained was of indifferent quality. A decided improvement was brought about when the Dutch, who were expelled from Brazil, came to the islands in 1655.
Santo Domingo was taken over permanently by the French in 1697 after it had previously been occupied and abandoned by them. From this date the industry throve there and for upward of one hundred years Santo Domingo ranked among the foremost of the sugar-producing islands of the West Indies. Tyranny and cruel treatment caused the slaves to revolt in 1791; the whites who failed to escape were exterminated and the sugar plantations and mills were destroyed.
Santo Domingo has never recovered the prestige in the sugar world that she lost in this way. Her misfortune gave a great opportunity to Jamaica, whose production increased so rapidly that at the close of the eighteenth century she outstripped all the other West Indian islands. The falling off in Santo Domingo stimulated the industry in Cuba as well. As a dependency of Spain, Cuba was hampered by a number of restrictions; these were repealed in 1772, after which the sugar tonnage grew apace.
St. Eustatius and Curaçao belonging to the Dutch, and St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas to Denmark, also came in for their share of the benefit growing out of the impetus given to the sugar trade at this time. It must be borne in mind, however, that they were conveniently situated for sugar smuggling, of which there was not a little during the American Revolutionary war.
In the countries of South America, Brazil excepted, the sugar trade had become well established. French planters settled in Cayenne in 1634 and in Surinam six years later, but production was handicapped by the difficulty attendant upon securing labor, and this condition continued to exist even after the taking of Surinam, Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice by the Dutch. Finally the trouble was overcome by bringing in slaves, and with the end of the French war the sugar industry began to prosper, especially in Surinam. During subsequent hostilities these colonies were taken by France, afterwards by England, and later still they reverted to the Dutch. Today they are all British with the exception of Surinam and Cayenne.
Sugar cane was not known in Peru at the time of Pizarro’s first expedition to that country (1527), but it was brought there shortly afterward. In Chile and the Argentine its introduction was comparatively recent. The Jesuits took it from Santo Domingo to Louisiana in 1751, and in Mexico it dates back to the time of Cortés.
The rapidity of the increase in the production of the Americas threatened the plantations of Madeira, the Cape Verde islands and the Canaries with extinction and drove them from the world’s markets.
Sugar cane was planted by the French in the Ile de France (Mauritius) in 1747, and some years later in Bourbon (Réunion) and sugar made in these islands was sent to Europe about the end of the eighteenth century.
In Java sugar cane has been grown since a very remote period. It was probably brought there by Chinese traders and there is evidence that the Chinese introduced it in the Philippine islands, as the names of the implements and methods used there distinctly point to Chinese origin.
The cultivation of sugar cane in Australia was begun only fifty years ago; it was started in the Fiji islands in 1880, while Captain Cook found cane growing luxuriantly in the Hawaiian islands when he discovered them in 1778.
The wars between Great Britain and France during the latter part of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth had a very bad effect on the cane-sugar trade and its development. There was constant fighting in West Indian waters and many merchant vessels were taken as prizes; a disastrous state of affairs for planters and merchants alike. After the battle of Trafalgar had definitely established British supremacy on the seas, Napoleon put into effect his “Continental System,” which dealt a severe blow to cane sugar. This opens up a new and interesting chapter in the history of the industry.
BEET SUGAR IN EUROPE
The destruction of the French fleet by Nelson in 1805 thwarted Napoleon’s long-cherished plans for the invasion of England. Nothing daunted, however, he immediately bent his efforts toward isolating Great Britain and cutting commercial communications between her and the continent of Europe. The Berlin edict of 1806 prohibited all trade relations with England and made her goods and those of her colonies subject to seizure. England’s reply was to forbid ships of all nationalities to enter French ports under penalty of confiscation. Napoleon followed this with the Milan decree which made any vessel that had submitted to English examination or paid dues in English ports subject to confiscation. The one government vied with the other in preying on commerce. The interference with the importation of sugar due to this condition drove prices upward to a point where only a few could afford its use.
Napoleon was fully cognizant of what a privation this was to his people, but he felt confident that means would be found to bring sugar from the Far east to western Europe by way of Constantinople and Vienna; besides, he had strong hopes that a substitute for cane sugar could be produced in Europe itself. He encouraged experimental and research work, keeping thoroughly informed as to progress made, and on March 25, 1811, he issued the famous decree that set in motion the beet industry of the world.
The original home of the sugar beet (_Beta vulgaris_) is not definitely known. The plant was found in a wild state in southern and middle Asia and it is said to have been cultivated in southern Europe and northern Africa in olden times. According to Professor Griffin,[19] Herodotus mentions the sugar beet as one of the plants that served to nourish the builders of the pyramids. Dr. von Lippmann cites the same instance and also quotes Voltz as authority for the statement that the Romans first brought the beet into Gaul.
When the beet was originally grown in southern latitudes it was an annual, but when it was taken north it became a biennial, storing sugar the first year and not developing its seed until the second.
Jules Hélot, an eminent French authority, in his “Histoire Centennale du Sucre de Betterave,” says:
“A great French agronomist, called the father of agriculture, Olivier de Serres (1539-1619), was able to find out that the beet-root contained sugar, long before Marggraf set about to extract sugar from this root. Olivier de Serres wrote: ‘The beet-root, when being boiled, yields a juice similar to syrup of sugar, which is beautiful to look at on account of its vermilion color’.”
Dr. von Lippmann, however, contends that Olivier de Serres never claimed in his writings that he discovered the sugar content in the beet, and that the statement “that the boiled juice of the red beet was similar in appearance to sugar syrup” cannot be construed as evidence that de Serres actually recognized the presence of sugar in the beet-root.
In the year 1747 Andreas Marggraf, a chemist and a member of the Royal Academy of Science and Literature of Berlin, demonstrated that various kinds of beet-root contained sugar and that the sugar could be extracted and crystallized. This discovery, however, was regarded for many years as being merely a laboratory determination and without practical value. In 1786 Franz Karl Achard, a pupil of Marggraf, attacked the problem of beet-root cultivation and succeeded in extracting sugar from beets on a scale hitherto unknown. He issued a report of the methods employed and the results obtained and stated that a good muscavado sugar should be made from beets for six cents per pound. His claims met with incredulity and no little ridicule, but the French Institute made a careful investigation of what he had done and found that the sugar content of the beets was over 6 per cent. From a number of tests of Achard’s process, they estimated that the cost of producing refined sugar from beet-roots on a commercial basis would be eighteen cents per pound.
Frederick William III, king of Prussia, took a keen interest in the making of sugar from beets, and, after having convinced himself that Achard was on the right track, he bought the crown land at Cunern, Silesia, for exploitation on a large scale. He provided Achard with funds for the erection of the first real sugar factory built in Germany, at which operations were begun in 1802. The king also supplied money for the construction of other factories in Brandenburg, Silesia, and Pomerania, and lent his support to the growers of beets as well as to the manufacturers of sugar. Despite the reverses in war suffered by the Prussians, the progress in sugar making was so manifest that in 1810 it was clear that the industry was bound to succeed under intelligent management.
Achard, who was of French extraction, had corresponded with a number of scientific men in France and through them reports of his work reached the French Institute. The verdict of this body was favorable and two sugar factories were built, one at St. Ouen and the other at Chelles. Both of these enterprises failed through lack of practical knowledge and the inferior quality of the beet-roots. Although this setback brought the manufacture of beet sugar to a standstill for a time, there is plenty of evidence to show that hope of ultimate success was never abandoned. The effect of the closing down of these two beet factories was to divert the attention of scientists to making sugar from grapes. Proust and Parmentier, both chemists of note, demonstrated that it could be obtained from this source and the French government issued instructions for the preparation of sugar and syrup from the vine. Parmentier published a bulletin advising against the attempt to make beet sugar in France as the soil of the country would not produce beet-roots containing sugar. In 1810 Napoleon ordered an appropriation of 200,000 francs to be divided as a premium among the factories recovering the highest percentage of sugar from grapes. Meanwhile the friends of the beet movement had not been idle, and early in March, 1811, the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry submitted to the emperor a report of what had been accomplished in the manipulation of beets, together with samples of the sugar obtained, and on the 25th of that month Napoleon issued the edict that established the manufacture of beet sugar in France. The decree provided that 79,000 acres of land in various parts of the empire should be devoted to the raising of beets and directed that all the acreage named should be under cultivation the first year, or at latest the second. It created six experimental stations for the instruction of the farmers and land owners in cultivation and also for the furtherance of the interests of the manufacturer.
Delessert had established a factory at Passy in 1801 and by dogged perseverance, despite many failures, obtained excellent results by a new method of clarification and the use of charcoal. Napoleon visited his plant in 1812 and ordered the construction of ten new factories at once. On January 1, 1813, all further imports of sugar from the East and West Indies were prohibited.
In 1812 and 1813 the output of sugar in France was 2200 tons and the factories of Germany and Austria gave promise of soon supplying the wants of their respective countries. During the following two years there were unusually heavy rains and the beet fields of France were occupied by hostile troops. The defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo and the consequent abolition of the blockade caused a decline in the price of sugar to a point where the new beet industry was unable to compete and only one factory succeeded in avoiding the general disaster.
From 1816 to 1821 the average yearly output of beet sugar was 1000 tons. The domestic product had a great advantage over the foreign article, as all sugars coming into France from abroad were subject to a heavy duty, while no tax was levied on home-grown sugar. In 1821, a duty of 49.5 francs was imposed upon every 100 kilograms (220.4622 lbs.) of raw sugar coming from French colonies and 70 francs on white sugar. The tax on sugar from foreign countries was 90 francs per 100 kilograms, and this was increased to 125 francs in 1829.
Shortly afterward the surtax[20] on foreign sugar was increased and an extra duty was exacted on sugar brought into France in foreign bottoms. Even with this protection the domestic producers were not satisfied. French colonial sugar, when exported, received the benefit of customs drawback of 120 francs per 100 kilograms, and the same privilege was accorded home-grown sugar upon which no duty whatever had been paid. This was tantamount to an export premium of 120 francs per 100 kilograms, and it may well be imagined that under this paternal arrangement old factories came back to life and new ones sprang into being. Under this régime by 1836 nearly one-third of the sugar refined in France was beet. The payment of this premium was so great a drain on the government treasury that in 1840 the authorities seriously considered the buying up of all the beet-root sugar factories then in operation for forty million francs and the equalizing of the tax on foreign and domestic sugar. The scheme was not carried out, but in 1843 beet-root sugar and cane sugar were placed on the same basis. This hurt the domestic industry severely, and if it had not been for the setback to the cane production by the abolition of slavery, the beet interests might have met with ruin. Nevertheless, in spite of many adverse turns of fortune, the general trend was forward.
Beginning with the year 1836, the beet-sugar industry in Germany, which had been paralyzed by the raising of the Continental blockade, went ahead rapidly. The German manufacturers gradually succeeded in obtaining a higher extraction of sugar from the beet and consequently their operations showed an increased profit. Krause of Austria and Schubarth of Prussia, both of whom had studied beet-sugar making in France, did much by their efforts to rehabilitate the industry in Germany, where it has steadily grown in importance ever since.
The manufacture of beet sugar was revived by Austria in 1831 and by 1840 there were many factories in operation. In 1854 the output of domestic sugar equaled the tonnage brought in from foreign countries and beet sugar had established itself throughout Europe as a strong competitor of the cane sugar of the colonies.
The European consumption, however, had grown at such a rate that the domestic beet-sugar production did not keep pace with it, hence the cane manufacturer was scarcely sensible of the competition for some years; in fact Europe took rather more than less cane from the tropics for a time.
During the nineteenth century Europe became less and less dependent upon the cane countries of the New world for its supplies. The abolition of slavery in most of the European possessions (1825-50), the development of the cultivation of cane in India and Java, and the expansion of the bounty-fed beet-sugar industry in Europe all contributed to bring this about and many colonial cane growers found themselves on the brink of ruin.
Slavery, upon which cane sugar raising so greatly depended, was entirely abolished in British possessions in 1834, in France in 1848 during the Second Republic, in the Dutch West Indies in 1863, in Porto Rico in 1873, in St. Thomas in 1876, and in Cuba in 1880. Great Britain appropriated the sum of £20,000,000 sterling as an indemnity, and of this £16,500,000 went to West Indian planters, the remainder going to Mauritius and the Cape, but indemnification, while most welcome, did not restore the supply of labor. Many of the freed slaves refused to work and great numbers of them left the plantations. British colonists were at a serious disadvantage, too, as after their slaves were liberated slavery still existed in other West Indian islands, and to offset this a special import tax was imposed on sugar produced by slave labor.
Strenuous efforts were made to secure an adequate labor supply. Chinese coolies, free negroes and Hindus were tried, but the cost was great and the number available was insufficient for the proper cultivation and upkeep of the plantations. This condition obtained in the British West Indies, Cuba, Louisiana, Peru, Brazil, the Guianas, Mauritius, Réunion and other places, and the cane growers had hard work to keep from going under during the adjustment period, when they were learning how to operate their plantations with a limited number of hands. Importation of labor, subdivision of cane lands into small tracts, to be rented or sold to farmers—many plans were tried—but naturally under such circumstances development was impossible, and beet sugar, which had been steadily increasing, finally outstripped cane in 1883-84, while in 1899-1900 cane only furnished 34.7 per cent of the world’s crop. In 1912-13 the cane tonnage exceeded that of beet by 211,082 tons of 2240 pounds. The great war in Europe has curtailed the production of beet sugar in that country to such an extent that of the world’s output for 1915-16 the proportion of cane to beet was roughly as two-thirds to one-third in favor of the former. The actual figures are:
Cane 10,533,039 tons Beet 5,986,404 ” ---------------- Excess of cane over beet 4,546,635 tons
The following table giving the world’s production of cane and beet from 1852 to 1916 will be of interest, but it should be borne in mind that this comparison between beet and cane is not a fair one, because the figures are incomplete as far as cane is concerned.
In some instances in former years, only the quantity exported from a country was included in the world’s statistics and the amount consumed at home was left out of the calculations. This is particularly noticeable in the case of India, whose production of over two million tons of sugar annually was omitted from the older estimates as it all went into domestic consumption—while the beet figures were invariably given in full.
The world’s crop figures as furnished by Willett & Gray for the period from 1852 to 1916 include British India’s production for the last eleven years only:
BEET-ROOT YEAR SUGAR CANE SUGAR TOTAL PER CENT TONS TONS TONS CANE SUGAR
1852-53 202,810 1,260,404 1,463,214 86.0 1859-60 451,584 1,340,980 1,792,564 74.3 1864-65 529,793 1,446,934 1,996,727 73.5 1869-70 846,422 1,740,793 2,586,915 67.3 1874-75 1,302,999 1,903,222 3,206,221 59.4 1880-81 1,820,734 2,027,052 3,847,786 52.7 1883-84 2,485,300 2,210,000 4,695,300 47.0 1884-85 2,679,400 2,225,000 4,904,400 45.4 1885-86 2,172,200 2,300,000 4,472,200 51.4 1886-87 2,686,700 2,400,000 5,086,700 47.1 1887-88 2,367,200 2,541,000 4,908,200 51.7 1888-89 3,555,900 2,359,000 5,914,900 40.0 1889-90 3,536,700 2,138,000 5,674,700 37.7 1890-91 3,679,800 2,597,000 6,276,800 41.2 1891-92 3,480,800 3,501,900 6,982,700 51.6 1892-93 3,380,700 3,040,500 6,421,200 47.3 1893-94 3,833,000 3,561,000 7,394,000 48.2 1894-95 4,725,800 3,531,400 8,257,200 42.7 1895-96 4,220,500 2,839,500 7,160,000 39.6 1896-97 4,801,500 2,841,900 7,643,400 37.2 1897-98 4,695,300 2,868,900 7,564,200 38.0 1898-99 4,689,600 2,995,400 7,785,000 38.5 1899-00 5,410,900 2,880,900 8,291,800 34.7 1900-01 5,943,700 3,646,000 9,589,700 38.0 1901-02 6,800,500 4,079,000 10,880,500 37.5 1902-03 5,208,700 4,163,900 9,372,600 44.4 1903-04 6,089,468 4,244,206 10,333,674 41.0 1904-05 4,918,480 4,613,540 9,532,020 48.4 1905-06 7,217,366 6,733,626 13,950,992 48.2 1906-07 7,143,818 7,334,207 14,478,025 50.6 1907-08 7,002,474 6,912,520 13,914,994 49.6 1908-09 6,927,875 7,634,125 14,562,000 52.4 1909-10 6,587,506 8,339,888 13,927,394 59.8 1910-11 8,560,346 8,421,534 16,981,880 49.5 1911-12 6,820,266 9,066,964 15,887,230 57.0 1912-13 8,976,271 9,232,543 18,208,814 50.7 1913-14 8,908,470 9,879,275 18,787,745 54.3 1914-15 8,241,974 10,165,565 18,407,539 55.2 1915-16 5,986,404 10,533,039 16,519,443 63.7
France held the first place in output of beet sugar until 1880, when Germany took the lead and has maintained it ever since. The beet industry assumed important proportions in Austria-Hungary, Russia, Holland and Belgium shortly after 1850, but it was not established in Sweden, Spain and Italy until comparatively recent times.
The laws that were passed by the various European countries for the encouragement and protection of beet sugar were so beneficial in their effect that these countries not only were able to supply their own domestic demand, but found themselves able to export sugar. This stimulation finally led to abuses, as a result of which the Brussels convention was brought about and the bounties abolished.
Apart from certain details, the various regulations in European countries for the purpose of building up the manufacture of beet sugar and making it a revenue producer were very much alike. The essential features were a prohibitive import duty and a slightly lower excise tax. The latter provided revenue for the government, and the difference between the import duty and the excise shut out foreign competition and fixed the amount of profit the domestic beet-sugar producer could make. Still worse, it created pools or combinations for the control of both output and price.
With increased production, which was more than sufficient to supply the home demand, these countries were in a position to export sugar, and in order to enable their manufacturers to compete in outside markets, a drawback of the excise was allowed on all exported sugar. A peculiar condition of the law affecting this drawback was that it really, though not directly, provided for a bounty on export sugar, and while this was not the original intent of the law, the improvements that it encouraged accomplished the purpose.
In Germany the principle was that the excise was levied upon the quantity of beet-root sliced, while the export drawback was allowed on the actual sugar produced.[21] At the time of the passing of the law that was in operation from September, 1869, to July, 1886, the assumption was that the yield in sugar would be 8.51 per cent of the weight of the beets, allowing 11.75 tons of beets for one ton of sugar, and on all raw sugar exported the manufacturer was given $2.03 per hundredweight drawback, the exact equivalent of the excise tax, which was 17 cents per hundredweight of beets.
For some years after this law became effective it took twelve tons of beets to make a ton of sugar, consequently the drawback allowed the exporter did not represent all of the excise. Thus it became the aim of the manufacturers to raise the sugar content of the beets and to improve the extraction. By 1882 they had succeeded so well that a ton of sugar was produced from 10.46 tons of beet-roots instead of 11.75 tons, as predicated when the law was drawn up. The drawback, however, was still allowed at the rate of $2.03 per hundredweight, which netted the producer a clear gain of 22 cents.[22]
In France from 1864 to 1875 the calculations were made from the quantity and purity of the juice. In other words, a certain arbitrary _rendement_[23] of sugar from the beet-root was the basis of taxation, while any excess recovery was exempt. This was equivalent to an indirect bounty, but the French government saw to it that the estimates and the actual outturn did not get too far apart. No bounty whatever was paid on French sugar from 1875 to 1884.
About 1880 the sugar production of Germany exceeded that of France, so that in 1884 the French authorities revived the indirect bounty system to put new life into the industry, and the effect of this action was soon apparent.
Sugar legislation in other sugar-producing countries of Europe was similar in general principles and gave practically the same results. Amendments were made from time to time with a view to bringing the basis provided for in the law closer to what was actually attained in production, but the manufacturers by constantly improving their processes managed to keep the advantage and consequently to receive a secret indirect bounty or rebate.
The payment of these drawbacks taxed the treasuries of the different countries concerned and in the case of Austria-Hungary amounted to more than the entire revenue from sugar. This brought new regulations and the payment of direct bounties instead of hidden or indirect. Furthermore, a limit was set upon the total that could be paid in any one year.
Nevertheless, the producers in all the sugar-raising countries used their utmost efforts to send as much sugar as they possibly could to foreign markets in order to secure the drawback. It naturally followed that the production was stimulated to an abnormal degree, and toward the end of 1883 there was a slump in prices that affected all raisers of sugar, both beet and cane, throughout the world.
The governments of Europe came to find these bounties a serious burden, and when Lord Salisbury arranged for a convention to be held in London in 1886, the proposal to do away with all bounties met with a good deal of favor. France, however, opposed the idea, as she wished to discontinue the direct bounty only and to leave the indirect still in force, while the British themselves, who used prodigious quantities of sugar and who, under the bounty plan, got all they needed at a price below the actual cost of production, did not wish to forfeit this advantage. So the interests of the British colonists were sacrificed and the London conference accomplished nothing.
In 1890 Germany resolved to divest sugar of all its privileges in order that the treasury should receive the entire amount of the taxes. A measure was proposed in 1891 providing for direct export bounty. This was to be reduced in 1895 and entirely abolished by 1897.
Owing, however, to a severe agricultural crisis at this time, American cereals were brought into Europe at such low prices that the home grower could not compete. It therefore became necessary to find another crop for the land that had been sown to corn and the beet-root was the logical substitute. The increase in beet production from this cause was followed by a crash in sugar prices. With such a condition confronting it, the German government could not do away with, or even reduce, the bounty, especially as none of its neighbors seemed to have any intention of doing anything in this direction. In the interests of the beet growers, the output of beets in 1895, instead of being restricted as proposed, was doubled, and the export bounty on raw sugar was raised from 1.25[24] marks to 2.50 marks per 100 kilograms and on refined from 2 marks to 3.55 marks per 100 kilograms.
This legislation was meant to foster the export trade and bring the sugar business of foreign countries to German manufacturers, and the framers of the law were confident that other countries would not venture to follow suit. In this they were utterly mistaken. Germany’s competitors simply raised their bounties to her figures, thus nullifying her plans for expansion of her export sugar trade.
In 1897 the United States levied a countervailing duty on all bounty-nourished sugar, in addition to the regular protective tariff, so that the bounty paid by European countries on sugar exported to the United States simply went to enrich the United States treasury.
The manufacturers of Germany and Austria enjoyed a profit over and above the bounty by the adoption of what was termed a cartel, or pool, a plan borrowed from Russia.
In Russia the government fixes the amount of sugar required each year for domestic consumption and this quantity may be sold by the manufacturer. Then it determines what quantity shall be kept in reserve, to be sold when the price exceeds that named by the government commission (4.30 rubles[25] per pood[26] in winter, or 4.45 rubles in summer). Should the production exceed the amounts fixed for domestic consumption and reserve, exportation is permitted and the exporter gets back the excise, 1.75 rubles per pood, or if he elects to sell this excess at home, he may do so by paying double tax, or 3.50 rubles per pood. Of the alternatives, exporting the surplus is the more advantageous to the owner of the sugar, as the fixed price for domestic sugar is a profitable one. He therefore can afford to take a loss on the sugar he sells for export and still make money on the total operation. The stipulation that the contingent interest in the profitable home market shall keep pace with the growth of the output of the factory is also a substantial encouragement to manufacturers to increase their production. Regulations like these naturally have the effect of supplying foreign markets with cheap sugar. The manufacturer makes an excellent profit and the domestic consumer pays the entire bill.
Primarily, the intent may have been to keep the price of domestic sugar at one level and to enable the manufacturer to fill the home demand without having to go outside the country for his raw-sugar supply. But the plan in its actual working fosters exportation at the expense of the home consumer.
While in Russia the cartel was a government measure, the pooling of interests by German and Austrian manufacturers in their respective countries accomplished the same end. A cartel formed in Russia in 1890 came to grief after four years through the individual greed of its members. In 1898 a new combination of raw-sugar producers and refiners was formed, with the express proviso that the manufacturers of raws were to sell their product only to refiners who were members of the cartel. The domestic trade in white sugar was prorated among the refiners, in consideration of which they had to allow the producer a fixed price of 30 kronen ($6.08) per 100 kilograms (220.4622 lbs.) for raw sugar, the market price of which was paid by the buyer and the difference by the cartel, which got the money by notching up the price of domestic refined sugar.
With the cartel the only seller of refined, and sugar from foreign countries shut out by the high surtax (the difference between the impost on imported and domestic sugars), the consumer had to pay the price demanded by the cartel as long as the difference between the world’s price and that established by the cartel was less than the surtax.
The profit thus obtained constituted a working fund to be used in forcing into line such factory owners as remained outside the pool, either by reducing the price when a factory was about to begin to make white sugar, or by buying stock in the corporations that still held out. Out of the rest of the fund was paid the difference between the market price (with 22 kronen per 100 kilograms as a minimum) and the 30 kronen. Any amount remaining was the cartel’s profit. To illustrate and estimating that no kilograms of raw sugar produced 100 kilograms of refined:
Price of refined sugar for domestic use per 220.4 lbs. $17.25 Raw sugar 242.4 lbs. @ $4.46 per 220.4 lbs. $4.91 Refining cost and profit 1.53 Revenue tax 7.71 14.15 --------------- Net profit of cartel $3.10
With an open market price of $4.46 for raws, the difference between that and the arbitrary figure of $6.08 is $1.62 per 220.4 lbs. on 242.4 lbs. 1.78 --------------- Net profit from cartel for refiners $1.32
Reference has been made to the abortive results of the London conference of 1886, when a deaf ear was turned to the appeal of the planters of the British West Indies on account of the advantage to the British manufacturer and consumer of securing all the sugar they wanted at a figure lower than it cost to produce.
In 1895, Joseph Chamberlain, then Colonial Secretary of Great Britain, appointed a royal commission to investigate conditions in the West Indian colonies. The facts brought out in its report came as a surprise to the statesmen of the mother country and remedial measures were undertaken.
The anxiety of the Austrian and German governments to get rid of the bounty incubus led them to sound France as to her views, and in 1898 the Belgian government invited representatives of Great Britain, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France, Russia, Spain and Sweden to meet in conference in Brussels, but no definite agreement was arrived at, chiefly because of France’s unwillingness to discontinue the giving of indirect bounty. The meeting adjourned on June 1st with the understanding that it would again convene at the call of Belgium, when the preliminary negotiations through Belgium’s good offices had progressed sufficiently to make unanimity possible.
Meanwhile, public opinion in England with regard to the West Indies had undergone a change, partly on account of the report submitted by the Chamberlain commission and partly owing to the fact that Britain, needing the support of her colonies in her South African war, was anxious to shape her policy to please them.
A third conference was held in Brussels in December, 1901.
In the discussion concerning the German and Austrian cartels, it had developed that the heavy surtax permitted the Germans and Austrians to realize such high prices in their home markets that, even with the bounty repealed, their overproduction was very great and the large tonnage exported by them depressed values in foreign markets. Great Britain and Belgium, therefore, demanded that the surtax be reduced to a point where, while giving protection against foreign sugar, it would afford no inducement for the formation of cartels. Austria and Germany demurred to this and it looked as if a deadlock would again be reached, when Great Britain declared that if nothing came of the conference a measure would be introduced in Parliament excluding bounty-fed sugars entirely, or that some action equally drastic would be taken. It was further pointed out that an extra duty of an amount equal to the cartel profit had already been under consideration by the Indian government.
With a countervailing duty effective in the United States, the market of Great Britain was the only important outlet left for bountied export sugars from the Continent. Then again, the British colonies had to be reckoned with, for if preferential privileges were accorded to their sugars Continental beet would suffer. Great Britain’s ultimatum, therefore, carried the day, and on March 5, 1902, the convention was signed by the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
The most important provisions of the convention were:
1. The suppression of all bounties, direct or indirect.
2. The limitation of the surtax, _i. e._, the excess of import duty over domestic revenue tax, to 53 cents per 100 pounds on refined and 48 cents per 100 pounds on raw sugar.[27]
3. Prohibition of importation of bounty-fed sugar from other countries, unless a countervailing duty is imposed.
4. Great Britain and the Netherlands pledge themselves that no preferential treatment will be given sugar from their colonies during the life of the agreement.
5. The agreement to come into force September 1, 1903, and to remain effective for five years from that date, and in case none of the signatory powers notifies the Belgian government of its intention to withdraw, it shall continue to remain in force for one year and so on from year to year.
6. The appointment of a permanent commission charged with supervising the execution of the provisions of the convention.
7. Spain, Italy and Sweden not to be bound by the principal restrictions, so long as they do not export sugar.
Russia declined to come into the pact, stating as her reason that she paid no bounty.
Great Britain’s action in joining the Brussels convention aroused a good deal of feeling at home. The contention was made that it worked an injury to the British consumer in causing an advance in prices; it was also argued that the plea put forth in behalf of the West Indies was really instigated by the selfishness of British investors in colonial sugar plantations. The rise in price that followed the convention was stimulated by the shortage in the European beet crop in 1904, and provoked much agitation and dissatisfaction in England, so that it was not certain that Great Britain would be a party to a renewal of the pact upon its expiration.
Subsequently Peru, Luxembourg and Switzerland joined the convention, and the contracting parties were so well satisfied with results obtained that they extended the agreement for five years beginning September 1, 1908. The conditions were to remain unchanged, except for an amendment that permitted Great Britain to disregard the article that prohibited the importation of bountied sugar, unless paying countervailing duty. This prohibition directly affected Russian sugars, of which England did not wish to be deprived.
Russia joined the convention in 1908, with the understanding that her existing fiscal laws and excise regulations should not be interfered with and that the method of fixing the price of sugar for home consumption should rest undisturbed. On her part, Russia undertook not to export more than one million tons during the next five years outside of Finland, Persia and neighboring Asiatic countries.
The convention with these modifications was thus extended to September, 1913, and on March 15, 1912, it was agreed to prolong it until August 31, 1918, on practically the same conditions as the 1908 convention. Because of the great drought in central Europe in the summer of 1911, there was a shortage of 2,000,000 tons in the beet-sugar crop of 1911-12, as compared with the former year, and, on account of the consequent rise in price, England demanded that the Russian exports be increased. The other signatory powers agreed to this and the amount that Russia was permitted to export in the seven years beginning September 1, 1911, was fixed at 1,650,000 tons.
In August, 1912, Sir Edward Grey gave notice of Great Britain’s intention to retire from the convention on September 1, 1913, and on that date she ceased to be a party to it. Nevertheless, after her withdrawal she undertook to observe all the obligations of the convention, and in return the signatory powers agreed not to discriminate against her manufactures of sugar.
The convention stopped exportation of beet sugar at abnormally low prices. It was instrumental in lowering the revenue tax, increasing the consumption and abolishing artificial conditions.
The outbreak of the war in Europe in August, 1914, interrupted the operations of the convention, and it remains to be seen whether or not, when hostilities come to an end, it will be renewed and its terms reaffirmed according to procedure customary when peace is concluded between warring nations.
As soon as the industry got on a sound basis, cane began to feel the benefit of the new order of things. Factories that had been closed were put in operation again and new enterprises were undertaken. Up to the year 1880 the manufacture of cane sugar had been conducted in a slipshod manner. The planters were lavishly extravagant and spent their incomes as they made them, giving no thought to putting aside funds for extensions and betterments. Hard times taught them a severe lesson, by which they profited, and with admirable courage they bent all their energies to the improvement of methods of cultivation and cutting down the cost of production. This was particularly true of Java; beginning with 1884, abundant new capital was brought in, experimental stations and laboratories were built and equipped and all that scientific knowledge, energy and sound business judgment could do was done. At the same time Hawaii, Mauritius, Porto Rico and Cuba made extraordinary progress, but each of these countries deserves an individual chapter.
BEET SUGAR IN THE UNITED STATES
While the manufacture of sugar from beet-roots is one of the foremost industries in the United States today, the early stages of its growth and development were marked by numerous failures and setbacks. The first beginning was made by a company headed by John Vaughn and James Ronaldson, which built a small factory in Philadelphia in 1830, where a few hundred pounds of sugar were produced. Owing to lack of knowledge of beet culture and extraction of sugar from the roots, the venture proved unsuccessful and no further attempt has been made in Pennsylvania.
Northampton, Massachusetts, was the scene of the next experiment in 1838 and 1839 by David Lee Child, who had studied the growth and manufacture of beet sugar in Europe for a year and a half. He succeeded in getting 6 per cent of sugar and 2½ per cent of molasses from the beets and his estimate of the cost of the sugar per pound was eleven cents. After producing 1300 pounds of sugar he abandoned the enterprise.
A report made in 1838 by the Committee on Agriculture, a government body, contains the following statement: “From all the information which the committee have been able to obtain, they are induced to believe that no country in the world is better adapted for the production of sugar beets than most parts of the United States, whether we consider the soil, the climate or the people.”[28]
In 1851 John Taylor, who afterward succeeded Brigham Young as president of the Mormon church, was carrying on missionary work in England, and in September of that year he met Elias Morris, whom he engaged to go to Utah to establish a plant for the manufacture of beet sugar.
Machinery for the purpose was purchased in France and sent to Liverpool, from where it was shipped to New Orleans in charge of Morris in March, 1852. From New Orleans it was taken up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, thence to Kanesville, Ohio, where it was loaded on wagons for transportation across the plains. The journey from the river was begun on July 4th, with oxen as the motive power. It proved long and arduous, but the members of the party reached Green river, Wyoming, four months later, having suffered much from hunger and cold. There they were met by a detachment sent out from Salt Lake city by Brigham Young and they finally arrived at their destination about the middle of November.
The original intention was to start operations at Provo, and the sugar machinery was taken there, but the company that John Taylor had organized was dissolved and the machinery turned over to the church, under whose direction it was installed in an adobe building still standing in Salt Lake city.
Once more lack of knowledge resulted in failure. Instead of sugar, the Mormons only succeeded in making a massecuite that was utterly inedible.[29]
In 1856, a coppersmith named Bepler erected a small beet-sugar factory at Ocean View, near San Francisco, California, but the enterprise was unsuccessful.[30]
The next noteworthy attempt was made at Chatsworth, Illinois, in 1863 by the brothers Gennert, who came from Braunschweig, Germany, and who were familiar with the methods of beet-sugar making. They formed the Germania Beet Sugar company, planted a thousand acres of land in beets and sent to Europe for machinery, but their highest extraction of sugar from the beet-roots was only 5.5 per cent. Weather conditions were unfavorable and the soil they selected was not suited to beet culture, so six years of effort ended in failure and the loss of more than a quarter of a million dollars. The plant was removed to Freeport, Illinois, where the final result was disaster.
Otto and Bonesteel, two Germans, established a factory at Fond-du-lac, Wisconsin, in 1866,[31] and during the two following years they achieved some measure of success. Subsequently, they moved to Alvarado, California, where they began operations in 1870. They managed to keep their factory running for a few years, but finally gave up the struggle in 1876.
In 1872 the state of New Jersey passed a law providing that all capital and property employed in the raising of sugar beets should be free from taxation for ten years. New ventures were undertaken in California, Delaware and Maine, and these states stimulated the industry by bounties, or tax exemption, or both. A factory was built at Hartford, Maryland, in 1879, but it was afterward abandoned, and the only going concerns engaged in the manufacture of beet sugar east of the Alleghanies during recent years were the small plants in New York at Rome and Lyons. Dismantled in 1905 and 1911, respectively, part of the machinery of the former was moved to Visalia, California, and the latter plant in its entirety to Anaheim, California.
All of these failures were traceable to the lack of practical knowledge of beet culture and the making of sugar from beet-roots. Then, too, the agricultural lands at first selected were unsuited to the purpose and the seed used up to the year 1890 gave beets of a low sugar content, from 6 per cent to 8 per cent. The development of the Western states gave the beet-sugar industry a permanent place in California, and a little later in Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
The California Beet Sugar Manufacturing company was organized by E. H. Dyer and C. S. Hutchinson in 1869 with $250,000 capital and a factory was erected at Alvarado on Mr. Dyer’s ranch. Otto and Bonesteel were induced to leave Fond-du-lac, Wisconsin, and come west to assume the management. Operations were begun in 1870 and on November 17th of that year the first beet sugar was made in California. The factory and equipment cost $125,000; the daily capacity was fifty tons of beets and one hundred and twenty-five men were employed. Between one thousand and fifteen hundred acres were planted in beets, the factory paying $3.50 per ton for them. The finished product cost about ten cents a pound, while the market price ranged from twelve to fifteen cents a pound. The first year’s output was 250 tons, the second 400 tons, the third 562 tons and the fourth 750 tons. Then financial troubles came and the plant was closed. The machinery was sold to a new concern, which built a factory at Soquel, Santa Cruz county. This enterprise failed in 1876, but the plant was put in operation again in 1880, when 150 tons of sugar were produced. That was the end of the Soquel venture.
In 1879 Mr. Dyer bought the buildings and land of the old California Beet Sugar Manufacturing company, and, with O. F. Giffin, formed the Standard Sugar Manufacturing company, with a capital of $100,000. Subsequently a reorganization was effected under the name of the Standard Sugar Refining company and the capital was increased to $200,000. The machinery and diffusion batteries of a plant built at Brighton by some Sacramento people about eight years previous were purchased and installed at Alvarado in buildings newly erected for the purpose. While it is true that in the operation of this company there was a constant struggle to overcome obstacles and difficulties, it is nevertheless a fact that it achieved success from the beginning. In 1884 the capacity of the mill was increased to 100 tons of beets per day, but disaster overtook the concern toward the end of 1886. Two of the boilers exploded, making it impossible to operate during the season of 1887-88.
Nothing daunted, Mr. Dyer grappled with the problem once more and succeeded in floating a new corporation, the Pacific Coast Sugar company, with $1,000,000 capital and headed by John L. Howard as president. In 1887 and 1888 this company built the middle part of the present factory at Alvarado, where it installed most of the machinery from the old plant, together with some new apparatus. The campaign of 1888 was barren of results and in March of the following year the Pacific Coast Sugar company sold its property to a new concern, the Alameda Sugar company, whose first president was M. H. Hecht. In 1890 two additions to the factory were built, one at each end.
From small beginnings, this Alvarado enterprise, the pioneer of American success in the production of sugar from beets, continued its yearly operations from 1879 until 1914, with the exception of the year following the boiler explosion. In 1889 the output was 872 tons, in 1911 it reached 9966 tons. At the beginning of 1914, sugar prices were low and tariff prospects very discouraging. Under such conditions, the owners of the plant did not believe that they could make sugar at a profit, and the factory remained closed during that season. The sharp advance in sugar values, due to the war in Europe, completely changed matters; beets were planted and 6363 tons of sugar were produced in 1915.
For a long time Mr. Dyer was looked upon as an enthusiast and a dreamer whose sincerity was unquestioned, but whose energies were misdirected. In the midst of the gloomy forebodings of those around him, he held tenaciously to his purpose and devoted his brains and his money to the solution of the problem confronting him. That the beet-sugar industry of the United States proved a success when it did is due to his unfailing courage and persistent effort.
A year before the Alvarado factory was built, a number of moneyed men of Sacramento, head by Julius Wetzlar, then president of the Capital savings bank, conceived the idea of starting a beet-sugar plant there. After some experimenting with local beets, the Sacramento Valley Sugar company was organized and machinery for a seventy-ton plant was ordered from Germany. Construction was delayed for a year, and thus the Sacramentans lost the honor of being the first in the field. In 1871 they built a factory at Brighton, six miles east of Sacramento, near the American river. An expert was brought out from Germany and work was begun on November 18th. The first diffusion battery used in the United States was employed in the extraction of sugar from the beets. The season of 1871 gave good results, but the following year the crop suffered greatly from the ravages of the army worm. The campaign of 1873 opened on August 5th, lasting until November 22nd. The yield of beets was ten tons per acre, the average sugar content 8 per cent and the total output 982,120 pounds of sugar, including all grades.
This enterprise struggled along until 1875, in spite of troubles from drought, army worm, grasshoppers and last, but not least, lack of experience. The plant was then closed and the equipment put up for sale. Briefly, it may be said that at the outset very poor sugar was turned out, and later, when the quality was improved, the cost of manufacture was found to be greater than what the sugar would bring. The final outcome was that the stockholders lost nearly all the money they had invested.
About 1874,[32] the California Sugar Manufacturing company was formed. Sixty-eight acres of land at Isleton were bought, a factory structure of brick was erected and machinery installed, the total expenditure being about $250,000. Sugar of good quality was made, but the financial result was disastrous. Isleton land was ill suited to beet culture, as when the Sacramento river was high the beet fields were covered with water. One authority states that the original idea was to manufacture sugar from watermelons, and when it was found that this was not practicable, attention was turned to beets.
In 1876 numerous mechanics’ liens were filed against the company. Later, the factory was leased to H. M. Ames of Oakland, who operated it during the campaign of 1880. Two years afterward the entire plant was sold at sheriff’s sale for $10,000. The land and building were purchased by P. H. Gardiner of Isleton and the machinery went to a San Francisco junk dealer. This venture is said to have caused financial distress to many of the farmers in the vicinity.
In 1888, Claus Spreckels, so long a prominent figure in the sugar world, established a beet factory at Watsonville, Santa Cruz county, in the rich Pajaro valley. At first its capacity was 300 tons of beets per day, and, the result of the operations being favorable, this was increased from time to time until it reached 1000 tons of beets per day. The Watsonville factory developed into the largest beet plant in America and remained so until 1898, in which year Mr. Spreckels erected a modern 3000-ton plant at Salinas, fifteen miles distant. Since then the new factory has sliced all of the beets grown in that territory and the old one has been dismantled. The capacity of the Salinas plant now is greater than that of any other beet factory in the United States, being 4000 tons per day.
The Oxnard brothers, Henry T., Benjamin, James G. and Robert, with J. G. Hamilton, W. Bayard Cutting and R. Fulton Cutting, organized the Oxnard Beet Sugar company in 1889, and in December of that year broke ground for a beet-sugar factory of 350 tons slicing capacity at Grand Island, Nebraska. In 1891 they built two more, one at Norfolk, Nebraska, and one at Chino, California, both of the same size as the Grand Island plant. The machinery for the first two factories was bought in France and that for the last one came from Germany. Toward the end of 1897, construction at Oxnard was begun, and in 1899 a consolidation of all these factories was effected under the corporate title of the American Beet Sugar company.
At the close of 1890, sixty years after the first experiment at Philadelphia, there were only three beet-sugar factories in operation in America; those at Alvarado, Watsonville and Grand Island. The total capacity of the three plants was eight hundred tons of beets a day, or ten thousand tons of sugar a year. France in the same period increased her production from 5000 to 770,000 tons a year through favorable legislation providing for the payment of bounties.
In the United States, whenever beet-sugar enterprises have been started, there has generally been some legal provision for payment by the state of bounty on the quantity of sugar produced. The story of how this responsibility was evaded is hardly a pleasant one. In Nebraska, for example, three different legislatures enacted laws providing for bounty on beet sugar, but in each case the following legislature either repealed the act or failed to make appropriations for the necessary funds. In the early nineties, Michigan passed a bounty law which resulted in several beet factories being established in that state, but when the claims for bounty were presented for payment, the state auditor refused to honor them, and his action was upheld by the state supreme court on the ground of unconstitutionality. A similar condition arose in Idaho. Minnesota paid bounties in 1890 and 1899, after which the law was declared unconstitutional.
The McKinley bill of April, 1891, was the first national legislation to encourage the beet industry. It called for a bounty of two cents on each pound of domestic sugar produced testing over 90 degrees, and admitted beet seed and sugar machinery free of duty. This encouraged the Oxnards to build the factories at Norfolk, Nebraska, and Chino, California, of which mention has already been made. At the same time Thomas R. Cutler and his associates put up a beet factory at Lehi, Utah, which state offered a bounty in addition to that granted by the Federal government.
The tariff act of August 28, 1894, abolished the bounty on sugar and fixed an ad valorem duty of 40 per cent. As a result of the loss of the bounty and the financial stress that reigned at that time, no beet factories were started except that at Menominee Falls, Wisconsin, which was a flat failure.
The following résumé of the United States tariffs on sugar since the year 1846 may be found useful for purposes of reference:
Tariff act July 30, 1846: All sugars 30 per cent ad valorem.
Tariff act March 3, 1857, to be effective from and after July 1, 1857: All sugars 24 per cent ad valorem.
Tariff act March 2, 1861, effective April 1, 1861: ¾c per pound on raw, 2c per pound on refined.
Tariff act August 5, 1861: 2c per pound on raw. Sugars above 12 D. S. and not yet refined, 2½c per pound. 4c per pound on refined.
Tariff act July 14, 1862, effective August 1, 1862: Sugars not above 12 D. S., 2½c per pound. Sugars above 12 D. S., not above 15 D. S., 3c per pound. Above 15 D. S., not above 20 D. S., and not stove dried, 3½c per pound. Refined and above 20 D. S., 4c.
Joint resolution of April 29, 1864, in effect for sixty days: Sugars not above 12 D. S., 2½c per pound plus 50 per cent equals 3¾c per pound. Sugars above 12 D. S. and not above 15 D. S., 3c plus 50 per cent equals 4½c per pound. Sugars above 15 D. S. and not above 20 D. S., 3½c per pound plus 50 per cent equals 5¼c per pound. All refined sugars 4c per pound plus 50 per cent equals 6c per pound.
Tariff act June 30, 1864, effective July 1, 1864: Sugars not above 12 D. S., 3c per pound. Sugars above 12 D. S., not above 15 D. S., 3½c per pound. Sugars above 15 D. S., not above 20 D. S., and not stove dried, 4c per pound. All refined sugars and all sugars over 20 D. S., 5c per pound.
Tariff act July 14, 1870, to be effective on and after December 31, 1870, which means January 1, 1871. Later amended by tariff act of December 22, 1870, to be effective immediately: Sugars not above 7 D. S., 1¾c per pound. Sugars above 7 D. S., not above 10 D. S., 2c per pound. Sugars above 10 D. S., not above 13 D. S., 2¼c per pound. Sugars above 13 D. S., not above 16 D. S., 2¾c per pound. Sugars above 16 D. S. and not above 20 D. S., 3¼c per pound. All sugars above 20 D. S. and all refined, 4c per pound.
Tariff act March 3, 1875: Sugars not above 7 D. S., 1¾c per pound plus 25 per cent equals 2.19c per pound. Sugars above 7 D. S., not above 10 D. S., 2c per pound plus 25 per cent equals 2.50c. Sugars above 10 D. S., not above 13 D. S., 2¼c plus 25 per cent equals 2.81c per pound. Sugars above 13 D. S., not above 16 D. S., 2¾c plus 25 per cent equals 3.44c per pound. Sugars above 16 D. S., not above 20 D. S., 3¼c plus 25 per cent equals 4.06c per pound. All sugars above 20 D. S. and all refined sugars, 4c per pound plus 25 per cent equals 5c per pound.
Tariff act March 3, 1883, effective June 1, 1883: Sugars not above 13 D. S. and not above 75-degree polarization, 1.40c per pound and .04c additional per degree or fraction thereof. Sugars above 13 D. S., not above 16 D. S., 2.75c per pound. Sugars above 16 D. S., not above 20 D. S., 3c per pound. Sugars above 20 D. S., 3½c per pound.
Tariff act October 1, 1890, effective April 1, 1891 (McKinley bill): Bounties effective July 1, 1891. Bounties declared unconstitutional by the United States supreme court: Bounty on domestic productions, sugars testing 80 degrees to 90 degrees, 1¾c per pound. Bounty on domestic productions, sugars testing at least 90 degrees, 2c per pound. All sugar not above 16 D. S., free. All sugar above 16 D. S., duty ½c per pound. All sugar above 16 D. S. from bounty-paying countries, duty ⁶⁄₁₀c per pound.
Tariff act August 27, 1894, effective August 28, 1894 (Wilson bill): Bounty on domestic production repealed. All sugars 40 per cent ad valorem. All sugars above 16 D. S. and all sugars discolored, 40 per cent and ⅛c per pound. All sugars from bounty-paying countries, ¹⁄₁₀c per pound additional.
Tariff act July 24, 1897 (Dingley bill): Raws not above 16 D. S. and not above 75-degree polarization, .95c per pound. Each additional degree or fraction thereof, .035c per pound additional. Sugar above 16 D. S. and all refined, 1.95c. All sugars from bounty-paying countries, countervailing duties equal to bounties additional.
Tariff act August 5, 1909 (Payne-Aldrich bill): Raws not above 16 D. S. and not above 75-degree polarization, .95c per pound. Each additional degree or fraction thereof, .035c per pound additional. Sugar above 16 D. S., and all refined, 1.90c per pound. All sugars from bounty-paying countries countervailing duties equal to bounties additional.
Tariff act October 3, 1913, effective March 1, 1914 (Underwood bill): Raws testing not above 75-degree polarization, .71c per pound. Each additional degree or fraction thereof, .026c per pound additional. No. 16 D. S. clause repealed. All Philippine sugars to be admitted free. After May 1, 1916, all sugars to be admitted free of duty.
In April, 1916, a bill was passed by Congress repealing the free-sugar clause of the tariff act of October 3, 1913. The President signed the bill on April 27, 1916.
The Democratic party was defeated in 1896 and the following year saw the passage of the Dingley bill, which levied a duty of 1.685 on 96-degree raw centrifugals under 16 D. S. in color and 1.95 on raws over 16 D. S. and on refined sugars. Under the beneficial influence of this law the industry revived and within a period of about two years from the enactment of the bill twenty-four beet factories sprang into being. One-half of the number were unsuccessful[33] because the stimulating provisions of the new tariff caused ventures to be made hastily and without regard to actual conditions. Of the twelve factories that survived, nearly all were situated in California and Michigan.
From 1900 to 1902 the building of beet plants was not so rapid, for the reason that the failures just mentioned and the popular demand for preferential terms for Philippine and Cuban sugars were not exactly encouraging. A 25 per cent preferential was given to Philippine sugars March 8, 1902, and a concession of 20 per cent of the duty was allowed Cuba December 27, 1903; still, notwithstanding the failures and the political agitation, five or six beet factories were erected each year during this period. The number of beet factories operating in the United States in 1915 was sixty-seven and the total daily slicing capacity was 73,320 tons. The acreage harvested was 611,301 acres, ninety-three per cent of which was worked by independent farmers and seven per cent by the factories. The total amount of beets sliced during that season was 6,150,293 short tons, which produced 874,220 short tons of sugar.
The following is a list of the factories themselves:
DATE SLICING BUILT CAPACITY ARIZONA
Southwestern Sugar & Land Co.[34] Glendale 1903 600 tons
CALIFORNIA
Alameda Sugar Co. Alvarado 1870 750 ” American Beet Sugar Co. Chino 1891 900 ” American Beet Sugar Co. Oxnard 1898 3000 ” Anaheim Sugar Co. Anaheim 1911 800 ” Holly Sugar Co. Huntington Beach 1911 1200 ” Los Alamitos Sugar Co. Los Alamitos 1897 800 ” Santa Ana Co-op. Sugar Co. Dyer 1912 1000 ” Southern California Sugar Co. Santa Ana 1909 600 ” Spreckels Sugar Co. Spreckels 1899 4000 ” Union Sugar Co. Betteravia 1898 900 ” Sacramento Valley Sugar Co.[34] Hamilton City 1906 700 ” San Joaquin Valley Sugar Co. Visalia 1906 450 ” Pacific Sugar Co.[34] Corcoran 1908 600 ”
COLORADO
American Beet Sugar Co.[34] Lamar 1905 400 ” American Beet Sugar Co. Las Animas 1907 800 ” American Beet Sugar Co. Rocky Ford 1900 1600 ” Great Western Sugar Co. Brush 1906 1100 ” Great Western Sugar Co. Eaton 1902 1000 ” Great Western Sugar Co. Fort Collins 1903 2000 ” Great Western Sugar Co. Fort Morgan 1906 1150 ” Great Western Sugar Co. Greeley 1902 1000 ” Great Western Sugar Co. Longmont 1903 2000 ” Great Western Sugar Co. Loveland 1901 1800 ” Great Western Sugar Co. Sterling 1905 1000 ” Great Western Sugar Co. Windsor 1903 1100 ” Holly Sugar Co. Swink 1906 1200 ” National Sugar Mfg. Co. Sugar City 1900 500 ” Western Sugar & Land Co. Grand Junction 1899 600 ”
IDAHO
Amalgamated Sugar Co. Burley 1912 725 ” Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Blackfoot 1904 860 ” Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Idaho Falls 1903 950 ” Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Sugar 1904 900 ”
ILLINOIS
Charles Pope Riverdale 1905 450 ”
INDIANA
Holland St. Louis Sugar Co. Decatur 1912 800 ”
IOWA
Iowa Sugar Co.[34] Waverly 1907 500 ”
KANSAS
Garden City Sugar & Land Co. Garden City 1906 900 ”
MICHIGAN
Continental Sugar Co. Blissfield 1905 900 ” German American Sugar Co. Bay City 1901 1500 ” Holland St. Louis Sugar Co. Holland 1899 400 ” Holland St. Louis Sugar Co. St. Louis 1903 600 ” Menominee River Sugar Co. Menominee 1903 1150 ” Michigan Sugar Co. Alma 1899 1400 ” Michigan Sugar Co. Bay City 1899 1400 ” Michigan Sugar Co. Caro 1899 1200 ” Michigan Sugar Co. Crosswell 1902 700 ” Michigan Sugar Co. Carrollton 1902 900 ” Michigan Sugar Co. Sebewaing 1902 850 ” Owosso Sugar Co. Lansing 1901 600 ” Owosso Sugar Co. Owosso 1903 1200 ” Mt. Clemens Sugar Co. Mt. Clemens 1902 600 ” Western Sugar Refining Co.[34] Marine City 1900 600 ” West Bay City Sugar Co. West Bay City 1899 900 ”
MINNESOTA
Minnesota Sugar Co. Chaska 1906 700 ”
MONTANA
Billings Sugar Co. Billings 1906 2000 ”
NEBRASKA
Scottsbluff Sugar Co. Scottsbluff 1910 1850 ” American Beet Sugar Co. Grand Island 1890 400 ”
NEVADA
Nevada Sugar Co.[34] Fallon 1911 600 ”
OHIO
Continental Sugar Co. Fremont 1900 500 ” Continental Sugar Co. Findlay 1911 800 ” German American Sugar Co. Paulding 1910 900 ” Ottowa Sugar Co. Ottowa 1912 600 ” Toledo Sugar Co.[34] Toledo 1912 1100 ”
UTAH
Amalgamated Sugar Co. Lewiston 1905 900 ” Amalgamated Sugar Co. Logan 1901 750 ” Amalgamated Sugar Co. Ogden 1898 750 ” Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Elsinore 1911 620 ” Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Garland 1903 950 ” Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Lehi 1891 1165 ” Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Payson 1913 700 ” Layton Sugar Co. Layton 1915 450 ”
WISCONSIN
Chippewa Sugar Refining Co. Chippewa Falls 1904 500 ” Rock County Sugar Co.[34] Janesville 1904 600 ” U. S. Sugar Co. Madison 1906 600 ” Wisconsin Sugar Co. Menominee Falls 1901 600 ”
WYOMING
Sheridan Sugar Co. Sheridan 1915 750 ” ----------- Total capacity (76) U. S. factories 73,320 tons
TERRITORY OF HAWAII
The Hawaiian islands lie in the north Pacific ocean, between 18 degrees 54 minutes and 22 degrees 15 minutes north latitude and 154 degrees 50 minutes and 160 degrees 30 minutes west longitude. The group consists of eight inhabited islands and a number of small barren islets extending several hundred miles in a west-northwesterly direction.
The area of the various inhabited islands in square miles is as follows:
Hawaii 4210 Maui 728 Oahu 600 Kauai 547 Molokai 261 Lanai 139 Niihau 97 Kahoolawe 69 ---- Total 6651
All of them are of volcanic and comparatively recent origin, and their age, or at least the time since the last eruptions on them, decreases from west to east. On Hawaii, the largest and most easterly of the group, the volcanic forces are still active and its surface is covered with lava thrown up at no very remote period. The principal port is Hilo and the highest mountain peaks are Mauna Kea (White mountain), 13,823 feet, and Mauna Loa (Great mountain), 13,675 feet.
Maui is formed by two mountains connected by an isthmus. Mauna Haleakala, the higher of the two, rises to a height of 10,032 feet.[35] Kahului is the most important town and seaport.
Oahu is of irregular quadrangular shape. Two nearly parallel mountain ranges traverse it from southeast to northwest and between them is a plateau that slopes down to the sea both in a northerly and southerly direction. The principal port is Honolulu, the “cross-roads of the Pacific,” a flourishing city of about 60,000 inhabitants and the capital of the group. It is admirably situated on a fine harbor and, in addition to its commercial importance, is one of the most attractive spots in the world on account of its balmy climate and wondrously beautiful surroundings. It is strongly fortified and a considerable military force is maintained there.
Pearl Harbor lies about seven miles from Honolulu in a westerly direction. Here the United States government has established a great naval station, one of the finest in existence. It has the most improved apparatus for supplying coal or fuel oil to vessels; there are machine shops, storehouses and barracks; and the huge dry-dock when completed will accommodate the largest dreadnaughts. The entrance from the sea has been dredged to make it navigable for ships of the greatest draft and the station is protected by powerful long-range guns of the most modern type.
Kauai, the oldest island of the group, is irregularly circular in shape, with a maximum diameter of about 25 miles. On the northwest a precipice rises to a height of 2000 feet and beyond that is a mountain plain, but the other portion of the island consists of shore plains with the mountain peak, Waialeale, 5250 feet high, in their midst. The shore plains are broken by ridges and broad, deep valleys and the island is well watered on all sides by mountain streams. There are a number of ports, but no large towns.
The climate of the Hawaiian islands near sea-level does not vary greatly from one year’s end to the other. It is cooler than other regions in the same latitude and extremely healthful. The northeast trade winds blow with periodic variations from March to December, or, as one writer says, 264 days out of 365 every year.[36] The leeward coast, protected by high mountains, is refreshed by regular land and sea breezes. The heaviest rainfall is from January to May, and naturally the greatest precipitation takes place on the windward side of the principal islands. The extremes of local rainfall in the larger islands have been known to range from 12 inches to 300 inches for the year. In Honolulu the average temperature runs from 72 degrees to 74 degrees, the maximum about 88 degrees and the minimum 52 degrees Fahrenheit. In ascending the mountains a lower temperature will be encountered as a matter of course and some of the highest mountain peaks are covered with snow nearly all the year round. Winds seldom blow with extreme violence and hurricanes are unknown.
Singular it is that so little should have been written upon a subject so important as the history of the growth of the sugar industry of the Hawaiian islands. Jarves and Thrum bring the narrative down to 1875 and Mr. H. P. Baldwin, in his book entitled “The Sugar Industry in Hawaii” (1895), contributes a fund of valuable information which is freely drawn upon in this chapter.
Tradition has it that a Japanese junk touched at the island of Maui during the thirteenth century and a Spanish vessel is said to have put in on the south coast of Hawaii during a voyage from Mexico to the Philippines in 1550. Be this as it may, our knowledge of these islands dates only from the time of their discovery by Captain Cook in 1778. He found sugar cane growing there when he landed and speaks of it in his description of his first visit as being “of large size and good quality.” According to the old natives, it grew wild and luxuriant in the valleys and lowlands. As far back as 1837 Mr. D. D. Baldwin recalls having seen fields of white cane on the edge of the woods at Hana, Maui, at an elevation of 2000 to 3000 feet. The natives made no attempt to use sugar cane except as an article of food, although it is said that in ancient days it served as an offering to their gods, particularly the god “Mano” (shark).
Cleveland[37] says that upon his first visit to the Sandwich group in 1799 the natives came alongside the ship in canoes bringing many fruits and vegetables, among which was sugar cane.
L. L. Torbert, one of the early planters, in a paper read before the Royal Agricultural Society in January, 1852, claims that the earliest sugar factory was put up on the island of Lanai in 1802 by a Chinaman who came to the islands in one of the vessels trading for sandalwood. He brought with him a stone mill and boilers, and after grinding one small crop and making it into sugar, went away the next year taking his apparatus with him.
Anderson[38] makes a statement that 257 tons of sugar were exported from the islands in 1814, but cites no authority upon which to base his assertion.
According to Jarves[39] the first instance of the manufacture of sugar goes back beyond 1820, but the name of the pioneer planter is unknown. It is certain that at first molasses was manufactured and then sugar some time before 1820.
Don Francisco de Paula Marin made sugar in Honolulu in 1819, the year before the arrival of the first missionaries. Lavinia, an Italian, did the same thing in 1823. His method was to pound the cane with stone pestles on huge wooden trays (poi boards) by native labor, collecting the juice and boiling it in a small copper kettle.
Accounts from various sources agree that the making of sugar and molasses was general in 1823-24. This undoubtedly had direct connection with the manufacture of rum, which was extensively carried on at that time.
In 1828 a considerable amount of cane was raised in the neighborhood of Honolulu and mills were built in the Nuuanu valley and Waikapu, Maui. A pioneer cane grower, Antonio Silva by name, lived at the latter place, and some Chinamen had a sugar mill near Hilo. In those days mills were made of wood, very crudely put together and worked by oxen.
The first attempt at sugar cultivation on a large scale was made at Koloa, Kauai, by Ladd & company, a Honolulu merchant firm, in 1835. This was the beginning of what is now known as the Koloa plantation, and the first breaking of the soil for planting cane was done with a plough drawn by natives. A mill was established here at the same time, and the enterprise was managed by a Mr. Hooper.
As has been said, the general character of the mills was rude and primitive and it continued to be so up to 1850. The rollers were generally of wood and the kettles in which the juice was boiled were whalers’ trypots. The buildings were adobe or simple grass huts. Only one grade of sugar was made. The juice was boiled to a thick syrup and put into coolers to grain, after which the granulated mass was packed in mats, bags, boxes or barrels with perforated bottoms for the molasses to drain off. The mills were run by bullocks, horses and in some cases by water power, and were fed by hand, one stalk at a time. The whole process, both in the field and in the mill, was very crude and imperfect.
The value of the sugar exported from the islands from 1836 to 1841 was $36,000 and that of the molasses for the same period $17,130.
An article by the late William Ladd on the “Resources of the Sandwich Islands,” published in the “Hawaiian Spectator” for April, 1838, speaks thus prophetically of the manufacture of sugar, then in its infancy:
“It is a very common opinion that sugar will become a leading article of export. That this will become a sugar country is quite evident, if we may judge from the varieties of sugar cane now existing here, its adaptation to the soil, price of labor and a ready market. From experiments hitherto made, it is believed that sugar of a superior quality may be produced here. It may not be amiss to state that there are now in operation, or soon to be erected, twenty mills for crushing cane propelled by animal power, and two by water power.”
Just here it may be remarked that at that time the price of labor was a potent argument in favor of making the islands a sugar-producing country, for native labor was available in abundance and the current rate of wages was from 12½ cents to 37½ cents per day, or $2.00 to $5.00 per month.
In an article on commercial development,[40] Thrum says:
“Hawaiian produce in the early days had to seek distant markets, for we find shipments of sugar, hides, goat skins and the first shipment of raw silk moving to New York per the bark _Flora_ in 1840. A trial shipment of sugar was sent to France, but it did not offer sufficient encouragement for any renewals. The Sydney market was also exploited with sugar, where it obtained better figures than similar grades of Mauritius.”
Between the years 1840 and 1850 a cane field and rude mill in Lahaina, Maui, were owned by David Malo, a well-known Hawaiian, who made molasses and sold it for home consumption. His apparatus consisted of three whaling-ship trypots set up on adobe and stone mason work. The crushing was done with wooden rollers, strengthened by iron bands.
In 1841, Kaukini, governor of Hawaii, planted about one hundred acres of cane in Kohala and the crop when harvested was ground under contract by a Chinese named Aiko.
In Wyllie’s “Notes” on the islands, published in the “Friend,” December, 1844, the quantity of sugar exported from the island of Kauai is estimated at about 200 tons, and the molasses at 20,000 gallons. Hilo, in the same year, exported 42 tons of sugar. Maui had, at that time, two mills, but the amount of sugar produced is not reported.
In 1851, D. M. Weston, then manager of what is now the Honolulu Iron Works, invented the first centrifugal machine for drying sugar, and this machine was installed on the East Maui plantation in the same year. This, it is claimed, was the first centrifugal to be used for the purpose anywhere.
Prominent among the early planters are the names of Stephen Reynolds, William French, Ladd & company, Dr. R. W. Wood, L. L. Torbert, W. H. Rice, and later on S. L. Austin, A. H. Spencer and Captain Makee.
In the year 1854 or 1855, Captain Edwards of the American whaler _George Washington_ brought from Tahiti two varieties of cane, one known as Cuban and the other as Lahaina. The latter proved to be profitable to raise and fifteen or sixteen years later began to displace other species throughout the islands. Since then its popularity continued to increase and up to twenty years ago it was the variety most in favor on all Hawaiian plantations.
Twelve varieties of cane were imported from Queensland, Australia, in 1880, but of these only one—the Rose Bamboo—compared with the Lahaina in productiveness, and that only in high altitudes.
In 1898 Lahaina and Rose Bamboo seemed to have outlived their usefulness on the Hamakua coast of the island of Hawaii, and while they continued to give excellent results in the low, sheltered valleys, it became evident that they could not be profitably grown on the uplands. The yields in the Hamakua region were becoming smaller each year and the plantation owners had to seek a new variety. A cane known as Yellow Caledonia[41] solved the difficulty and wonderful crops of it have been raised uninterruptedly in that section ever since.
In 1856 no fertilizers were used and practically nothing was known of irrigation. The average yield of sugar at that time was one ton per acre. The extraction of sugar from the cane was less than 50 per cent, while today in the best mills it exceeds 98 per cent and the average result from all Hawaiian factories shows over 90 per cent.
The industry struggled along under severe handicaps and discouraging circumstances until 1857, when the number of plantations on the islands had dwindled down to five: Koloa and Lihue on Kauai, the East Maui and the Brewer on Maui and a Chinese outfit near Hilo, Hawaii.
In 1858-59 steam was adopted as the motive power in the mills; wooden mills were superseded by those built of iron and in 1861 the first vacuum pans were introduced. The same year saw the number of plantations increase to twenty-two, nine of which employed steam for the grinding of the cane.
The outbreak of the Civil war in the United States cut off the supply of sugar drawn from the Southern states and caused the price of Hawaiian sugar in kegs to advance to ten cents a pound. This gave the Hawaiian producers their first real start. In 1863 the export tonnage was 2600, and this increased until in 1860 it reached 8869 tons.
A small plantation was started at Paia, Maui, by a Captain Bush in 1868 and in the following year he disposed of it to S. T. Alexander and H. P. Baldwin. The former gentleman was then manager of the Haiku plantation and the acquisition of his interest in the Paia venture necessitated his going to Honolulu to borrow the sum of $9000, which he managed to do, but not without difficulty. Mr. Alexander was the father of irrigation in Hawaii. He promoted and built the Haiku ditch, which was the forerunner of the present magnificent water-distributing system of the islands.
The period from 1869 to 1876 was one of arduous struggle for the planters. Their very existence was at stake. The duty levied on imports by the United States cut their margins down to nothing, labor was scarce and the cost of obtaining it great, the rate of interest was from ten to twelve per cent, agents’ commissions for buying and selling ran from five to ten per cent; in short, many plantations were threatened with utter ruin, and so seriously discouraged did the business men become that the only gleam of hope for the salvation of the sugar industry seemed to be annexation.
Repeated efforts were made to negotiate a reciprocity treaty with the United States. Finally this was accomplished; the treaty was consummated in 1876 and a new Hawaii was born.
The expansion that followed was more rapid than the finances of the country could stand. Depression ensued, and as a result the resources of the islands were taxed to the utmost.
The demand for labor during this period of expansion was so great that the pay of the laborers in the fields was raised to one dollar a day, with free rent, fuel and medical attendance. Laborers were sought for in the far corners of the earth, and in consequence the islands have a race mixture rarely found anywhere else in the world.
In 1876 the annual crop of the islands could have been put in one vessel of the capacity of those that are now engaged in freighting Hawaiian raw sugars to the United States, the total being in the neighborhood of 13,000 short tons. At that time, however, this seemed an enormous amount to the planters with their small acreage and mills. It is well known that one planter was very much exercised as to how he was possibly going to handle the extraordinary production of 1100 tons from his plantation, which was then the largest in the islands.
The crop came on the market in such small quantities that it was of no value to refiners, as they could not depend upon definite deliveries. It was therefore put up in special containers, known as “island kegs,” and sold directly to the wholesale grocers on the Pacific coast.
Some plantations turned out sugars that found especial favor with the trade, and these grades brought as high as 14 cents per pound.
Under the benefits of reciprocity the crop increased by leaps and bounds and in a short time the planters ceased selling these raw grocery sugars and turned their attention to supplying the wants of refiners. The “island keg” became a thing of the past and the small sailing vessels which had heretofore carried all the island products to the mainland gave way to steamers. At the present day there is only one sailing vessel plying regularly between San Francisco and the islands, and she usually loads at a port where the large freighting steamers do not care to venture.
Annexation to the United States in 1898 was the next important step in the development of Hawaii. Its immediate effect was to create a feeling of security and confidence in every direction, for while the reciprocity treaty had produced excellent results, the danger of its being made the subject of attack in Congress was ever present. The hoisting of the American flag in the islands permanently dispelled any anxiety on that score.
Of all the early pioneers whose steadfastness and courage kept the sugar industry alive through so many vicissitudes, but few survive. Their descendants have succeeded to their possessions and responsibilities, and today in Hawaii cane cultivation and sugar manufacture have attained a higher degree of development than has been reached by any other country in the world. Crude methods and appliances have long since disappeared. Scientific principles govern the treatment of the land and the selection and care of the cane. The irrigation works are marvels of engineering skill. The mills are modern steel-frame structures, with concrete floors and equipped with machinery of the most improved type. And the end is not yet. The minds of many highly trained men are constantly at work upon the various problems presented by the industry, and what the fruit of their effort will be, who shall say?
Production of Hawaii since 1837 in tons of 2240 pounds:
1837 2 1838 40 1839 45 1840 161 1841 27 1842 ... 1843 511 1844 229 1845 135 1846 134 1847 225 1848 223 1849 292 1850 335 1851 9 1852 312 1853 287 1854 257 1855 129 1856 248 1857 313 1858 538 1859 816 1860 645 1861 1,144 1862 1,342 1863 2,363 1864 4,649 1865 6,838 1866 7,915 1867 7,646 1868 8,175 1869 8,171 1870 8,386 1871 9,715 1872 7,587 1873 10,326 1874 10,967 1875 11,197 1876 11,640 1877 11,418 1878 17,157 1879 21,884 1880 28,386 1881 41,870 1882 50,572 1883 50,941 1884 63,685 1885 76,496 1886 96,528 1887 94,984 1888 105,307 1889 108,110 1890 115,977 1891 122,761 1892 109,178 1893 136,269 1894 148,600 1895 133,596 1896 201,632 1897 224,200 1898 204,834 1899 252,506 1900 258,522 1901 321,463 1902 317,510 1903 391,063 1904 328,103 1905 380,579 1906 383,226 1907 392,872 1908 465,288 1909 477,818 1910 461,687 1911 506,090 1912 531,480 1913 488,212 1914 550,926 1915 577,183 1916 545,000
LOUISIANA
The cane crop of Louisiana comes from the southern part of the state, principally along the banks of the Mississippi, the Bayou Teche and the Bayou Lafourche. As this region is outside the tropics, being between 29 degrees and 31 degrees north latitude, frosts must be looked for in winter. The sugar industry of Louisiana, therefore, as well as that of Texas, Florida and Georgia, has to cope with climatic conditions that are unknown in most other cane-producing countries.
All of the sugar plantations are situated in the low plains, the highest elevation above sea-level not exceeding 83 feet. The annual rainfall varies from 67 to 95 inches, and 80 inches may be taken as a fair average, which amply suffices for the needs of the growing cane. In December, January and February there is always the danger of frost and planters must be constantly alert to guard against this as far as possible. During the autumnal equinox much damage to the cane is caused by hurricanes that rush in from the Gulf of Mexico.
Sugar cane was brought to Louisiana in 1751. According to Gayarré, two ships that were transporting troops from France to Louisiana touched at a port in Hispaniola during the voyage and the Jesuits of the island obtained permission to put some sugar cane on board these vessels to be taken to Louisiana and there delivered to their Jesuit brethren.
The same means were employed to send a number of negroes to cultivate the cane, which was planted according to direction on a piece of ground belonging to the order situated just above the present course of Canal street, New Orleans. The cane grew to maturity and was sold in the market as a luxury.
In 1759 a rich colonist, Dubreuil by name, built a mill and attempted to make sugar, but his efforts were unsuccessful and the idea was abandoned. _Tafia_, a kind of rum, was made from sugar cane shortly afterward.
In 1791 Don António Mendez, an officer of the Spanish crown who lived in St. Bernard parish, bought from a Spanish refugee from Santo Domingo named Solis his land, crop of cane and distilling outfit and attacked the problem with a firm determination to conquer it. He called in a Cuban sugar maker named Morin to assist him, but whether it was that he lacked the means to erect a proper factory, or whether he became discouraged, the fact remains that he only succeeded in turning out a few small barrels of sugar. There is evidence that he did something in the way of refining as well, but not in an appreciable quantity.
The first crop of sugar sufficiently large and profitable to serve as an incentive to others was raised by Etienne de Boré about 1794. Of this achievement Gayarré says: “When the whole agricultural interest of Louisiana was thus prostrated and looking around for the discovery of some means to escape from annihilation, and the eager and anxious inquiry of every planter was ‘What shall I do to pay my debts and support my family?’, the energy of one of the most spirited and respected citizens of Louisiana suddenly saved her from utter ruin and raised her to that state of prosperity which has increased with each successive year.”[42]
In 1794 de Boré purchased seed cane from Mendez and Solis and after planting it he went ahead with his preparations for harvesting, crushing and manufacturing. The following year the sugar he produced sold for $12,000, a considerable sum of money in those days. The boiling of the sugar juice to grain was done under the direction of Antoine Morin, the former associate of Mendez. The method was naturally very primitive, the mill being driven by animal power, and much sugar was lost in the bagasse.
Following the example of de Boré, many planters set out cane and built sugar mills. Their operations were highly successful and they all became wealthy within a comparatively short period.
The industry continued to flourish and prosper, and the year 1820 marked a decided step forward. Up to that time the only two kinds of cane that had been grown in Louisiana were the Creole (from Malabar or Bengal) and the Tahiti. The cane originally planted by de Boré and from which he made his first sugar was the Creole; the Tahiti variety was not introduced from Santo Domingo until 1797. It became patent to the planters that neither of these canes was suited to the Louisianan climate, and they set about looking for a hardier plant. Toward the middle of the eighteenth century the purple and striped varieties were brought by the Dutch from Java to the island of St. Eustatius, and from there a quantity of these canes was taken to Savannah, Georgia, about 1814. They throve extremely well and a former resident of Savannah who had moved to Louisiana and become a planter there, having heard about them, secured some for seed purposes. His experiment proved wonderfully successful and from this single estate the cultivation of the new canes spread over the entire sugar-producing region. As these varieties could stand greater cold than the Creole and the Tahiti, the planters were able to extend their growing area northward and in this way greatly increase their acreage. As recently as 1897 these canes still constituted the crops of Louisiana with a few exceptions.
Of late years, however, seedling canes obtained from Demerara have come into great favor in consequence of the researches of the botanists at the experiment station. In addition to an advantage both in cane and sugar over the varieties previously used, the time of vegetation is shorter, so that the canes mature earlier, and this, on account of the short season in which Louisianan cane has to ripen, makes the Demeraran decidedly desirable. It has also been proved that Demeraran cane is better able to resist damage by storms, so that taking it all in all it would appear that the newer varieties are quite likely to displace the older kinds.
Cane is usually planted in the same ground every three years. The crop of plant cane is followed by a crop of ratoons and then maize is put in. As soon as the maize is cut the field is sown with a species of large pea (_Vigna sinensis_) and when summer is over the pea vines and the maize stubble are ploughed under. A month after this is done, furrows are dug about six feet apart and early in October cane is planted once more. In this operation two rows of whole cane stalks are placed in the furrows and covered with five or six inches of earth as a protection against frost. Most of this layer of earth is removed in the spring to help the growth of the young cane shoots. Stable manure, cotton-seed meal, nitrates, phosphates and kainite are used as fertilizers.
Harvesting begins at the end of November, and, weather permitting, the cane is allowed to remain standing in the fields until required for grinding. If, however, the Government Weather Bureau should predict cold, the cane is cut without delay, piled in the furrows and covered with dry cane leaves to prevent it from freezing. Cane stored in this manner keeps well so long as the weather remains cold, but as soon as warm weather comes it rapidly deteriorates.
Labor in Louisiana is both scarce and costly, consequently agricultural machinery is used in the fields as far as possible.
The steam engine was first employed in the crushing of cane in the year 1822. About this time, when slavery was such a tremendous factor in the South, sugar raising was marked by a tendency toward the large plantation method. From 1830 to 1840 the number of plantations in Louisiana decreased, but the number of slaves employed on them increased 40 per cent. Later, however, the plantations began to grow in number and by 1853 there were more than fifteen hundred of them, as against 668 thirteen years previous. In those days, each plantation had its own sugar mill, so that 1853 may be taken as close to the high-water mark for the number of mills in the South. With the outbreak of the Civil war, the industry was virtually wiped out of existence, and when its rehabilitation was begun, it was carried on along entirely different lines and the separation of the raising of sugar from the manufacture was gradually brought about. Year by year the small mills were abandoned and the crops of cane raised by the planters, large and small, were brought to the central factory to be worked up. Today, where large plantations still exist, it is the practice to rent subdivisions of land from twenty to fifty acres in size to tenants who grow cane for the central mill.
In 1880 there were 1144 small sugar mills in Louisiana and their output of sugar was 121,886 tons. In 1911, 187 mills handled a crop of 5,930,000 tons of cane which gave 308,439 tons of sugar, and this would have been considerably exceeded had it not been for a disastrous freeze. In 1880, 273 factories used horse power, in 1900 only 5, in 1905 none at all. The advent of the vacuum pan and the consequent abolition of the open-kettle method marked another great advance in manufacturing development. In 1880 about 42 per cent of the sugar produced in Louisiana was turned out by factories equipped with vacuum pans. The government statistics for 1909 show a total of 316,829 tons of sugar boiled in vacuum pans and only 3,678 tons of open-kettle sugar.
As has been said, the growing season for cane in Louisiana is limited and the harvesting is done before the plant has attained its full maturity. Whether or not this has any effect upon the flavor of the sugar and molasses produced is a moot point. It is none the less true, however, that the Louisiana “Clarifieds” and the so-called New Orleans molasses possess a flavor distinctively their own.
In the plantation fields, too, the scientists have worked wonders. To illustrate the benefit resulting from the application of modern methods to the cultivation of cane, in 1885 the average yield of cane per acre in Louisiana was about three-quarters of a ton, while in 1909 the average yield per acre in cane was about 20 tons, the recovery of sugar per ton of cane over 157 pounds, or 3140 pounds of sugar per acre.
The Louisiana state experiment station was established by the sugar planters at Audubon park, New Orleans, in 1885 and endowed for a term of years. This institution has grown in importance until at the present time it has ample grounds, well-equipped laboratories and a sugar house with an installation of the latest and best sugar-manufacturing machinery, all directed and operated by the students of the institution. Here is carried on the work of developing seedlings, improvement of cane varieties, investigation of cane diseases, together with the study of all questions of bettering plantation and factory methods.
The sugar production of Louisiana in long tons from 1860-61 to the present time is as follows:
1860-61 117,431 1861-62 235,856 1862-63 43,232 1863-64 39,690 1864-65 5,331 1865-66 9,287 1866-67 21,074 1867-68 19,289 1868-69 42,617 1869-70 44,382 1870-71 75,369 1871-72 65,635 1872-73 55,891 1873-74 46,078 1874-75 60,100 1875-76 72,958 1876-77 85,102 1877-78 65,835 1878-79 106,909 1879-80 88,836 1880-81 121,886 1881-82 71,304 1882-83 136,167 1883-84 128,318 1884-85 94,372 1885-86 127,958 1886-87 80,858 1887-88 157,970 1888-89 144,878 1889-90 128,343 1890-91 215,843 1891-92 160,937 1892-93 201,816 1893-94 265,836 1894-95 317,306 1895-96 237,720 1896-97 282,009 1897-98 310,447 1898-99 245,511 1899-00 147,164 1900-01 270,338 1901-02 321,676 1902-03 329,226 1903-04 228,476 1904-05 355,530 1905-06 336,751 1906-07 188,571 1907-08 302,855 1908-09 273,178 1909-10 269,431 1910-11 263,308 1911-12 315,066 1912-13 137,119 1913-14 261,337 1914-15 216,696 1915-16 122,768
PORTO RICO
Porto Rico, the most easterly and the fourth in size of the Greater Antilles, lies at the entrance to the Caribbean sea, between 17 degrees 50 minutes and 18 degrees 30 minutes north latitude and between 65 degrees 30 minutes and 67 degrees 15 minutes west longitude. It is about 100 miles long by 36 miles wide and has an area of 3606 square miles.
A range of mountains from 2000 feet to 3700 feet in height runs from east to west. The south slope of the island rises abruptly from the foothills, while on the north the ascent is more gradual and broken to a great extent by rugged spurs and deep ravines. There is but little coastal plain on the north, except at the river mouths, but on the south a considerable stretch of lowlands is found. Although many indentations occur in the coast line, few of them afford safe shelter for ships. There are thirty-nine rivers and a great number of smaller streams, but none of the rivers is navigable for more than a mile or two from the sea.
The climate is healthful and is tempered by the northeast trade winds that, with certain modifications due to local conditions, blow steadily the year round. The mean annual temperature is about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The rainy season begins in May and ends in November and the average yearly precipitation at the foot of Mount El Yunque on the northeast coast is 120 inches. At San Juan it is 55 inches, while other sections of the island are semi-arid or subject to severe droughts. Porto Rico is particularly free from epidemics. The last case of yellow fever was reported in 1897. Cholera and bubonic plague are unknown, and dysentery diseases, formerly common, are steadily decreasing. Like other West Indian islands, it is subject to hurricanes, that of 1899 having been unusually disastrous. The census of 1910 gave the population as 1,118,012.
The soil is fertile and may be divided into three classes. First, the red soil, generally found in the mountains; second, the black soil, containing much humus, and third, the coral sand soil of the coast plains. The black has proved to be the best for sugar cane, although excellent yields have been obtained from the coast lands. Notwithstanding the fact that both soil and climate are well suited to cane cultivation, the extension of the industry is checked by the formation of the country. The hilly character of the island and the comparatively limited transportation facilities do not admit of cane being grown in the interior. All of the modern plantations are near the coast, where sugar can be easily transported to steamers. In the north cane may be raised without irrigation, but in the south, where the greater part of the crop is produced, irrigation is necessary. About 400,000 acres of the surface of Porto Rico are under cultivation and half of this area is devoted to sugar. The cane grows chiefly on the rich alluvial lowlands along the coast. On the southern seaboard there is plenty of good land that has never been planted, but to make this available for agriculture means the construction of costly irrigation works with extensive aqueducts and much tunneling.
Porto Rico was discovered by Columbus in 1493. The name Puerto Rico dates from 1521, when gold was found in the island. The natives suffered cruelly at the hands of their conquerors up to the year 1544, when they were set free by the order of King Charles I of Spain.[43] Out of a population originally estimated at 600,000 only a few hundred remained. Great numbers had died and many had fled to Mexico and Peru, but the Spaniards soon filled their places with African negroes.
For three centuries the island was harried by the English, attacked by pirates and freebooters, torn by rebellion among the slaves or terrorized by the fleets of the Dutch, who were intent upon its conquest, so that Spain was kept constantly on her guard to prevent her colony from being wrested from her. This state of affairs naturally did not encourage population. The country could not meet the cost of its administration and the deficit had to be paid out of the revenues of Mexico. Up to 1778 only Spaniards were allowed to settle there, but after that date the privilege was granted to people of other countries, provided they were of the Roman Catholic faith, and in 1815 all restrictions were removed. Foreigners were welcomed to the island and many inducements offered them. Trade with the United States was permitted in 1815, but only in Spanish ships.
This liberal policy brought many planters from the British and French islands, and as they had experience, capital and slaves, they did much to develop the resources of the colony. Subsequently many refugees came from Haiti, Santo Domingo and Venezuela.
Slavery in Spanish possessions was abolished in 1873 and 34,000 slaves in Porto Rico received their freedom.
After Alphonso XII ascended the Spanish throne in 1875, commercial conditions in the island showed a certain improvement, but politically the situation was deplorable, reflecting as it did all the bad features of an obsolete system of government, complicated by a liberalism that was premature. By reason of its arbitrary decrees and many acts of persecution, the administration stirred up a feeling of bitter antagonism on the part of the colonists. A step toward reform was taken in 1877, when the provincial deputation was re-established, and eighteen years afterward, the home government, in response to vigorous demands from foreign nations, attempted to pass measures to effectively remedy existing evils, but it was far too late. The island received a grant of autonomy in November, 1897, and in July of the following year it was taken over by the United States.
As soon as this became an accomplished fact, there was a marked improvement in conditions, especially from a sugar point of view. Up to this time much attention had been given to the cultivation of coffee, and sugar production had suffered to a certain extent in consequence. Spain had admitted Porto Rican coffee free while protecting it by duties levied on foreign coffee, but when the island passed into the hands of America, this advantage to the coffee raiser disappeared. Besides, the hurricane of 1899 had caused great damage to the coffee plantations and the combination of circumstances proved a severe setback to the coffee industry.
The sugar planters, on the other hand, benefited greatly by annexation. In 1889 the government allowed a reduction of 85 per cent on the duty assessed on Porto Rican sugars entering the United States. In 1901 they came in absolutely free and Porto Rico has enjoyed the full protection of the tariff ever since.
In 1900 Congress passed a law known as the Foraker act, which provided that no corporation should be allowed to acquire more than 500 acres of land in Porto Rico and that no stockholder in any agricultural company operating there should be permitted to hold shares in any other corporation of the kind. The object of the law was, of course, to prevent capitalists from buying up great tracts of land for the cultivation of sugar on a large scale to the detriment of the native land owner.
The act, however, did not serve the interests of the small Porto Rican farmer as its framers apparently intended it should. The owners of large holdings were non-resident and the small farmers lacked the money and enterprise to carry on the industry in a proper manner. The law excluded that which was most urgently needed, namely foreign capital, and when this fact became apparent, the provisions of the measure were construed liberally by the authorities, so that of late years extensive sugar estates have been started in Porto Rico with American, British and French backing, and the production has grown from 85,000 tons in 1902 to 378,509 tons in 1916.
Formerly the Porto Rican planters used to harvest cane from the same lands year after year, without using fertilizers of any kind. When they planted new cane, the soil was only partially prepared; the subsoil was never cleared of roots and rough grasses and cultivation was only indifferently done. The result is that many cane fields are now practically exhausted and some planters find that their lands are becoming spoiled by rapidly multiplying weeds.
Today the usual method is to plough the ground twice before putting in the seed. Deep ploughing is taking the place of scratching the surface and steam ploughs are being used on the larger estates. Where the soil is heavy and the rainfall abundant, the furrows are dug about eight feet apart and two feet deep and the cane planted in double rows at four-foot intervals. In dry, sandy soil the planting is in single rows and the distance between the furrows ranges from four to six feet, according to how rich the soil is. The fields are kept free from weeds and manure is used but seldom.
The greater part of the cane is planted during the last four months of the year and crushing is begun in the second January following, which gives the cane a growing period of fourteen months or more. Some planting is done in January, February and March and this cane is cut in twelve months. Then a certain amount is planted between March and June, and if the sugar content proves satisfactory, it is ground the following season; if not, it is allowed to remain standing for another year. Planting is done every four years and the best results are obtained from the first and second ratoon crops. The yield of cane per acre averages about 18 long tons, although this has been exceeded in good years. The cane is cut close to the ground with a _machete_ and loaded on ox-carts to be taken to the mill or the railway station, according to the location of the field.
Almost all of the cane grown in Porto Rico is ground in the large central factories, but it is only during the last ten or twelve years that this has been done. The small mills have disappeared for the most part, although a few have been able to struggle along.
The centrals usually raise about one-half of the cane they grind. The rest they buy from the _colono_, who grows cane either on his own land or upon ground rented to him by the central owner. As a rule the price paid to the _colono_ for his cane is 5 per cent of the weight of the cane in sugar, although this is subject to modification at times. As the central factories are of recent construction, they are equipped with the newest and best machinery and the most scientific methods govern their operation.
In 1853 Porto Rico exported 112,000 tons of sugar; the following year the amount was 70,000 tons and during the next twenty years it remained nearly stationary. In 1871 the production reached 105,000 tons, dropping back to 89,000 tons in 1885 and 65,000 tons in 1886. The crop of 1900 was very small—35,000 tons—owing to the havoc wrought by an unusually severe hurricane, but from that time on it has increased year by year.
As most of the diseases and pests that attack sugar cane are met with in Porto Rico, it is obvious that the work of the United States agricultural station at Mayaquez has been of inestimable benefit to the planters. Experimenting with different varieties of cane, importing seed cane from other countries, analysis of soils, scientific advice upon the use of fertilizers and instruction as to the best means to destroy or control harmful parasites, these are but a few of the many important services rendered by the station.
The outlook for Porto Rico’s sugar industry seems hopeful. Labor is cheap and abundant, climatic and soil conditions are favorable and an irrigation project at present under way promises to convert lands now arid into productive cane fields.
Since 1900 the production of sugar in Porto Rico in tons of 2240 pounds has been:
1900 35,000 1901 80,000 1902 85,000 1903 85,000 1904 130,000 1905 145,000 1906 213,000 1907 210,000 1908 200,000 1909 245,000 1910 308,000 1911 295,000 1912 320,000 1913 350,323 1914 325,000 1915 308,178 1916 378,509
THE PHILIPPINES
This group of islands is situated about 500 miles off the southeast coast of Asia, between 4 degrees 10 minutes and 21 degrees 10 minutes north latitude and between 116 degrees 40 minutes and 126 degrees 34 minutes east longitude. It is bounded on the west and north by the China sea, on the east by the Pacific ocean and on the south by the Celebes sea. It comprises 3141 islands, of which 2775 contain less than one square mile each. According to the Philippine census of 1903 the total area is 115,026 square miles,[44] although some authorities estimate it to be as much as 127,800 square miles. Two-thirds of this is forest land and not more than 9½ per cent of the entire archipelago was classified under _Farms_ in 1903. The area devoted to sugar cane the year previous was 177,628 acres, about 5 per cent of the cultivated land.
The islands are chiefly of volcanic origin and their surface is much broken by hills, isolated volcanoes and mountain ranges running north and south, northwest and southeast or northeast and southwest. There are twelve active volcanoes in the group and eight others with well-defined cones that are either dormant or extinct. The highest elevation in the islands is Mount Apo, an extinct volcano on Mindanao, 10,312 feet, with Mount Mayon, an active volcano on Luzon, next, 8970 feet. Earthquakes are frequent and occasionally violent.
The most important of the group are Mindanao, Luzon, Samar, Palawan, Panay, Negros, Leyte, Mindoro, Cebú, Masbate and Bohol. The coast line, which is over 11,000 miles in length, is fringed with coral reefs and indented by many gulfs and bays. There are plenty of good natural harbors, the principal one being Manila in Luzon, which affords perfect shelter for shipping, even in the severest storms. Next in importance are the harbors of Iloilo and Cebú.
Climatic conditions vary widely. However, it may be said in a general way that the climate is characterized by a uniformly high temperature, excessive humidity, heavy rainfall and violent tropical storms. Near the seacoast, it is moderate between November and the first of March. The latter part of March and the months of July, August and September are warm and very hot weather comes in April, May and June. The nights, however, are always cool. The temperature naturally changes as the elevation above the sea increases, but at ordinary levels it averages 77 degrees Fahrenheit in January, and 83 degrees in May.
The annual rainfall is about 74 inches, and two-thirds of this comes in July, August, September and October. Of course the precipitation in certain localities is affected by mountain ranges that cause condensation from moisture-laden trade winds. In the lowlands that are not protected by mountains, the rainfall is regular. Typhoons occur between April and October, but they are not nearly so severe as the hurricanes that visit the West Indies and Mauritius. In October, 1882, a typhoon did a great deal of damage in Manila, and there was a serious loss of life in the great storm that visited Samar and Leyte in 1897. The well-appointed observatory in Manila sends out warnings of the approach of typhoons and much life and property are saved by this means.
The soil is generally reddish-brown in color and is largely made up of disintegrated lava with an admixture of decayed vegetable matter; sometimes decomposed coral limestone is present.
John W. Dwinelle, in an address delivered in San Francisco in 1866, said: “Previous to the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, the Portuguese had discovered the Azore islands in longitude 31 W., and on the strength of that discovery claimed that the countries discovered by Columbus belonged to the crown of Portugal, and that the Spaniards should be wholly excluded from them. But the Spaniards refused to admit this pretension and referred the matter for decision to the Pope, Alexander VI. It was then part of the law of nations, and of the public law of the world, that the Pope was the ultimate source of all temporal power; that he could make and unmake kings, and dispose of all the kingdoms of the earth—powers which he frequently exercised and against which it were vain to contend. He was therefore, by general consent, the acknowledged source of all lawful title to land. He assumed to decide the case thus referred to his decision, and on May 3d, A. D. 1493, determined the matter in dispute between the crowns of Portugal and Spain, by drawing an imaginary line of longitude one hundred leagues west of the Azores, and granting to the Spanish monarchs all countries inhabited by infidels, which they had already discovered, or might afterwards discover, lying to the west, and to the crown of Portugal all those lying to the east of that line. This line was afterwards removed two hundred and seventy leagues further to the west, by a treaty subsequently made in the year 1494, between the kings of Portugal and Spain; but so thoroughly was the title thus conceded by the Pope respected by the civilized world, that when Henry VII of England was afterwards about to intrude upon some of the dominions thus granted to Spain, he abandoned his project upon being warned by the Pope to desist.”
This division of the surface of the globe into two parts gave to Portugal all the territory both known and unknown east of the arbitrary meridian drawn 470 miles west of the Cape Verde islands, and to Spain everything west of this line.
Ferdinand Magellan, the famous Portuguese navigator, in the service of the Emperor Charles V of Spain, set out on a voyage west-bound with the object of taking possession of the Moluccas, as they lay west of the line of demarcation. Sailing around Cape Horn, Magellan discovered the Philippine islands in 1521, landing first on Malhou, between Samar and Dinagat. Afterward, he touched at Mindanao, from which he sailed to Cebú. Thence he went to the small island of Mactan, where he was killed in a skirmish.
But little action was taken with regard to this territory until after the accession of Philip II (hence “las Filipinas”—Philippines), when an important expedition was fitted out at the Mexican port of Navidad. It sailed in November, 1564, under the command of Miguél Lopez de Legaspi, the distinguished conquistador, who, in the following year established on the island of Cebú the first permanent settlement in the Philippines. The city of Manila was founded in 1571 and became the capital of the group. Through his tact, courage and resourcefulness, Legaspi won the confidence of the people and placed the colony on a sound footing. At the same time he checked all attempts at encroachment on the part of the Portuguese. Spanish rule was undisturbed until 1762, when a British naval force bombarded Manila and occupied it. At the conclusion of the war between Great Britain and Spain in 1764, the British withdrew and the domination of Spain endured until 1898, when the Spanish fleet was destroyed by Dewey at Manila bay.
The title to the Philippines therefore passed through the Pope to Spain and from Spain to the United States.
When Magellan reached these islands he found that sugar was made in a primitive fashion. The methods employed were very much like those in vogue in China, and the sugar, when made, greatly resembled the Chinese product. This is very strong presumptive evidence that cane and the knowledge of its manufacture were originally brought to the Philippines by the Chinese.
The industry, however, amounted to very little prior to 1849, in which year the island of Negros was placed under the jurisdiction of the religious order of Recoletos, who did much to encourage the manufacture of sugar, and this movement was stimulated by the high prices resulting from the Crimean war. In consequence, cane sugar was exported with profit from Negros, Luzon and Cebú. Notwithstanding the lack of capital, the rough, crude mills, the planters’ scant knowledge of manufacturing methods and the wretched transportation facilities, the sugar trade forged rapidly ahead until in 1893 the exports totaled 257,550 long tons. A slump in the price of silver, however, brought on a financial crisis, and subsequently internal dissensions affected the crops so that in 1901 only 51,448 tons were exported. Since then a change for the better has taken place and the figures for 1915-16 indicate a production of 345,000 tons.
Sugar cane is used as a delicacy in all of the inhabited islands of the Philippine group, but the growing and manufacture of it as a regular industry are confined to Negros, Mindoro, Cebú, Panay, Luzon and Leyte. In 1914-15 about 350,000 acres altogether were planted in cane, and the quantity of sugar exported during 1916 was about 300,000 tons.
The first care of the United States after its occupancy of the Philippines was the bettering of conditions in sanitation, education, banking methods, railway communication and deep water terminals. Apart from the primitive character of the sugar mills and the loss growing out of poor extraction of juice, open-kettle boiling and curing in earthen pots, the sugar producer was generally in debt to the buyer for advances that carried a high rate of interest. The government has taken steps to correct this evil and has made it possible for the farmer to get credit on reasonable terms, limiting its loans, however, to those who have Torrens titles to their property,[45] but the Filipino has been under the influence of the money-lenders too long for him to break his bonds entirely. Besides, his instinctive dislike for anything new is a hindrance to progress in this direction.
In addition to the measures just alluded to, a special law was passed in 1902, under which all Philippine sugars entering the United States paid 25 per cent less than the regular customs tariff. The Payne-Aldrich bill of August 5, 1909, provided for free admission of Philippine sugars up to 300,000 gross tons, and it stipulated that the small producer (less than 500 tons per annum) was to receive first consideration in the event of the importation exceeding 300,000 tons. Any excess coming into the United States would have been assessed the full tariff. During the life of this legislation, however, the largest production of the islands was that of 1913-14, which amounted to 265,000 tons, of which 225,000 tons were exported.[46] The tariff act of 1913, which became effective March 1, 1914, admits all Philippine sugars free of duty without any restriction as to quantity.
The religious orders were formerly large land owners in the Philippines, and the feeling of discontent that ultimately led to the insurrection of the Filipinos against Spain in 1896 was largely due to agrarian difficulties between the friars and their tenants. When the revolution came, the friars had to flee for their lives, and after peace was restored by the United States, the insular government felt that if they returned to their possessions they would be in constant danger from the hostility of the natives. It was, therefore, decided to acquire these lands and to that end Congress passed an act authorizing the Philippine government to issue bonds to the amount of $7,000,000 and to purchase the lands of the various orders with the money so raised. With one or two minor exceptions, all of these lands, amounting to something over 600,000 acres, were bought by the government and are being resold on long-term payments at a price that will reimburse the government. In disposing of this property preference is always given to the resident tenants.
A measure was carried through the Philippine legislature approving the sale of the unoccupied portions of these friar estates to individuals without restriction as to acreage, and it was under the provisions of this act that large tracts of land were acquired by the interests connected with the Mindoro company in the San José estate in Mindoro and by the people associated with the Calamba estate in the Calamba, Santa Rosa and Biñan districts of Laguna province, Luzon.
Apart from these so-called friar lands, the public lands in the Philippine islands are held for sale or lease subject to the following conditions: Corporations can purchase or lease up to 1024 hectares, or 2500 acres, and individuals up to 64 hectares, or 158 acres. The terms of sale are a minimum of 10 pesos, or $5 per hectare, 25 per cent of which must be paid at the time the contract is entered into and the remainder within five years, with interest at 6 per cent, or leased at a minimum rental of 50 centavos, or 25 cents, per hectare per annum, leases running for fifty years.
The Mindoro and Calamba companies, controlling 55,000 and 20,000 acres respectively, and the San Cárlos Milling company of San Cárlos, Negros, have erected the first and only modern sugar mills in the Philippines, and they have gone into cane cultivation and sugar manufacture in a scientific way. The management of these three enterprises has been entrusted to men who have had thorough field and factory experience in Hawaii.
Unlike the other two large companies, the San Cárlos Milling company operates a _central_ pure and simple. The company owns no land except the site for the mill and the outbuildings connected with it. It has, however, acquired leases of a certain amount of railway trackage. The capacity of the mill is 1000 tons of cane per day, which means about 125 tons of centrifugal sugar. It was completed at the end of 1913 at a cost of about one million dollars, and the first cane ground was from the 1914 crop.
In the Philippines cane is not planted every year. Herbert S. Walker, in his work “The Sugar Industry in the Island of Negros” (Manila, 1910), says: “A decidedly large proportion of the total land under cultivation in Negros is not replanted every year, but is allowed to ratoon, from two to eight crops being taken off without replanting. This is especially true in the rich soils of the districts around Ilog-Cabancalan, Binalbagan-Isabela, San Cárlos and Bais. Theoretically, cane planted in some of these alluvial soils, which are flooded and fertilized each year by silt brought down from the mountains by the overflow of a river, might go on ratooning indefinitely. Practically, the period between plantings is limited strictly by financial considerations.
“Much time and expense are saved by not being obliged to replant. On the other hand, the yield from plant cane is, as a rule, greater than even from first ratoons, and with each successive ratoon crop the total amount of sugar produced per hectare of land is decidedly diminished. This is partially due to the shorter time in which the cane is allowed to ripen. Owing to excessive rains prevalent in this country, canes must be cut every year, and the practice so common in Hawaii of allowing ratoons to ripen for eighteen months or more, is here out of the question. A further obstacle, especially when canes are planted closely in rows, is the tendency of ratoons to spread out in every direction from the original plant so that in the course of a few years the cane rows lose all semblance of regularity, and proper tillage of the soil is rendered very difficult; thus many young ratoons are stunted in their growth by weeds.”
The time of planting in most parts of the islands is usually from December until April, but in Negros, where the soil is good and the rainfall well distributed, planting can be done at almost any time, except during the period of very heavy rains, _i. e._, from July to October.
The yield of sugar per acre may be approximated as follows:
Plant cane 2.5 tons First ratoons 2.0 ” Second ratoons 1.75 ” Third ratoons 1.50 ” Fourth ratoons 1.25 ”
When the yield drops as low as eight-tenths of a ton of sugar per acre, replanting is necessary, and allowing for the reduced yield of first and second ratoons, it may be reckoned that one-half of the production is from plant cane and the other half from ratoon crops.
The length of time during which the cane is allowed to remain in the ground varies from nine to fourteen months and will probably average between eleven and twelve.[47]
The labor problem is present in the Philippines as in all cane-sugar countries. The natives are willing enough to work, but shrink at the idea of leaving their homes to take employment at any considerable distance away.
Apart from the three modern factories previously mentioned, sugar-making facilities are greatly behind the times, although there are a few minor exceptions. Over one thousand small mills were in operation in the islands in 1907 and of these 528 were driven by steam, 470 by carabao (water oxen) or natives, and 77 by water power. The carabao mills, however, are rapidly disappearing. The capacity of most of these small mills is from 50 to 60 tons of cane per day, and, as the cane is only crushed once, there is a considerable loss in recovery. A little lime is added to the juice to clarify it and it is then boiled to grain in a series of five or six open pans. The general arrangement is shown by the accompanying sketch, which is taken from Herbert S. Walker’s “Sugar Industry in the Island of Negros.”
The drawing shows two sets of pans, each set being built over a separate furnace. The number 5 pan, into which the juice from the crusher flows, is connected to both sets. The furnaces are fed directly under number 1 pan, where the final boiling is done and where the greatest heat is required. The two furnaces converge when they reach the boiler, which may be fired separately, so that grinding and boiling may, if necessary, be done independently of each other. As the juice leaves the crusher through an open wooden trough, particles of cane and other matter are removed by straining through a cloth or a close-meshed wire screen. It runs into the receiving pan—number 5—and is heated to between 160 and 175 degrees Fahrenheit, which brings certain impurities to the surface in the form of froth. This is skimmed off and thrown into the scum tank; the juice is then ladled by hand as required into the smaller pans (number 4) where lime is added for clarification. Violent agitation takes place in pans numbers 3 and 2, and as fast as scum forms it is skimmed off. The clarified juices are then concentrated in pans number 2 and number 1, after which the massecuite is put into wooden trays and stirred with a spade until it granulates. It is then ready to be taken to market.
As has been pointed out, the loss in this primitive method of manufacture is very heavy. Notwithstanding the fact that all of the molasses is retained in the sugar, the amount of sucrose that is lost or wasted is 44 per cent, and over one-half of this is left in the bagasse.
Apart from centrifugals, Philippine sugars consist of the following grades: _Superior_, _Humedo_ (wet) and _Corriente_ (current). Sugars polarizing from 87 to 88.9 degrees are called Superior No. 1, those testing from 85 to 86.9 degrees, Superior No. 2, and those running from 80 to 84.9 degrees, Superior No. 3. Humedo sugars polarize from 76 to 79.9 degrees and Corriente from 70 to 75.9 degrees. Roughly speaking, the proportions are about 85 per cent of Superior of 84 degrees purity and 15 per cent of wet sugar testing somewhere near 75 degrees.
The Bureau of Agriculture of the Philippines maintains experiment stations at La Granja, near La Carlota, Occidental Negros, and at Calamba, Luzon, for the study of cane, soil analysis and the solving of fertilization problems. This work of scientific investigation is sure to be of great benefit to the industry. Some experimental work with sugar cane is also carried on at the station at Alabang, Laguna province, Luzon.
American control in the Philippines promises much for the future of the sugar industry of these islands, for when it is remembered that for many years, in spite of the handicap of crude, uneconomic methods, export duties at home and import duties abroad, sugar was made and sold at a profit in the markets of the world, it is not unreasonable to look for a considerable stimulus to be given to production by advanced scientific management and free admission of the commodity to the markets of the United States.
Quantity of sugar exported from the Philippine islands from 1895 to 1916, in tons of 2240 pounds:
1895 227,279 1896 226,279 1897 198,899 1898 177,962 1899 91,583 1900 61,752 1901 51,448 1902 90,617 1903 88,144 1904 82,656 1905 103,334 1906 122,417 1907 120,050 1908 140,197 1909 125,276 1910 114,506 1911 203,394 1912 190,702 1913 155,201 1914 232,761 1915 207,679 1916 300,000
CUBA
The island of Cuba lies between 74 degrees and 85 degrees west longitude and 19 degrees 40 minutes and 23 degrees 33 minutes north latitude; its length is about 730 miles, running nearly east and west, and its width varies from 25 to 100 miles. In area it comprises about 45,883 square miles, or 29,365,120 acres, which is approximately that of Pennsylvania or Louisiana. Habana, the capital, is almost on the same parallel as Honolulu and the City of Mexico.
With the exception of a strip of the central-southern coast, Cuba rises boldly out of the sea and presents a rugged appearance to the eye on approach. About one-quarter of its surface is mountainous; three-fifths consists of gently sloping country, valleys and rolling plains; the rest is swampy.
A variety of topographic and climatic characteristics divides the island naturally into three distinct parts. The eastern end is high and broken, with tall commanding peaks; the wide central region, lying well above sea-level, is made up of excellently drained, undulating plains, interrupted at intervals by low, wooded hills; the western portion is a picturesque country of mountain and valley, but of lower altitude than the eastern end. The entire island is covered with a mantle of luxuriant verdure, kept always green by warm mists and generous rains.
A coral reef extends around the greater part of the coast, but between the forbidding rocks and the marshes there are a number of good harbors, chiefest among which is that of Habana, one of the finest in the world. The distance from Cuba to Key West, Florida, is one hundred miles. The census of 1908 placed the population at 2,048,890.
The prevailing winds are the northeast trades, but these are interrupted at frequent intervals by variable winds from other directions which bring changes in temperature and rainfall. Compared with those of Hawaii, the mountains are low, usually not over 2000 feet, and do not produce the effect of a wet side and a dry side to the island, as the trades sweep it from end to end and not transversely. To give an idea of climatic conditions, the average maximum temperature in Habana in 1914 was 90 degrees Fahrenheit, the minimum 53 degrees and the mean average 77 degrees. The total rainfall was 46.15 inches. Seventy-five per cent of the rain occurs in the summer months, between the first of May and the first of October, and the precipitation is greater in the eastern part of the island than in the western. The winters are comparatively dry. This combination of dry winters and wet summers is extremely favorable to the growing and harvesting of sugar cane.
The low plains along the coast are of coral formation and the soil overlying the coral is often found to be shallow. The richest and most productive soil is that of the uplands some distance from the sea. In Cuba the soils may be said to consist of two kinds—the red and the black. The red is generally of great depth, from 30 to 50 feet, and rests on a stratum of free limestone. The black soil, varying in color from a mulatto to a “gumbo” black, overlies a clay formation, and as a general rule is not so deep as the red soil. Owing to the fact that the black soil retains such a large percentage of water during the extremely rainy period, the cost of cultivation is double that of working the red soil.
The date of the introduction of sugar into Cuba is uncertain. Different authorities place it anywhere from shortly after the discovery of the island in 1492 to 1580. Von Humboldt is silent on the point, but says that Cuba did not participate in the sugar industry to any extent in the sixteenth century, so that its importance in that respect belongs to a later period.[48] Up to 1772 sugar cultivation was greatly hampered by restrictions of the Spanish government; after that date special privileges were canceled and the right to grow sugar was given to all Spaniards. This naturally encouraged production, which from 4390 tons in 1760 increased to 14,000 tons in 1790. The revolution which destroyed the sugar plantations and mills of Santo Domingo in 1791 stimulated the development in Cuba still further. During the ten years that followed, the number of mills increased from 473 to 870, and by 1802 the output of sugar reached 40,800 tons. In those days mills were very small, crude affairs and were worked by oxen.
Cuba, in common with all sugar-raising countries, felt the effects of the European wars very severely, but her sugar trade revived after the overthrow of Napoleon and the resumption of commerce through normal channels.
With increased production the question of labor became a serious one. The number of slaves on the island had been sufficient as long as the sugar crop was limited, but with expansion came the need for more African negroes, so in 1834 the governor, Miguél Tacon, caused many new slaves to be brought in. He did much to help the industry in other directions, particularly by suppressing abuses, and under his administration the planters enjoyed prosperity such as had never been known. Fresh lands were brought under cultivation and the shipping ports grew in importance and activity.
While figures showing the annual production of Cuba were tabulated, beginning with 1850, their accuracy was open to question until 1882, in which year an export duty was imposed, and the records kept by the authorities from that time forward are reasonably correct. Nevertheless, it is known beyond any doubt that 610,000 tons were produced in 1870 from 1200 small mills.
The first war with Spain (1868-78) and the abolition of slavery worked havoc with the industry. All children born of slaves were proclaimed free in 1872 and slavery was entirely abolished in 1880, without any indemnification to the slave owners. Sugar producers found freeman labor both costly and hard to obtain, the island was ravaged by fire and sword, and in the markets of the world beet-root sugar, protected by bounties, was proving a powerful competitor. These were dark days for the planter.
With the restoration of peace, conditions improved. By 1890, 470 mills were in operation and their production in that year was 625,000 tons. In Cuba a change in methods came about, just as had been the case in Louisiana; the cultivation of sugar was gradually dissociated from its manufacture, and as mills became fewer in number, plantings increased. The manufacturers leased tracts of land to farmers, from whom they bought the cane raised on it. Independent planters, too, sold their cane to the central mills, and the plan was adopted so generally throughout the island that but little cane was grown by the owners of the centrals. During this period of peace and development, the tonnage mounted steadily upward and in 1894 it totaled 1,054,214 tons.
The following year saw the renewal of hostilities with Spain, which dragged along with brutality and devastation until May, 1898, when the United States declared war against Spain and finally established the Cuban republic. The period of this second rebellion against Spain was marked by ruthless destruction of property, the burning of mills and cane in the fields, and the killing of the cattle that were used for transport purposes. In 1897 the output of sugar had shrunk to 212,051 tons. The work of reconstruction after the expulsion of the Spaniards was slow, involving as it did a tremendous amount of effort and the investment of a great deal of new capital. Manufacturers who were unable to raise money to rebuild or re-equip their mills turned planters and grew cane for the nearest centrals. Some, more fortunate, succeeded in securing the money they needed and restored and extended their property. Far the greatest number, however, being unable to command the ready cash for immediately necessary repairs, incorporated or sold their holdings outright to newcomers. The many small, old-fashioned mills have given way to a limited number of large plants, or centrals, that are under corporate ownership and governed by scientific business principles. This process of consolidating several small factories into one big one is constantly going on, and in addition American capital and enterprise are opening up new lands to cultivation in many parts of the island. To a great extent the old-time planter has had to make room for the corporation, with its powerful resources and modern methods, and while the individual has suffered in many instances, the industry has greatly benefited.
Cuban plantations may be divided into two classes, the ingenios and the centrals. The ingenio is a small plantation whose lands lie in the neighborhood of the mill, while the central, in addition to its own cane, handles the crops of a number of ingenios. The ingenio hauls all of its cane to the factory by ox-carts; the central is served by railroads, both privately and publicly owned, and its equipment and machinery are of the most modern type.
Approximately 90 per cent of the cane grown in Cuba comes from what are termed _colonias_, _i. e._, farms varying in size from a few acres up to several hundred.
_Colonos_, or farmers, may be classified in three groups: in the first is the man with his small _estancia_, or farm, on which he raises foodstuffs and cattle, and who takes his few hundred _arrobas_[49] of cane to the central when the price is good, or feeds it to his animals when the pasturage is short. In this class, too, is the man who has a hundred or two hundred _caballerías_[50] of land, but whose chief interests are in other channels and whose operations in cane growing are merely an adjunct to his regular business.
In the second group is the independent farmer, who owns his land and cane and sells his crop to whom he pleases.
The third and most numerous group comprises those who plant cane on lands belonging to the central. These people either pay rent, or receive a certain fixed amount for their cane, or both. Their work is at all times subject to inspection by the central administration and under such circumstances they may be likened to contractors or employés, whose compensation is based upon the success of their own efforts.
The average size of a colonia, exclusive of those owned by colonos of the first-mentioned class, who are independent of cane growing, doubtless depends upon what would afford a man a decent living with a few luxuries. H. C. Prinsen Geerligs, in his book “The World’s Cane Sugar Industry,” states that one hundred arrobas (2500 pounds) of cane costs the Cuban farmer $2.07 at the mill. If 2½ cents be taken as an average price for sugar and $900 per annum as a fair living wage, then the colono who gets an average yield of 50,000 arrobas per caballería and is paid for it at the rate of 5 per cent, receives $1560 per caballería for cane that has cost him $1035 to produce. According to this reasoning, a colonia should not be less than 1.75 caballerías in size, but of course this is purely speculative.
The farmer who owns his land is paid about six per cent[51] of the weight of the cane he furnishes in centrifugal sugar of 96 degrees, sacked and ready for shipment, and occasionally delivered at the nearest shipping port. Sometimes settlement is made in cash, based upon the value of the agreed percentage of sugar at the Habana quotation on the day the cane is delivered. In other words, for every one hundred pounds of clean cane in bundles, delivered on board the cars, the plantation pays the grower about six per cent of 96-degree centrifugal sugar, or its equivalent in money.[52]
Where the land is furnished by the plantation, the farmer is paid from four to five per cent of the weight of the cane in sugar. He is given a house free of rent and an acre or two of garden land as well. All material, labor or stores supplied to him are debited to him to be accounted for when final settlement is effected.
Planting cane in Cuba is a simple matter. In preparing virgin forest land for seed, no ploughing whatever is done; the trees and shrubs are cut down and allowed to dry, the valuable timber is carried away, and the remainder is burned. When this is done the land is found to be smooth and level, as a rule. Planting consists in making holes in the ground with a heavy pole shod with iron that is driven obliquely into the earth at regular intervals, the seed is then dropped in these holes and covered with earth, completing the operation. Grassy ground, however, must be ploughed, in which case furrows are made six feet apart. The seed cane is planted in them at intervals of from six inches to twelve inches, covered with earth and left to grow. There are the spring plantings and the autumn plantings, the first from April to June and the second in October and November, that is to say, one at the beginning and one at the end of the rainy season. In the case of the former, if the rains come soon after planting, the cane can be cut in the following March or April, _i. e._, after a growing period from nine to twelve months. If, however, the rains are late the cane cannot mature before the advent of the new rains and therefore cannot be ground until the following December. Cane planted in the fall ripens in December of the next year or sometimes a month later.[53]
Notwithstanding the little care given to the planting, the cane once started yields a generous crop, which is followed by profitable ratoon crops for a number of years without fertilization or a great amount of tillage. Finally, when through age the cane ceases to produce a paying crop of ratoons, the old roots are taken up,[54] and the same soil reseeded brings forth excellent results for another period of years without any rotation of crops being necessary. Not more than ten per cent[55] of the total area of Cuba is devoted to the growing of cane. In addition to the ground on which cane is actually planted, large tracts are needed as pasture for draft cattle. Besides, there is much forest land and many barren spaces that are undoubtedly included in the acreage classified as being under cane cultivation. According to Dr. W. D. Horne,[56] the average yield is from fifteen to twenty tons of cane per acre[57] and the crops are usually allowed to ratoon for ten years.
In Cuba, cane diseases are of rare occurrence, but in dry years swarms of mice invade the fields and cause great damage by gnawing the cane. They rapidly disappear, however, as soon as the wet season sets in. It is the weather that brings success or failure to the sugar crop, for the growth of the cane is entirely dependent upon rainfall and a long period of drought is extremely hurtful. Hurricanes that sweep in from the Caribbean sea work havoc in the plantations, beating the cane flat to the ground or uprooting it altogether, which results in heavy damage both to the growing crop and the one following it.
Harvesting is generally begun in December and over in May, although one or two centrals continue in operation practically all the year round. Weather conditions determine when the grinding starts and ends, for, as a rule, the cane has to be hauled from the fields to the weighing station in huge carts drawn by oxen. When the roads are dry, three pairs of oxen can pull a load of 7500 pounds of cane with ease, but as soon as the heavy rains set in the ground quickly softens, the roads become impassable and the movement of cane by carts is out of the question.
The cane is cut close to the ground with a long, heavy knife, called a _machete_. It is “topped,” cut into two- or three-foot lengths, tied in bundles and loaded on the ox carts to be hauled to the scales and thence by rail to the mill. The stumps that remain in the ground are covered over with dry leaves to conserve the moisture in them. Nourished by occasional showers, the roots quickly sprout and a year afterward a crop of ratoons is ripe and ready to be harvested.
Wages in Cuba are higher than in most important cane-producing countries in the tropics, and Dr. V. S. Clark quotes a number of authorities to show that inefficiency makes Cuban labor costs in most lines of work relatively higher than in the United States and other countries on the American continent, although he says that American supervision has in some instances increased efficiency greatly.[58] (Bureau of Labor, Bull. [L. of C.] 41, pp. 712, 778.)
Complete, reliable and up-to-date information and statistics concerning Cuba’s sugar industry are not obtainable at the moment, nevertheless it is well known that the Cuban plantations and mills that are operated by modern scientific methods can produce sugar at lower costs than Germany or any of the beet-raising countries, while as regards cane-growing countries, Java is the only possible rival. And yet, despite the optimistic views of Cuba’s supporters, the fact remains that the full development of her resources is still a matter of uncertainty, though the possibilities for expansion are enormous, provided that certain obstacles, notably the labor problem, can be overcome. At the present time it is doubtful whether the production of sugar could be largely increased, chiefly because of the growing difficulty of securing adequate help in the fields.
During the season ending midsummer, 1915, Cuba’s output of sugar was 2,592,667 long tons, the largest crop raised in any country in the world, and the vast amount of cane from which it was manufactured was ground by 176 central factories. It is estimated that the production for 1916 will reach 3,000,000 tons.
When it comes to the marketing of her sugar the United States is Cuba’s best customer, only a comparatively small amount being taken by Europe.[59] The 20-per-cent preferential allowed on Cuban sugar duty under the reciprocity treaty, however, does not always go to the Cuban manufacturer. The real beneficiary is the consumer in the United States, for this reason: when the grinding of the Cuban crop is in full swing, the weekly production of raw sugar is approximately 150,000 tons, which speedily exhausts the available storage capacity of the island, so that movement of the sugar is imperative; besides this, the natural anxiety of the planter to realize in order to meet his current expenses causes a strong pressure to sell. It becomes with him a question of whether he can net better figures in New York or the United Kingdom, and owing to difference in port charges and dispatch, the New York results are generally more satisfactory, even with the concession of a part, or at times all of, or even more than, the 20-per-cent preferential. Inversely, it follows that when raw sugars are in keen demand, the planter pursues his advantage to the limit.
The total production of sugar in Cuba from 1850 to the present year is as follows, but the figures prior to 1882 are not entirely dependable, as has been previously explained:
YEAR TONS
1850 223,145 1851 263,999 1852 251,609 1853 322,000 1854 374,000 1855 392,000 1856 348,000 1857 355,000 1858 385,000 1859 536,000 1860 447,000 1861 446,000 1862 525,000 1863 507,000 1864 575,000 1865 620,000 1866 612,000 1867 597,000 1868 749,000[60] 1869 726,000[60] 1870 726,000[60] 1871 547,000[61] 1872 690,000[60] 1873 775,000[60] 1874 681,000[60] 1875 718,000[60] 1876 590,000[60] 1877 520,000[60] 1878 533,000[60] 1879 670,000 1880 530,000 1881 493,000 1882 595,000 1883 460,327[62] 1884 558,932 1885 631,000 1886 731,723 1887 646,578 1888 656,719 1889 560,333 1890 632,368 1891 816,980 1892 976,000 1893 815,894 1894 1,054,214 1895 1,004,264 1896 225,221[63] 1897 212,051[63] 1898 305,543[63] 1899 335,668 1900 283,651[64] 1901 612,775 1902 863,792 1903 1,003,873 1904 1,052,273 1905 1,183,347 1906 1,229,736 1907 1,444,310[65] 1908 969,275[66] 1909 1,521,818 1910 1,804,349 1911 1,483,451 1912 1,895,984 1913 2,428,537 1914 2,597,732 1915 2,592,667 1916 3,000,000[67]
JAMAICA
Jamaica lies 80 miles south of the eastern end of Cuba, between 17 degrees 43 minutes and 18 degrees 32 minutes north latitude and 76 degrees 10 minutes and 78 degrees 20 minutes west longitude. It is 144 miles long and 50 miles across at its widest part, with a total area of 4207 square miles.
The island is traversed from east to west by a mountain range from which a number of spurs run out to the northwest or southeast. This range is more sharply defined in the eastern end, where the highest point is Blue Mountain Peak, 7360 feet above sea-level. The mountains gradually slope westward down to the hills of the western plateau, which is of limestone formation and comprises two-thirds of the island’s surface. As a rule the highlands terminate abruptly in steep bluffs, a strip of level land lying between them and the sea. On the south coast there are extensive plains. Fully one hundred rivers and streams empty themselves into the Caribbean, but the greater number of them are not navigable and in flood time they become raging torrents. In 1911 the population, of whom only 2 per cent are white, was estimated at 831,123. It is made up of Maroons, descendants of the slaves of the Spanish; descendants of African negro slaves; a mixture of British and negro; laborers from India; a sprinkling of Chinese, and the white settlers.
On the coast the climate is hot and humid, but at the higher elevations it is mild and delightful. The temperature at Kingston and the low sea-level region generally ranges between 70.7 degrees and 87.8 degrees Fahrenheit. At Cinchona, which is 4907 feet high, it runs from 57.5 degrees to 68.5 degrees. With rare exceptions, rain falls during every month in the year, and there are two wet seasons, each of about three weeks duration, one in May and one in October. The amount varies considerably; the yearly average for Kingston is 32.6 inches, for Cinchona 105.5 inches and for the entire island 66.3 inches. Hurricanes, which were of frequent occurrence during the early part of last century, have not visited the island so often of late years. Earthquakes take place from time to time, that of 1907 having been particularly violent and destructive.
Transportation facilities are excellent, the roads are good and a railway 180 miles long connects Port Antonio, Kingston and Montego bay.
Jamaica was discovered by Columbus on May 3, 1494, and was called Santiago by him, but this never supplanted the original Indian name Jaymaca, “the island of springs,” modified into its present form, Jamaica. Columbus put in at the island for shelter in 1505, and four years later his son Diego sent out Don Juan d’Esquivel to take possession of it in the name of the Spanish crown. Sant’ Iago de la Vega, now Spanish Town, founded in 1523, was destroyed by the British in 1596 and was rebuilt after their departure. The British raided the island again in 1635, and twenty years later they occupied it permanently, expelling the Spaniards entirely by 1658. During the three years that followed, Jamaica was under military rule and then a constitution modeled upon that of the mother country was established.
About this time the island became a rendezvous for the buccaneers. These gentry quite often combined the roles of merchants or planters and pirates or sea-rovers. In 1670 the treaty of Madrid confirmed the British in their possession of the island and the buccaneers were suppressed. Jamaica then became a great slave market, and the growing of sugar cane and the manufacture of sugar on an extensive scale were begun. Civil disturbances retarded the progress of the colony until 1728. The town of Port Royal was destroyed by a great earthquake in 1692, while in 1712 and 1722 hurricanes of extreme violence carried destruction throughout the island.
When the Dutch were driven from Brazil by the Portuguese in 1655 many of them settled in Jamaica, Barbados and other West Indian islands. They brought their slaves with them, and, besides, they had a good knowledge of sugar and the necessary capital, so that the industry entered a new phase of development after their arrival. The keenest competitors of the British islands were the French sugar producers of Saint Dominique, Guadeloupe and Martinique, as they were more skilled in manufacturing methods and made sugar at a lower cost. A heavy export tax affected the sugar trade of Jamaica and her sister colonies adversely. The refining of sugar was prohibited and heavy import duties placed upon sugar and syrup entering British North American possessions closed that market to the Jamaican product. Notwithstanding these drawbacks the industry continued to grow and in 1791 the destruction of the plantations of Saint Dominique removed a formidable rival.
Since the passage of the emancipation act in 1834 and the granting of £16,500,000 as partial indemnity to the planters for the loss of their slaves, there has been persistent agitation by the planters, both in Parliament and outside of it. It became very loud when the protection afforded West Indian sugars as against sugars raised in slave-owning countries was lessened and finally withdrawn. It subsided somewhat with the abolition of slavery in the colonies of other European nations, and it was renewed with added vigor when the competition of bounty-nourished beet-root sugar manufactured on the continent of Europe made itself felt. As has been shown, bounties and cartels enabled the European beet-sugar manufacturers to sell their product in foreign markets below actual cost, while realizing a handsome profit in the quantity sold for home consumption. Jamaica and the other cane-producing colonies which had no domestic trade to fall back upon found themselves in a grievous plight.
By 1895 matters had reached such a pass that a royal commission was appointed to make a thorough investigation of conditions and report to the home government. The main features of the remedial measures adopted as a result of the work of this body were:
First: The establishing of the farmers as owners of land, that is to say, parcels of land were sold to small farmers, who were assisted by money advances in the cultivation of their crops, with the understanding that they were to grow cane at their own risk and sell it to the mills.
Second: Planters were encouraged to raise crops other than sugar.
Third: Agricultural experiment stations were built and equipped in Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica with sub-stations in a number of the smaller islands.
Fourth: A direct steamship service to Canada was established. The service between Jamaica and England was improved and regular steamer communication between the islands was provided.
It was stipulated that the cost of building and maintaining the experiment stations was to be borne by the home government until the results obtained justified their being supported by the colonies. In addition, a grant of money was authorized by Parliament to take care of the pressing needs of the planters during the year before the Brussels convention became effective.
With improved steamship facilities between Jamaica and the mother country, the volume of the trade in fresh fruit was greatly increased.
In 1907 the value of the fruit shipments in pounds sterling was as follows:
Bananas £842,689 Citrus fruits 90,468
as against
Sugar 122,328 Rum 98,923
On January 14, 1907, an appalling earthquake occurred. The buildings in Kingston and Port Royal were destroyed or badly damaged and about one thousand people were killed.
In 1906 the area under cultivation in Jamaica was 750,000 acres and of this only 26,000 were devoted to cane. Sugar planting has been in a stagnant condition for years and only a limited number of the estates that still carry on the industry are making money. Many have stopped growing cane entirely and have turned to bananas, cocoanuts, coffee or cattle raising. In certain districts there is plenty of fertile alluvial land, ample water and cheap labor, but proper cultivation is lacking, so that the results are far from what they should be. Planting simply consists of sticking a piece of cane stalk in a hole in the ground and very little ploughing is done, consequently the weeds are never under control. It takes about twelve months for the cane to ripen and the yield per acre varies widely, ranging from ten to forty-five tons. The average may be taken as about twenty tons per acre.
The island boasts of three central factories and eighty-two small mills, only twelve of the latter having vacuum pans. The others make muscavado sugar and rum. In the operation of boiling by no means all of the sugar is extracted, as a pure liquor is needed for the manufacture of good rum and quite a large amount of cane juice is made into rum direct.
In the process of making muscavado sugar in Jamaica, the cane juice after being brought to boiling point in an open kettle is transferred into a second kettle, where it is treated and the heavy impurities allowed to settle. The clear juice then goes into copper walls, a series of three or more large open copper pans, called teaches. These pans rest above an open fire fed by bagasse, cane trash and wood. After the juice has been boiled to a certain density in the first pan it is transferred to the second and the final concentration takes place in the third or fourth, as the case may be. In some mills the last boiling is done with steam in what is called an Aspinall pan, instead of over an open fire. When the mass becomes sufficiently thick, it is put into large tanks and left to crystallize. Sometimes it is kept in motion during crystallization, but usually no stirring whatever is done. Crystallization completed, the mass is packed in hogsheads with perforated bottoms. These hogsheads are allowed to stand over drainage troughs for two or three weeks so that the molasses may run off. The holes are then plugged up and the sugar is ready to be shipped.
The percentage of sugar, glucose and water in Jamaica muscavados is approximately:
No. 1 Sucrose 88.6 Glucose 5.30 Water 3.42 2 86.2 4.40 3.72 3 83.9 5.92 4.66 4 83.0 6.98 3.84
Management is slipshod and the extraction is poor. It takes fifteen tons of cane and sometimes more to produce a ton of sugar.
As for the future of the sugar industry in Jamaica, much in the way of improvement could be done by the introduction of systematic management, proper cultivation, adequate fertilization and scientific methods of manufacture. Labor is plentiful and cheap, and it would seem that sugar could be produced in Jamaica at as low cost as in Cuba. Thus far, however, there have been no signs of a real awakening.
As regards production, the following figures are taken from Willett & Gray:
1903-04 crop 14,255 tons 1904-05 ” 16,000 ” 1905-06 ” 18,000 ” 1906-07 exports 13,971 ” 1907-08 ” 10,718 ” 1908-09 ” 11,453 ” 1909-10 ” 12,000 ” 1910-11 ” 19,960 ” 1911-12 ” 21,835 ” 1912-13 ” 8,728 ” 1913-14 ” 15,583 ” 1914-15 ” 15,063 ” 1915-16 ” 15,000[68] tons
BARBADOS
Barbados, the most easterly of the Windward islands, lies seventy-eight miles east of St. Vincent in 13 degrees 4 minutes north latitude and 59 degrees 37 minutes west longitude. It is twenty-one miles long, fourteen and one-half miles at its greatest breadth and its area is 166 square miles. It is of coral origin and at certain points the coral reefs extend out to sea as far as three miles and are a menace to navigation. The island is low and flat, except in the central and northeastern part. Mount Hillaby, the highest peak, rises 1148 feet above sea-level and from it the land slopes in terraces in every direction. Carlisle bay on the southwest is a natural harbor, but only available for vessels of light draft. Barbados is densely populated. In 1906 the number of inhabitants was 196,287, of whom by far the greater number were negroes, who, in proportion to the whites, are as nine to one.
The climate is agreeable, with well-defined wet and dry seasons, and for eight months in the year the heat is modified by the northeast trade winds. The dry, or cold, period is from December to May. The temperature ranges from 70 degrees to 86 degrees Fahrenheit, seldom falling below 65. There is a plentiful rainfall, the annual average being sixty inches, and September is the wettest month. Moisture readily penetrates the coral subsoil and collects in subterranean reservoirs. Porous soil, thorough cultivation and the absence of swamps give miasma no opportunity and fever is unknown, but hurricanes are the scourge of the colony. The soil is thin, but extremely fertile, and there is a theory that it was originally formed of volcanic ash, carried by the winds from St. Vincent during times when La Soufrière was in eruption.
It is said that the Portuguese were the first Europeans to visit the island; be this as it may, they never took possession of it. A British ship touched there in 1605, and, finding no inhabitants, annexed it in the name of King James I. Since that time British ownership has continued without interruption. An actual settlement was established in 1625, in which year the king made a grant of the island to Lord Leigh, afterward the Earl of Marlborough. Bridgetown, the present capital, was founded in 1628.
Barbados was the first of Great Britain’s island colonies to grow sugar cane. The plant was brought there in 1642 during Philip Bell’s governorship, and slaves were imported at the same time. A number of Dutch who were expelled from Brazil in 1655 took refuge in the island, and their knowledge of sugar and experience in its manufacture did much to stimulate the industry. Beginning with the middle of the seventeenth century, Barbados became an important sugar-producing center.
Following emancipation in 1834, the Barbados planters received £1,720,000 to indemnify them for the loss of over 83,000 slaves. At the same time a large number of the freed blacks continued to work on the sugar plantations as before, but under pay; hence abolition did not bring on the same hardships in Barbados as it did in some of the other West Indian colonies.
Labor is plentiful and cheap, so that cultivation is done carefully and in a thorough manner. The naturally rich soil is treated with fertilizers of various kinds, and planting is done every year as a rule, although ratoon crops are often raised on the uplands. Formerly Bourbon cane was grown exclusively, but owing to the falling off in the yield, it was discontinued and the varieties now in favor are White Transparent and seedling canes raised locally. The crops suffer from time to time through hurricanes and droughts, as well as from the common run of cane diseases. Of the entire area of 106,470 acres, about 100,000 acres are cultivated; between 60,000 and 70,000 acres of this are in sugar cane.
In 1902 there were 440 estates on the island, the average area being 168 acres. Of these, 23 exceeded 500 acres and 139 contained less than 100 acres; 19, comprising 6707 acres, were owned by corporations. Each estate had its own mill, and 432 of them made muscavado and eight of them centrifugal sugar. Today the number of factories is estimated at 335, of which 221 are driven by windmills. A few plants are equipped with vacuum pans and modern machinery, but muscavado sugar and molasses still represent nearly all of the production. The molasses obtained in the open-kettle process has a higher value and finds a much readier sale than that resulting from boiling in vacuum pans. Therefore in making comparisons between the yield in sugar from the open-kettle process with that from the vacuum-pan method, the increased price brought by the rich-flavored molasses made in the old-fashioned way must be taken into account.
On an average, the sugar content of the cane is 13.5 per cent and the recovery is about 7.5 per cent muscavado sugar and 3.5 per cent molasses. It is evident that imperfect crushing and crude manufacturing methods cause a considerable loss in sugar on most of the estates.
In 1898 the Imperial Department of Agriculture established its chief West Indian station in Barbados. This station has rendered great service to the planters in improving cane varieties, giving expert advice concerning fertilizing and fighting cane pests.
Undoubtedly much could still be done to better conditions, but the small estates are generally mortgaged and their owners are in no position to borrow more money to enable them to operate on a more extended scale. On the other hand, they are extremely tenacious of their holdings and will not part with them to capitalists who might establish large central factories. It therefore seems altogether improbable that there will be any expansion in the sugar industry of the colony in the near future.
The production of Barbados during the last twenty years in long tons has been as follows:
1895 33,331 1896 45,170 1897 51,275 1898 46,878 1899 40,442 1900 44,250 1901 56,912 1902 45,576 1903 33,795 1904 55,785 1905 41,210 1906 50,630 1907 33,033 1908 31,353 1909 15,571 1910 36,389 1911 32,514 1912 exports 30,548 1913 ” 11,479 1914 ” 33,387 1915 ” 32,578 1916 ” 50,000[69]
TRINIDAD
Trinidad lies six miles off the northeastern coast of Venezuela, between 10 degrees 3 minutes and 10 degrees 50 minutes north latitude and 60 degrees 39 minutes and 62 degrees west longitude. Its average length is forty-eight miles, it is thirty-five miles in width and has an area of 1754 square miles. It is the largest of the British West Indian islands, with the exception of Jamaica, and the population in 1914 was estimated to be 255,148, one-third of whom were East Indians.
The surface is level or rolling, with a mountain range in the north, which rises to 3100 feet at its highest point, Tucuche Peak. In the south there is a ridge of hills about 600 feet high, and in the central part an upland belt runs from east to west by south. There are a number of small rivers, none of them navigable.
The island enjoys an equable climate, the temperature varying from 70 degrees to 87 degrees Fahrenheit, the mean being 78.6 degrees. The seasons are regular, rainy from May to January, with a four weeks’ interval of fine weather in October, and dry from the end of January until May. The average rainfall is 66.26 inches, but in the cane-growing region it is about 80 inches. Hurricanes, earthquakes and long spells of drought are unknown.
Christopher Columbus discovered Trinidad in 1496 and the Spaniards occupied it ninety years later. It remained in their hands until 1797, when it was taken by the British, to whom it was formally ceded in 1802.
As was the case in other West Indian islands, the aborigines were quickly exterminated by the Spanish conquerors and their places filled with negro slaves. A number of French and Creole settlers came to Trinidad in 1780, and about the middle of the following century Portuguese refugees from Madeira joined the colony. After the abolition of slavery by Great Britain in 1834, many Hindus were brought in under contract.
The soil of the island is very rich and well adapted to the growing of sugar cane and other tropical products. The sugar plantations are found in the level country bordering on the Gulf of Paria, where the soil is a dark clay, and which has been described as one of the finest stretches of sugar land in the West Indies.
As a result of the financial distress of 1895, which caused the home government to pass relief measures, a number of plantation owners were compelled to dispose of a portion of their land to farmers, who grew cane upon it and sold the crop to the sugar factories. It is estimated that today about twenty-five per cent of the cane worked up by the factories is furnished by these small growers, the remainder being raised by the owners of the estates. Grinding begins in January and is finished in May or June.
Trinidad has its own agricultural station, which is chiefly devoted to the study of sugar-cane culture. It has been of great service to the industry in determining the kinds of cane that can be most profitably grown, in fighting cane diseases and pests and in working out fertilization problems.
From 1855 to 1887 an average crop of 59,774 tons was turned out by ninety estates. Of this total, 28,500 tons were vacuum-pan sugar and the rest muscavado. In 1896, 62,975 tons of sugar were made by thirty-nine estates. Seven of these made 2000 tons of common muscavado, six made 5500 tons of centrifugal muscavado, and the remaining twenty-six made vacuum-pan sugar. A report made in that year concerning sugar estates in Trinidad sets forth that advantage has been taken of the most modern improvements in boilers, furnaces, multiple evaporators, crushing mills and other machinery. Trinidad produces a large amount of what are known as “yellow crystals,” which are sold in the British market for direct consumption and command a premium over the ordinary raw sugar.
Statistics compiled in 1909 show that the colony then had sixteen sugar factories, which turned out 52,972 tons of sugar, and the recovery represented 8.74 per cent of the weight of the cane; 451,801 tons of this cane were grown by the estates and 154,663 tons by the small farmers. There were 11,401 of the latter, 6077 of whom were East Indians and 5324 West Indians. Trinidad is the only West Indian colony where the attempt to fill the places of negro laborers with coolies from India has been successful. The production of sugar since 1900 has been as follows:
1900 41,269 tons 1901 51,077 ” 1902 44,913 ” 1903 46,029 ” 1904 50,744 ” 1905 38,240 ” 1906 62,975 ” 1907 50,564 ” 1908 48,933 ” 1909 52,972 ” 1910 exports 44,139 ” 1911 ” 37,282 ” 1912 ” 32,557 ” 1913 ” 31,665 ” 1914 ” 47,251 ” 1915 ” 49,107 ” 1916 ” 55,000 ”[70]
SANTO DOMINGO
Haiti is divided into two unequal parts, the republic of Haiti (République d’Haiti), comprising 10,204 square miles, and the republic of Santo Domingo (República Dominicana), with an area of 19,325 square miles. It is one of the four large islands of the West Indies and lies between 17 degrees 37 minutes and 20 degrees north latitude and 68 degrees 20 minutes and 74 degrees 28 minutes west longitude. Its length from east to west is about 407 miles and its greatest width is 160 miles. The total population is 2,737,700.
The surface of the island is exceedingly mountainous, three distinct ranges traversing it from east to west. The loftiest peak, Loma Tina, near the city of Santo Domingo, reaches a height of 10,300 feet. The extensive intervening valleys are fertile and watered by numerous rivers, none of which, however, are deep enough to be navigable.
The climate is hot and humid. An average temperature for the month of January would be about 75.4 degrees Fahrenheit, for July 84 degrees, and for the year 79.2 degrees. There are no active volcanoes, but great damage is done from time to time by earthquakes and hurricanes. The yearly rainfall is abundant, averaging about 120 inches. In San Pedro de Macoris, however, where the greater part of the sugar crop of the island is grown, the annual precipitation is in the neighborhood of 60 inches. As this is not sufficient for the needs of the growing cane, the planters have to do a certain amount of irrigating, and the water for this purpose is obtained from artesian wells.
The soil of the sugar-growing territory is of porous limestone formation, which shows evidence of disturbances and upheavals due to volcanic agency. Overlying this is a deposit of decomposed vegetable matter from three to twelve inches in thickness, and there are areas where a rich black or red soil, varying from one to two feet in depth, is found.
On December 5, 1492, Columbus sighted the northern coast of Haiti and found safe anchorage there. The newly discovered island was named Española, which was afterward latinized to Hispaniola. Later still, the settlement founded by the Spaniards in the southern part under the name of Santo Domingo gave its name to the entire island. When Columbus set foot on its shores, Haiti had 2,000,000 inhabitants, who were governed by five caciques, each holding both religious and political sway over the separate kingdoms. At the outset the newcomers were received with welcome and honor, but it was not long before their tyranny caused a rupture between them and the natives. A war of extermination followed, and by 1506 the entire island had fallen into the hands of the invaders.
Left in possession of a depopulated country, the Spaniards restocked it with African negro slaves. Meanwhile the interior of the island had been explored, settlements had been established, mines opened up and progress made in agriculture. In 1506 sugar was brought in and its cultivation soon assumed important proportions. About 1625 the French and English began to give trouble to Spain in the western archipelago, and a few years later a number of Englishmen and Frenchmen, who had been expelled from St. Kitts by the Spaniards, took refuge on Tortuga island and became famous under the name of Buccaneers. They succeeded in establishing themselves in a part of Haiti, and in 1697 their right of possession was acknowledged and the territory occupied by them was ceded by Spain to France by the treaty of Ryswick. The new colony was called Saint Dominique, and it entered immediately into an era of prosperity in which the expansion of the sugar industry was the principal factor. When the French revolution broke out, the exportations of sugar amounted to 80,000 tons, and this large production necessitated the employment of a great number of slaves. The whites were few and the unequal proportion led to disaster. The population consisted of whites, free colored people (most of whom were mulattoes) and negro slaves. The mulattoes demanded the same civil rights as the white people and these privileges were accorded them in 1791. Incensed beyond measure, the whites clamored loudly for a reversal of this decree and finally obtained it. On August 23, 1791, a violent insurrection of the blacks broke out; the plantation slaves were joined by the mulattoes and a massacre of the whites followed. Those who escaped the slaughter fled, leaving all their possessions behind; the sugar plantations were destroyed and the entire sugar industry came to an abrupt end.
In 1793 Saint Dominique was attacked by England and Spain, whereupon the French government, in order to conciliate the blacks and retain its dominion over the colony, proclaimed all the slaves free. By the terms of the Peace of Bâle in 1795, the whole island passed into the hands of the French.
Toussaint Louverture, a negro of marked military ability, was appointed commander-in-chief by the directory, and by 1801 he succeeded in restoring order. Unfortunately, the measures that he endeavored to put into effect aroused the suspicions of Napoleon, who sent out an army to subdue him and to restore slavery. This expedition met with such determined resistance that the commander, General Leclerc, opened negotiations and Toussaint was induced by solemn promises to lay down his arms. He was treacherously seized and taken to France, where he died in 1803. The blacks immediately renewed hostilities under Jean Jacques Dessalines, and in November, 1803, the French withdrew completely. In the following year the independence of the island was declared and its ancient name of Haiti was restored. Dessalines was first made governor for life and in October, 1804, he proclaimed himself emperor. He was assassinated in 1806. From that time to the present the country has been in a state of turmoil and the end is not yet. In 1844 the people of the eastern end of the island seceded and formed the republic of Santo Domingo. Ever since then there have been two distinct governments in the island, with the strongest political antipathy existing between them.
But little sugar cane is raised in Haiti, and the most of this small quantity is either consumed as cane or made into a beverage called _tafia_.
The sugar plantations of Santo Domingo are found on the southern coast, in the level stretches of Arua and Romana, in the valleys near the city of Santo Domingo and in the region near San Pedro de Macoris. No sugar is grown in the interior. While most of the factories are land owners and cultivate cane, they do not grow all that they grind. A good deal is raised by colonos under the following conditions: The factories assign parcels of land to the colonos rent-free and in addition allow them the use of draft cattle and farming implements. When necessary a certain amount of actual cash is advanced. The colonos plant and till the land, furnish their own labor and deliver the cane at the point where it is loaded on the railway cars. The field hands are either natives or negroes brought from nearby islands, and their pay ranges from 50 to 75 cents gold per day.
The ground is tilled in an indifferent fashion and no fertilizing whatever is done. When virgin soil is planted, the seed is put in at seven-foot intervals, sometimes greater, without any holes or furrows having been made; the cuttings are simply stuck in the ground and partly covered with earth. The cane ripens in fourteen months or more. Ratooning follows until the yield gets so small that replanting is necessary. When this time comes, the old roots are ploughed up and furrows from four to six inches in depth are made about five or six feet apart. The seed cane is planted in these furrows at four- or five-foot intervals. The yield from virgin soil is very heavy and has been known to reach ninety tons to the acre, but the sugar content of such crops is low, whereas the subsequent ratoons with a decreased tonnage of cane per acre give juice of a better quality. A fair average production on a plantation having 4000 acres in cane would be about twenty-four tons to the acre. Naturally this estimate would be affected by the relative proportions of plant cane and ratoons, as well as by the character of the soil. Planting is generally done in June and October, while the harvesting begins in December and continues until April.
Manufacturing methods in Santo Domingo admit of much improvement. Single crushing is the method employed for the most part, so that the loss in extraction is considerable. The juices are treated and the suspended impurities allowed to settle at the bottom of the tanks. Filter presses are the exception rather than the rule, and for want of them the sugar in the resultant mud is lost. The clear juices are then concentrated and boiled to grain in vacuum pans. First sugars generally polarize between 95 degrees and 97 degrees, seconds about 86 degrees. The molasses is either made into rum or permitted to run to waste. Notwithstanding the crude character of the factories and machinery, the recovery of sugar is generally good, the average being between 9 per cent and 11 per cent of the weight of the cane, with single crushing.
Almost all of the factories are managed by Americans, but, as has been said, the equipment they have to work with is by no means modern, and under the extremely uncertain political conditions that prevail there is scant encouragement for outside capital to come in and improve matters. Just when a change for the better will come is impossible to say.
Messrs. Willett & Gray give the yearly figures since 1903 in long tons, as follows:
1903-04 47,000 1904-05 47,000 1905-06 55,000 1906-07 60,000 1907-08 62,235 1908-09 69,483 1909-10 93,003 1910-11 89,979 1911-12 96,046 1912-13 84,661 1913-14 105,778 1914-15 108,267 1915-16 120,000
GUADELOUPE AND MARTINIQUE
GUADELOUPE
The French West Indian colony of Guadeloupe consists of two islands that lie in the middle of the Leeward group between 15 degrees 57 minutes and 16 degrees 31 minutes north latitude and 61 degrees 10 minutes and 61 degrees 49 minutes west longitude. They are separated by a channel from one hundred feet to four hundred feet wide, called Rivière Salée.
Basse-Terre, the western island, is twenty-eight miles long, from twelve to fifteen miles wide and its area is 364 square miles. It presents a rugged surface, broken by hills and highlands, and a backbone of mountains runs through it from north to south. It is of volcanic origin, having been thrown up by four volcanic centers, Grosse Montagne (2590 feet), Les Mamelles (2536 feet and 2368 feet), Morne sans Toucher (4855 feet), and La Soufrière (4868 feet). The last-named volcano was in eruption in 1797, and in 1843 its disturbances wrecked several towns; today, however, the only evidences of life are a few hot springs and the emission of sulphurous vapors at certain points.
Basse-Terre is watered by a number of streams that become swollen and turbulent during the rainy season.
Grande-Terre, the eastern island, is low and level, the greatest elevation being only 450 feet. It consists of a plain of limestone formation with a conglomerate of sand and broken shells. It is about twenty-two miles long from north to south and its area is 255 square miles. The population is 190,273, chiefly negroes and mulattoes. For water supply it is dependent upon ponds and cisterns, as, owing to the porosity of the soil, no rivers or streams exist.
The climate is warm and humid. The mean yearly temperature is 78 degrees Fahrenheit, the minimum 61 degrees and the maximum 101 degrees. The wet season is from July to November, and on the coast the annual rainfall is about eighty-six inches, with a great deal more in the interior. Terrific storms visit the island and hurricanes have wrought much destruction.
The soil is fertile and rich and the principal crop is sugar cane, which is grown on over half the total cultivated area. The principal sugar centers are Point-à-Pitre, St. Anne and Le Moule in Grande-Terre, all of which have well-appointed usines. There is also a large usine in Basse-Terre.
Guadeloupe was discovered by Columbus in 1493. One hundred and forty-two years afterward l’Olive and Duplessis took possession in the name of a French company called the Compagnie des Iles d’Amérique. The native Caribs did not long survive the cruel treatment accorded them by l’Olive, and efforts at colonization were the reverse of successful, in fact four chartered companies were ruined in the attempt. In 1674 the islands passed into the possession of the French crown and they were governed from Martinique for a long time. In 1759 they were captured by the British, in whose hands they remained for four years. The British again occupied them in 1794, but were driven out the following summer by Victor Hugues with the help of liberated slaves. The last British occupation took place during the Hundred Days of 1815, and they finally withdrew in 1816. Slavery in Guadeloupe was abolished in 1848.
MARTINIQUE
The French colony of Martinique is the most northerly of the Windward islands. It is situated between 14 degrees 55 minutes and 14 degrees 23 minutes north latitude and 60 degrees 48 minutes and 61 degrees 16 minutes west longitude. Its area is 381 square miles, its greatest length from northwest to southeast 36 miles, and its extreme width 18 miles. The population, negroes and half-castes for the most part, numbered 190,000 in 1913.
The surface is mountainous, the highest peak being Mt. Pelée, which rises 4428 feet above sea-level. The appalling eruption of this volcano in May, 1902, was one of the greatest disasters of modern times and cost the lives of 40,000 people. About one-third of the island’s surface consists of extensive plains, most of them occurring in the south. The soil of the northern part is of volcanic formation, while in the south it is composed of clay. There are a number of streams, some of them of considerable size.
Near the coast the average temperature for June is 83 degrees, and for January 77 degrees, the mean for the year being about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The wet season extends from June to October and the total yearly rainfall approximates 87 inches. August is the wettest month and March the driest. In the low region of the sea coast the climate is not healthful for Europeans during the hot period, but a more salubrious atmosphere and a temperature 10 degrees lower is found in the wooded uplands, 1500 feet above the sea. Fresh, dry northerly winds prevail from November to February, easterly winds from March to June, and damp, warm southerly winds from July to October. Earthquakes are frequent, but hurricanes seldom visit the island.
Martinique was discovered by Columbus on June 15, 1492, and the French Compagnie des Iles d’Amérique took possession of it in 1635. It was settled in the same year by Pierre Belain, captain-general of the island of St. Christopher, and in 1674 it became the property of the crown.
Sugar culture was begun in 1650, and a few years later the aboriginal Caribs were exterminated, their place being filled by negro slaves, of whom there were 60,000 in the island by 1736. Slavery was abolished in 1848.[71]
During the seventeenth century Martinique was attacked several times by the British and the Dutch. It was captured in 1762 by the British under Admiral Rodney, but restored to the French in the following year. It was held by the British from 1793 to 1801 and also between 1809 and 1814.
The capital of the island is Fort de France, on the west coast. It is situated upon a fine harbor and has 18,000 inhabitants. Besides the chief product, sugar, the colony raises coffee, cocoa, tobacco and cotton.
GUADELOUPE AND MARTINIQUE
Sugar planting in these islands dates from 1635, the year in which they were first occupied by the French, and the industry grew apace, so that much sugar was exported to France during the latter half of the seventeenth century. The import duties levied by France in 1664 shut out foreign raw sugars from that country, while protecting raw sugars from her colonies; but at the same time the tariff laws excluded white sugar produced in the colonies. This was a death blow to the refineries of Martinique. A decree entirely prohibiting the refining of sugar in the colonies and the exportation of raw sugar to foreign countries was issued in 1669, while an export duty was imposed upon the raw sugar shipped to France. The tax upon raw sugar was removed in 1682, but the duty on refined was increased. The colonial planters then turned their attention to the manufacture of clayed sugars, which they sold in North America and southern Europe.
In 1717 France established relations with her colonies that were almost tantamount to free trade. No duties were assessed upon French goods going into the colonies, and commodities produced in the colonies entered the mother country without duty. As a result of this policy, the sugar industry grew until the production of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Dominique was more than France could consume, and a law was passed permitting the sale of the surplus in other countries.
During the closing years of the eighteenth century, the war between England and France crippled the trade of the French West Indies, but when peace was finally restored the sugar industry revived and continued to flourish until the abolition of slavery in 1848.
When the slaves were freed, the planters cast about them to find laborers, and India was one of the first sources of supply. Over ten thousand Hindus were brought to Martinique between 1852 and 1862, and with very few exceptions they remained in the island after their five-year contract expired. During the twenty-two years that followed 1862, 25,500 laborers came to Martinique from Pondicherry, Yanaon, Karikal and Calcutta with the permission of the Indian authorities, but emigration from that country under government auspices was discontinued in 1885. In addition to Hindus, free African negroes, Chinese and Annamese were brought in.
The sugar plantations of Guadeloupe and Martinique are situated on the low, alluvial lands around the coast, although some are found in the interior. The hilly character of the latter, however, is not favorable to cane culture, as the heavy rains wash the arable soil down the slopes, thus interfering with the growth of the cane.
The ground to be planted in cane is first cleared and then ploughed. Furrows about two feet deep and four and one-half feet apart are then made and the seed cane is planted in holes five inches deep. Three weeks afterward the cane is banked and fertilizer applied. The soil between the canes is loosened from time to time and the crop is cut after a year’s growth. As a rule, ratooning is limited to two years, one crop being produced each year. The land is then allowed to rest for a time, after which planting is begun anew.
Bourbon cane is the variety principally grown, although seedling canes have been brought in from Barbados and British Guiana of late years. The average yield per acre of plant cane is twenty-four tons; first ratoons give sixteen tons and second ratoons about eight tons. After the cane is cut it is loaded on large carts and taken to the factories. Some estates are equipped with field railways, the cars being drawn by mules or locomotives.
As mentioned in the chapter on Jamaica, the early sugar producers of Saint Dominique, Guadeloupe and Martinique excelled the manufacturers of the other West Indian islands in the preparation of the commodity. The result was that their lead was gradually followed by the others, and a brief description of the methods they employed will be of interest.
The cane juice was boiled in a series of five or six copper kettles placed over a furnace fed by bagasse and wood. These kettles were of different sizes, the largest being farthest from the fire and the size of each decreased as the furnace door was approached, the smallest being directly above the fire. The kettle next to the largest was set a little higher than the largest one, the third higher than the second and so on until the last and smallest, which was the highest of the series. Clarification was done with lime and wood ashes, and sometimes a little crude antimony. As soon as the raw juice reached the first and largest kettle the clarifying material was thrown in and the boiling began. The scum was removed as soon as it formed, and when the juice became sufficiently clear it was quickly transferred to the second kettle; a small amount of alkali was mixed with it and further boiling and skimming was done. The liquor was then ladled into kettle number three, potash lye and an extract of herbs were added, and after being boiled for a time it was passed to kettle number four, and finally concentrated in the last and smallest kettle immediately above the fire. When the required consistency was reached, the massecuite was put into vessels to cool, at the same time being kept in motion by stirring until the grains began to form. It was then placed in moulds, and after having become thoroughly cool it was dumped into hogsheads that had perforated bottoms. These hogsheads stood on racks, beneath which there was a receptacle to catch the molasses as it drained on through the holes in the bottom. The draining was allowed to continue until about one-half the weight of the contents of the hogshead was crystallized sugar. The holes were then plugged up and the sugar was ready for shipment. The molasses was manufactured into rum.
A superior grade, called _sucre terré_, or clayed sugar, was also made. In its preparation, juice from the best and ripest cane was taken and as little lime as possible was used in clarification. Antimony was excluded entirely, on account of its tendency to darken the color of the juice. As the juice was transferred from kettle to kettle during the various boilings, it was strained through a cloth each time, instead of being ladled direct from one kettle to the next. When the syrup was concentrated it was put into earthenware sugar-loaf moulds that held between thirty and thirty-five pounds of massecuite apiece. These moulds had perforations in the bottom that were stopped up before the mass was put in. In filling a mould, one quarter of its capacity was put in at one time, making four operations. Fifteen minutes after the last lot of massecuite was put in the mould, a layer of crystals formed on the surface, and this was thoroughly stirred into the mass, which was then left to cool. A couple of days later the plugs were removed so that the molasses might drain from the mould. In case it did not run off properly, the massecuite was remelted, but if the drainage was satisfactory, the next step was the claying of the sugar. If the top of the loaves was uneven or dark-colored, it was scraped smooth and covered with a layer of crushed sugar. The surface was then hammered level and even. A special kind of clay brought from Rouen was mixed with water and the mould was filled to the top with this mixture. Windows and doors were shut to prevent evaporation of the moisture, and the water draining from the clay gradually passed down through the sugar crystals, washing the syrup from them. After ten days had elapsed, the clay, then thoroughly dried, was removed, the surface of the sugar-loaf was cleaned, another layer of wet clay was applied and allowed to remain as long as the first. When this second layer was taken off, the loaves were removed from the moulds and allowed to dry in the air for a time. Further drying was done in a drying room, heated for the purpose, and the sugar, when all the moisture had been driven from it, was crushed by wooden pestles. Refined sugar was packed for shipment in casks containing between 600 and 700 pounds. The first molasses was made into rum or boiled into second sugar, and the syrup washed from the loaves was made into a sugar called _cassonade_.
This primitive method of manufacture has been entirely supplanted by newer processes and appliances. As a rule, today cane is crushed twice and maceration is often employed. The juice is treated with sulphur while still cold, and it is then pumped into defecation tanks, where powdered lime is added; after this is done heat is applied. As soon as the scum cracks, the steam is turned off and the clear juice is separated from the sediment by a siphon and run to the evaporators, while the muddy precipitate goes to the filter presses.
Concentration of the juice takes place in double, triple or quadruple effects of rather an old type, which means lack of economy in steam and consequent large fuel consumption. As the quantity of bagasse available does not afford sufficient fuel to generate all the steam that is required, a considerable amount of wood and coal is used in addition for the purpose. The unwise and short-sighted policy of denuding the hillsides of their timber has had the effect of lessening the rainfall, a condition that has brought great injury to the planter.
The vacuum pans are small and of old style; the centrifugal machines, too, are of obsolete design and slow to operate. After the liquor has been boiled to grain in the pans and the sugar crystals have been separated from the mother liquor in the centrifugals, the sugar is dried and packed for the market in barrels or bags. The first molasses is reboiled and the resulting massecuite sent through the centrifugals. After this operation has been repeated three or four times, the final molasses is made into rum.
Today there are eighteen factories in Guadeloupe and fifteen in Martinique. The average extraction of sugar is 9.70 per cent of the weight of the cane, the loss of sugar in the bagasse is 2.15 per cent, the mechanical loss in manufacture is .90 per cent, and the percentage of sugar not recovered from the molasses is 1.75. This gives an average total of 14.50 per cent of sugar in the cane.
The manufacturers are dependent upon the small farmers for their raw material, and the price paid for the cane is determined by a very complex agreement, which nevertheless seems to be entirely satisfactory to both buyer and seller.
The outlook for the sugar industry in Guadeloupe and Martinique is far from bright. There is labor in abundance, but the natives are averse to working steadily, and consequently are unreliable. There are great possibilities for improvement, but little can be expected under the circumstances that prevail at the present time.
Since 1894 the production of the two islands in long tons has been as follows:
MARTINIQUE GUADELOUPE 1894 36,353 42,395 1895 28,777 29,394 1896 33,886 42,616 1897 34,185 39,493 1898 30,971 36,550 1899 31,165 39,259 1900 33,234 27,895 1901 39,121 38,086 1902 38,905 39,995 1903 28,578 37,891 1904 23,561 35,348 1905 29,986 26,905 1906 42,231 42,535 1907 36,764 38,345 1908 35,943 35,485 1909 37,757 24,812 1910 39,950 44,289 1911 35,438 38,384 1912 39,433 39,368 1913 40,000 32,000 1914 38,730 39,920 1915 40,000 40,000 1916 40,000 40,000
MEXICO
The United States of Mexico lie between 14 degrees 30 minutes and 32 degrees 42 minutes north latitude and 86 degrees 46 minutes and 117 degrees 7 minutes west longitude. On the north the boundary is the United States of America; on the east the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean sea, British Honduras and Guatemala; on the south British Honduras and the Pacific ocean, and on the west the Pacific ocean. The superficial area of the country is 765,537 square miles. Its greatest length is 1942 miles and its greatest width is 762 miles. It has a coast line of 5486 miles, of which 1603 miles are on the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean sea and 3883 miles on the Pacific ocean and the Gulf of California.
The surface of Mexico rises sharply from the seacoast levels by a series of terraces to a central plateau, that varies in height from 4000 to 8000 feet and runs northwest and southeast. This tableland has been formed by the material deposited during the gradual erosion of the mountains and by matter thrown up by a great number of volcanoes. In this manner the original valleys became completely filled up and those that now exist are of later formation. To illustrate this filling process, buried mountains whose peaks appear above the surrounding mass are found in the higher parts of the plateau, while elsewhere they are met with as continuous ridges. The eastern coast is low and sandy, except in a few places where the mountains come down close to the shore. The Pacific coast lands are also low, but occasionally broken by mountain spurs. Owing to the terraced character of the country, very little river navigation is possible, but on the other hand an enormous amount of power can be developed from the numerous waterfalls. Two high mountain ranges, one on each coast, run parallel to the sea the entire length of Mexico. The eastern chain is about ten miles inland, while on the west there is only a narrow shelf of land between the sea and the cordilleras. This western range has several branches that run in different directions, the most important being the Sierra Madre Occidental. In Mexico the highest mountains are volcanoes. On the Pacific side and west of the plateau are found the Volcán de Colima (12,750 ft.) and the Nevado de Colima (14,354 ft.). Southwest of the City of Mexico is the Nevado de Toluca (16,610 ft.) and to the south and east are the snow-crowned giants Popocatepetl (17,540 ft.) and Ixtaccihuatl (15,705 ft.). Still farther east are Orizaba (16,176 ft.) and Cofre de Perote (14,309 ft.). Popocatepetl and Orizaba may be classified as dormant cones, for the reason that aqueous and sulphurous vapors are constantly being emitted from their perfectly formed craters. One of the highest lakes in the world is found in the crater of the Nevado de Toluca. Colima has been in eruption continuously for many years and is still active. The snow never leaves the summits of Orizaba, Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, and on the last the ice cap attains a development sufficient to form true glaciers.
On the western coast the principal ports are Guaymas, Mazatlan, Topolobampo, Acapulco, La Paz and Salina Cruz; on the eastern seaboard, Tampico, Vera Cruz, Puerto Mexico, Campeche and Merida. Of the numerous rivers, the most important is the Rio Grande, 1550 miles long, which forms a natural boundary between Mexico and the United States from El Paso to the Gulf. However, the conformation of the country does not admit of river navigation to any extent.
According to the census of 1910, the population was 15,063,207, of which 20 per cent were whites, 43 per cent of mixed blood and the remainder of Indian extraction.
In Mexico there are three distinct climates and a wide range of temperature. The hot country, _tierra caliente_, extends from the seacoast inland to an altitude of about 3000 feet. Here the mean annual temperature is between 80 degrees and 88 degrees, and the highest between 100 degrees and 105 degrees Fahrenheit. In this region the winter climate is delightful, except when severe gales sweep down from the north. In summer the extreme heat is not so great as in New York, because of the moderating effect of cool breezes.
The temperate region, _tierra templada_, extends from 3000 to 6500 feet above sea-level, and it is here that the ideal climate of Mexico is found, the mean annual temperature being between 73 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit, with a total variation of possibly not over 6 or 8 degrees during a season. In this dry, clear atmosphere the hygienic disadvantages of the seacoast, the sharp, cold winds of the upper altitudes, sudden changes in temperature, heavy frosts, extreme humidity and harmful insects are unknown, and in the dry season there is no malaria.
Tropical and semi-tropical growths flourish side by side, and there are estates on which wheat and sugar cane are raised almost in touch of each other.
The cold country, _tierra fria_, extends from the 6500-foot level to the snow line, but here the term cold is used in a comparative sense, as distinguished from the heat of the seacoast. The average temperature runs between 59 degrees and 62 degrees Fahrenheit, with slight variations. At times, however, a norther will drive the mercury down to 40 degrees or 35 degrees and sprinkle the streets of Mexico City with white.
As a rule, in Mexico the rainy season begins in May or June and ends in October. The annual rainfall varies greatly according to locality, ranging all the way from fifteen to fifty inches. Earthquakes are of common occurrence, especially on the western coast.
Sugar cane was brought to Mexico by the Spanish conquistadors. Prescott, in his “Conquest of Mexico,”[72] says that the sugar cane was transplanted from the neighboring islands to the lower level of the country, and that, together with indigo, cotton and cochineal, it formed a more desirable staple for the colony than its precious metals. He also states that it was Hernan Cortés himself who introduced the cane from Cuba. This famous soldier established the Atlacomulco plantation, which lies an easy hour’s ride distant from Cuernavaca in the state of Morelos, and there, in 1520, a hundred years before the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth, he erected the first sugar mill in Mexico. This mill is owned by the descendants of Cortés and is still in operation.
Thirty years later sugar was shipped from Mexico to Peru and Spain, and the production of the commodity was maintained steadily until 1791. In that year all the cane-growing countries of western America received a stimulus from the wholesale destruction of the plantations and mills of Santo Domingo.
In Mexico natural conditions are very favorable to sugar culture, but the growth of the industry has been retarded by the primitive methods in vogue, the inadequacy of transportation facilities and political disturbances. In the seaboard states the sugar plantations are found chiefly in the rich lowlands bordering on the Pacific ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. In the Gulf states the rainfall is ample to insure good crops. The largest sugar producer, however, is the inland state of Morelos, and there, as well as on the west coast, irrigation is necessary. The higher levels do not give such good crops as the lowlands; on the latter the yield is between forty and sixty tons to the acre, and on the former it runs between twenty-five and forty-five tons to the acre. Sugar beets have been grown on the plateau with marked success. In the low, tropical regions seven or eight crops of ratoons can be raised, but on the higher lands replanting must be done every two or three years. The best-known plantations are situated on large estates that have been owned by the same families for many generations. For instance, in Morelos, where about sixty per cent of Mexico’s crop is produced, the estates are owned by non-resident families and, as a rule, managed by Spaniards. Labor is cheap and abundant, the cane is rich in juice and the sugar content is high, but the extraction in the small, crude mills is poor, the recovery of sugar, as a rule, not exceeding six per cent of the weight of the cane. There are a few large factories in Mexico where the methods and results should be more closely in accordance with modern practice.
The nineteenth century saw the industry maintained on a fairly even basis, but about 1900 an improvement was noted, as the following table will show:
1899-1900 75,000 tons 1900-1901 95,000 ” 1901-1902 103,000 ” 1902-1903 112,000 ” 1903-1904 107,000 ” 1904-1905 107,000 ” 1905-1906 107,500 ” 1906-1907 119,000 ” 1907-1908 123,000 ” 1908-1909 143,000 ” 1909-1910 148,000 ” 1910-1911 161,602 ” 1911-1912 151,735 ” 1912-1913 148,672 ” 1913-1914 130,000 ” 1914-1915 110,000 ” 1915-1916 75,000 ”
The effects of the internal disturbances in Mexico are plainly reflected in the crop figures. In addition to the sugar tonnage shown, about 50,000 tons of _piloncillo_ or _panela_ (concrete sugar) are turned out annually by the small mills and the production of molasses is large. A considerable amount of the latter is used in the manufacture of rum and alcohol.
As regards the future of sugar in Mexico, there is much to justify belief in ultimate expansion and prosperity. Labor is cheap and plentiful, there are vast tracts of rich virgin land awaiting cultivation, irrigation possibilities are great, and when the present political disorders shall have been quieted and stable conditions established, a movement forward will surely follow.
PERU
Peru is situated on the west coast of South America and extends from 3 degrees 21 minutes to 18 degrees south latitude and from 70 degrees to 81 degrees 40 minutes west longitude. Its area, including certain disputed territory, is 676,638 square miles. Physically, it is divided into three distinct regions, the coast, the sierra and the montaña. In the first, or the dry side of the Andean slope, spurs run out from the main range of mountains toward the ocean, forming extensive valleys, some of which are well watered and very fertile. The spaces that lie beyond the life-giving influence of the rivers have the appearance of sandy deserts, but they only need water to make them productive. The Andes proper occupy the sierra region, which abounds in plateaus, deep ravines, rich sheltered valleys and snow-capped mountains of stupendous height. East of the Andes lies the montaña, or wet side. It is traversed by broad navigable rivers and embraces the sub-tropical forests in the ravines and on the eastern slopes of the Andes, as well as the dense tropical forests of the wide valley of the Amazon.
According to the 1915 edition of the Century atlas, the population is 4,609,999. About 57 per cent of the inhabitants are Indians, 13 per cent whites, 2 per cent Asiatics, 2 per cent negroes, the remainder being mixed races.
The sugar plantations are found on the west or dry side in the coast region.
The valleys of this coast country have been upraised from the ocean at a comparatively recent geological period, and the fertile soils of these valleys are the result of erosion and deposit through the agency of mountain torrents.
The most important cane-growing districts lie seven or eight degrees south of the equator, and yet the climate of that section cannot be called really tropical. It is influenced by the cold antarctic currents and the steady winds that sweep northward. Observations on the Cartavio plantation during the period 1904-1907 showed the highest maximum temperature to be 95.5 degrees and the lowest minimum to be 52 degrees Fahrenheit. In the coast territory the rainfall is limited and the cane crops depend upon irrigation.
The soils of the coast valleys range from silt to an extremely fine sandy loam, and vary in thickness. As a rule they are deep, retentive of moisture, well drained, rich in plant food, easy to cultivate and, with intelligent treatment, very productive.
Ricardo Palma, in his work, “Tradiciónes Peruanas,” sets forth that sugar cane was not known in Peru when Francisco Pizarro and his followers first landed there in 1527, but that it was brought in a short time afterward. The first plantation was established in 1570 and the first factory was erected on an estate in the valley of Huanuco. Meanwhile, the sugar used in Lima came from Mexico, and the owner of the Huanuco mill, realizing that his product could not compete with Mexican sugar, had recourse to a clever stratagem. He loaded a vessel with sugar and sent her to Mexico. The ruse was successful, for the Mexican manufacturers at once concluded that if sugar could be shipped from Peru to Mexico, the production must be large and the cost very low. Consequently, they discontinued their shipments from Acapulco to Peru, much to the advantage of the astute factor of the Huanuco valley. In the beginning, the estates were worked by slaves, and, as happened in other sugar countries, after the abolition of slavery the plantation owners were compelled to look abroad for their laborers. As many as 90,000 Chinese were imported from Macao[73] between 1849 and 1874, but so many of them succumbed to the severe treatment they received that the Macao authorities put a stop to the labor traffic altogether. The Chinese living in Peru at the present time are tradespeople and the work on the sugar plantations and in the mills is done by the native Indians.
The year 1860 marked an important change in the industry, which up to that time had been carried on in a very primitive manner. A large amount of fresh capital was put into sugar enterprises, new mills were built, the most approved machinery was installed and the factories were equipped with the best appliances that money could buy. The apparatus for some of the plants was brought from the United States, while that for others was supplied by European countries, so that the methods and workmanship of various nationalities are found in the Peruvian factories. No expense was spared in any department and all went well so long as the price of sugar kept up; what was easily made was liberally administered, but when in 1875 the market dropped, severe competition drove many operators into difficulties and a number of them went under entirely. The war with Chile in 1878 and the subsequent revolutionary disturbances impeded the progress of the industry, but a restoration of tranquillity came in 1895, and since then the sugar business of Peru has prospered and increased in volume.
An experiment station was established near Lima in 1906 for the study of cane cultivation, irrigation problems and the improvement of yield and quality by the introduction of new varieties of cane. The manufacturing side of the question has also been gone into with great care, and much is being done to increase efficiency in that direction.
Today there are 47 modern factories in Peru and 125,000 acres planted in sugar cane. Outside of these modern plants, crushing is also done in a crude manner in wooden-roller mills on small plantations that are scattered throughout the interior. The juice obtained in this way is worked up to _chancaca_[74] or _panela_ or made into an alcoholic beverage called _cañaso_ or _chacta_.
As the plantations do not depend upon any special season of rainy or dry weather, planting and harvesting may be done at any time. In Peru the land upon which sugar cane is grown is generally gently sloping. On the large haciendas, when preparing virgin soil for planting, the brush is first cleared away and the holes filled. The ground is then ploughed and cross-ploughed by steam-ploughs and broken fine by clod-crushers; roadways and drainage ditches are laid out, forming squares or rectangles, and furrows are made at intervals of three to four feet. This done, the ground is ready for planting. The cane tops used for seed are cut during harvesting, loaded on cars and sent to the field that is to be planted. The seed cane is placed horizontally in the furrow and covered with a few inches of earth, and as soon as the whole field is planted in this manner, water from the irrigation ditch is turned in and the cane left to grow. The first weeding is done when the cane shoots are a foot high, and it is continued at intervals until the cane leaves become large enough to shade the ground and prevent weed growth. The cane matures in from eighteen to twenty-four months, according to location, soil and weather conditions. Some weeks before harvesting, irrigation is discontinued in order to allow the cane to ripen.
In cultivating the first ratoons, when the cane gets to be a few feet high the crest of the furrow is thrown down into the furrow so that the irrigation water passes between the rows of cane instead of along the furrows, as in the case of plant cane.
Ratooning is kept up until it ceases to be profitable. At the Hacienda Cartavio, four ratoon crops have been grown in some places, and as many as seven in others, with good results.
The principal ingredient of the fertilizer used is guano, which is mixed with lime, nitrate of soda, potassium sulphate, or ashes from the bagasse furnaces, and it is applied in various ways. Some planters throw it in the furrows with the seed cane and allow it to remain there a time before turning on the water; others place it in the furrows a few months after the planting and cover it immediately, while still another method is to apply it and turn on the water at the same time. On certain plantations the fertilizer is ground and spread over the entire field just before replanting.
Water for irrigating is obtained from the mountain streams, which are dammed at certain points, and but little is pumped from wells. The quantity needed is far less than in Hawaii, owing to the nature of the soil and the presence of underground moisture close to the surface. A fixed amount is assigned to each estate by the government and this is never exceeded during the dry season. In flood time, however, the regulations are somewhat relaxed, as there is then enough for all and to spare.
The water is brought on the land by large ditches, and thence to the cane fields through smaller ones. From these field ditches it flows directly into the cane rows at the upper end of the field or section, and, owing to the slight slope of the land, it passes freely through the parallel rows from the upper to the lower end of the section. It is retained in the furrow by means of a dam at the lower end. Other ditches are made at the lower ends of the sections for drainage purposes. The amount of irrigating done varies according to the nature of the land; in some cases water is applied only once during the season, in others as many as twenty-four times. The average number of waterings is five.
When the cane is ripe it is cut by laborers with heavy knives, or machetes, and loaded by hand into cars that run through the fields on portable tracks. These cars, which hold from two to ten tons each, are made up into trains and drawn by a locomotive to the mill. The average yield per acre in 1912 was about 34 tons, but the planters are seeking for better results through improved field methods and new varieties of cane. Pests and disease do little damage in Peru, although the borer gives some trouble. Owing to the long period of growth in a dry climate, Peruvian cane is high in fiber and low in juice, but the juice is rich and very pure; this combination of high fiber content and high percentage of sugar in the juice, however, brings about an unusual loss of sugar in the bagasse.
Nearly all of the sugar manufactured is a coarse-grained centrifugal raw, polarizing about 96.5 degrees and known to the trade as “Peruvian crystals.” Part of it is marketed in the United States and the rest goes to Great Britain, while the second and third sugars are sent to Chile to be refined there. A certain amount of white sugar for home consumption is made by washing the brown centrifugal sugar.
At the beginning of the Chilean war the output was approximately 80,000 tons. In 1905 the production of sugar and molasses was 159,294 long tons, and 132,222 tons of this were exported.
The following table gives the outturn in long tons since 1905:
YEAR CONSUMPTION EXPORTS TOTAL
1905 27,077 132,136 159,213 1906 32,178 134,592 166,770 1907 30,110 108,886 138,986 1908 31,895 122,940 154,836 1909 29,173 123,393 152,567 1910 29,189 119,744 148,933 1911 31,988 121,758 153,745 1912 36,129 145,106 181,236 1913 34,976 140,669 175,645 1914 32,555 173,910 206,465 1915 40,000 208,487 248,487
The possibilities for expansion in Peru’s sugar industry are large. Further impounding and conservation of the flood waters from the mountains would bring under cultivation many thousands of acres that are now unproductive. Good flowing wells have been sunk on some estates, and it is likely that many more will be found, thus adding substantially to the present water supply. As to cost, it would seem that Peru should be able to compete successfully with other cane-growing countries. The plantation lands are level or slightly sloping, so that cultivating machinery may be used to good advantage. Grinding can be carried on without interruption throughout the year, which means economical factory capacity and an even distribution of labor. The cost of labor, too, is reasonable, and great quantities of fertilizers lie close at hand. In short, Peru enjoys many advantages, and if her planters and refiners keep pace with scientific development, she will take a prominent place among the cane-sugar countries of the world.
BRAZIL
Brazil is the largest political division of South America. Its area is 3,270,000 square miles, or slightly greater than that of the United States, excluding Alaska. From Cape Orange, in 4 degrees 21 minutes north latitude, it extends 2629 miles southward to the river Chuy, in 33 degrees 45 minutes south latitude, and from Olinda 2691 miles west to the Peruvian border, between 34 degrees 50 minutes and 73 degrees 50 minutes west longitude. According to the latest census returns at hand, the population numbers 20,515,000.
Speaking generally, Brazil is a tropical country with sub-tropical and temperate regions in the south and in a large part of the high central plateau. The sugar-producing states are Maranhão, Rio Grande do Norte, Parahyba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Minas Geraes, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The plantations themselves lie between 4 degrees and 21 degrees south latitude, and being swept by the moisture-laden eastern trade winds, they receive a fair amount of rain during the wet season, that is, from January to May.
Traces of a vanished civilization had already given rise to the belief that the history of Brazil, like that of Mexico and Peru, extended far into remote ages, when, in 1845, the discovery in the interior of the country of the ruins of a large and very ancient city, with magnificent buildings bearing inscriptions in unknown characters, confirmed this opinion.
Nevertheless, the known history of Brazil dates only from the end of the fifteenth century. It was discovered in February, 1499, by Vicente Yañez Pinzon, a companion of Columbus. The following year it was annexed to Portugal by Pedro Alvares Cabral, but the new territory received little attention from the Portuguese monarchs until 1531, when an attempt at colonization was made. Shortly afterward a sugar mill was erected in São Vicente Piratininga, now São Paulo, and as the soil and climate of that part of the country were well adapted to cane culture, the industry grew and other factories were built. In 1580 there were 120 mills, the greater number being in Bahia and Pernambuco. That same year Philip II of Spain usurped the crown of Portugal, and Brazil, with the rest of the Portuguese possessions, came under Spanish rule. Under the new régime she was exposed to attack by powerful foes. Dutch forces occupied Bahia in 1624, only to be expelled by the Spaniards a year later; in 1629, however, they obtained a foothold in Pernambuco. They took Olinda and its port, but were unable to extend their influence beyond the borders of the town until the arrival of the newly appointed governor, Count John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen, in 1636. This able executive carried the Dutch dominion along the coast from the mouth of the São Francisco to Maranhão, and an expedition sent out by him captured Angola and São Thomé on the west African coast, thus securing a supply of negro slaves, while depriving the enemy of them. He did much to build up the sugar industry, so severely crippled by the war, and when in 1644 he resigned his post, the importance of Brazil as a sugar-producing country had been re-established. The Portuguese threw off the yoke of Spain in 1640 and immediately set about to retake their former colony, Brazil. After years of fighting, the Dutch were finally overcome and in 1655 a government decree drove them from the country. This banishment deprived Brazil of the Dutch sugar planters, with their slaves, their capital, their practical knowledge and skill. From the time of their exodus the Brazilian sugar industry began to decline. The greater number of these refugees established themselves in the West Indies, where they again engaged in sugar planting with marked success.
Brazil became an independent power in 1825 as an empire, with Dom Pedro I, son of the Portuguese king, on the throne. This monarch abdicated in 1831 in favor of the five-year-old heir apparent, who took the name of Dom Pedro II and reigned until 1889, when the empire gave way to a republic. The wars carried on by Brazil against her neighbors between 1851 and 1870 brought her provinces into touch with each other, as well as with the outside world.
In 1826 she pledged herself to Great Britain that, beginning with 1830, she would suppress the traffic in African negro slaves. This promise, however, she failed to keep, so the British parliament passed an act directing the seizure of all slave ships found in Brazilian waters. In every instance the slaves were liberated and the slave dealers brought before British tribunals. Complete suppression of the importation of slaves was the result. In 1871 children born of slave parents were declared free by law, and the movement in favor of emancipation continued until 1888, when slavery was entirely abolished without any indemnity to the slave owners.
The long reign of Dom Pedro II was marked by progress and prosperity. The emperor had the best interests of his people always at heart and concerned himself more with economic development than with political activities. Broad and liberal in his views, he made no attempt to prevent the spread of socialistic doctrines, which, about the year 1880, began to seriously affect the thought of the educated classes. The feeling of unrest and the desire for change engendered in this way culminated in the military conspiracy of 1889, and, as was only natural, the former slave owners, smarting under their losses, took sides against the emperor. The monarchy fell and was replaced by a republican form of government, which, despite several attempts to restore the empire, has endured to the present day.
In the sugar-growing regions of the north and center methods of cultivation do not show much improvement over the practice of early times. Cane is planted in holes about nine inches deep and five feet apart, no fertilizer being used. Some five weeks later the soil is turned up and after fifteen months’ growth the cane matures. In São Paulo, however, the planters work on more scientific lines, and ploughing, furrowing, tilling, fertilizing and weeding are done in a thorough manner. The crop depends upon rainfall entirely, and in a normal season ripens in from fourteen to sixteen months. As soon as the cane is cut the dry cane leaves are burned and ploughing begins. The plough passes close enough to the cane roots to tear them more or less, thus helping the new growth. Shortly after the new cane shoots appear, the ground is spaded up or ploughed, just as in the case of plant cane. Ratoons ripen in twelve or fourteen months, and as a rule four to six ratoon crops are grown before replanting is done.
The yield of cane varies with the rainfall and the richness of the soil, and ranges from 20 to 30 tons per acre for first ratoons, diminishing with succeeding crops. The sugar content frequently reaches 18 per cent.
Cane is grown either by colonos or by indentured laborers. In the colono system a tract of land from 9 to 36 acres in size and planted to cane is assigned by the estate to a group of colonos according to their number. The colonos care for the cane during its period of growth and harvest it when ripe. For this they receive the equivalent of $12.50 American gold per acre. Assuming that the yield per acre is 20 tons, the cost to the owner of the estate of cultivating and harvesting a ton of cane is 62½ cents. The colono is given pasture land for his cattle, fuel and house rent free.
The indentured laborers are allotted a certain amount of untilled ground, which they prepare, plant and cultivate. Seed cane, houses and pasturage are furnished gratis, and when the cane is ripe they harvest it. The amount paid the indentured laborers for cane raised in this way fluctuates according to the market value of sugar. For example, in São Paulo when the price of sugar is $4.41 gold per hundredweight, the laborer gets $2.23 per ton for his cane; when the price exceeds $4.41 and is less than $5.90 per hundredweight, he receives $2.55 per ton; when sugar sells between $5.90 and $8.60 per hundredweight, his share is $3.18 per ton; should the price go over $8.60, he gets $3.82 per ton.
The practice in Bahia is somewhat different. Taking as a basis a price of $2.939 gold per hundredweight for sugar, the cane brings $1.646 per long ton, and for every .147 cent (⅐ cent) per pound fluctuation in the price of sugar, the value of cane changes 9.88 cents per ton up or down as the case may be.[75]
In the small factories the methods of manufacture are very old-fashioned. The cane is crushed between rolls of hard wood, and the juice, after being strained to remove the suspended impurities, is boiled to grain in copper kettles. The magma is then run into large wooden moulds having cone-shaped, perforated bottoms. The holes in the bottom of these moulds are closed when the hot massecuite is dumped in, but as soon as it cools the plugs are taken out and the molasses allowed to drain off. A layer of very wet clay is then spread over the top of the sugar, and as the water slowly drains from the clay it passes through the sugar crystals, carrying the mother liquor with it. After this washing process has gone on for some time, the sugar is removed from the moulds, and the upper portion is found to be white, or nearly so, while underneath the color deepens into yellow and from that to brown as the bottom is reached. The sugars are carefully separated according to their color, then dried and packed in bags containing 60 kilograms or about 132 pounds each.
It will readily be seen that the loss in extraction by such means is very great. In fact, from cane having a sugar content of 15 per cent, sometimes not more than between 5 per cent and 6 per cent of sugar is recovered. The best results are naturally obtained in the large factories, or usines, but even there, owing to poor crushing, 9 per cent of the weight of the cane in sugar is considered satisfactory.
In the usines the juices are treated with sulphur and neutralized with lime. They are then allowed to settle, after which they are boiled to grain and the crystals separated from the mother liquor in centrifugal machines. The sugar is dried and the remaining liquor is returned to the pans for reboiling.
The various grades produced are:
Cristaes blancos (white washed sugar) Cristaes amarellos (first yellow, termed Demerara) Mascavinhos (second yellow, fine grain) Mascavos (dark brown sugar, final product)
The greater portion of the sugars made in Brazil is refined, but a certain amount goes directly into consumption in its raw state. Refining on a large scale according to European methods has been tried at various times, but, owing to the high cost of labor, fuel and transportation, all these attempts have proved unsuccessful. Then again, the demand for sugar prepared in the European way is not great, the Brazilians preferring the moist fine-grained sugar made in the small refineries. This sugar has a molasses taste, polarizes about 91 degrees and carries about 2 per cent of glucose. In manufacturing the white grade, a liquor of 31 degrees Baumé[76] is first made from raw sugar. This is clarified with ox-blood and filtered through bone-char, after which the clear liquor is boiled at a temperature of 266 degrees Fahrenheit over an open fire until only about 4 per cent of water remains. It is then removed from the fire, a small quantity of dry granulated sugar is added and the mass is stirred with a wooden paddle. Cool, dry, fine-grained sugar is the result. The yellow grade, or _terzira_, as it is called, is made in exactly the same manner, except that no clarifying or filtering is done. The rich molasses odor and taste of this sugar please the popular palate to such an extent that it commands a higher price than white granulated sugar refined by the most modern processes. In fact nearly 75 per cent of the sugar consumed in Rio de Janeiro is terzira. Its manufacture does not require expensive equipment or any great amount of technical skill, hence it appeals to the native merchants and confectioners.
Recently the government has put forth some effort to encourage and improve the sugar industry, but so far without much success. A law was passed in 1875 guaranteeing a return of 7 per cent upon the money expended in constructing central factories, a given number being allowed each state. This act was modified some years later and the rate of interest reduced to 6 per cent, but as the refunding period was longer it met with more favor than the first and a number of concessions were granted. In 1889 the state of Pernambuco appropriated a sum equal to $135,000.00 gold to be divided among forty factories, with the understanding that repayment was to be begun after the harvesting of the third crop and extended over a period of twenty years. All this legislation had no definite result.
A few years ago, a combination of the producers was formed for the purpose of maintaining a high price for domestic sugar by setting aside a certain fixed amount for export. At first this was 20 per cent, but it was afterward increased to 40 per cent. The plan, however, was ineffectual. A heavy import duty (about 5.86 cents per pound) prohibits the bringing in of foreign sugars, so that Brazil must provide for her requirements within her own borders.
Accurate information concerning production, distribution and prices is hard to obtain. Bad transportation facilities, diversity of customs regulations between the states, and the vast number of small producers who sell to the consumer direct, make the compilation of dependable data almost an impossibility. The statistics that are submitted, therefore, are approximative.
Brazil’s sugar exports grow less and less. The United States no longer depends upon her for supplies, so that the outlook for the industry in Brazil is not bright at the present time. Modern refining methods are not regarded with favor by the people and any considerable extension in production seems remote.
PRODUCTION IN BRAZIL
1891 185,000 tons 1892 200,000 ” 1893 275,000 ” 1894 275,000 ” 1895 225,000 ” 1896 210,000 ” 1897 205,000 ” 1898 151,500 ” 1899 175,000 ” 1900 256,460 ” 1901 312,957 ” 1902 254,693 ” 1903 187,500 ” 1904 197,000 ” 1905 195,000 ” 1906 275,000 ” 1907 215,000 ” 1908 180,000 ” 1909 248,000 ” 1910 253,000 ” 1911 287,000 ” 1912 235,000 ” 1913 204,000 ” 1914 203,394 ” 1915 240,000 ” 1916 194,000 ”
BRITISH GUIANA
Guiana, in its widest meaning, is the name given to that part of South America that lies between 8 degrees 40 minutes north and 3 degrees 30 minutes south latitude and 50 degrees and 68 degrees 30 minutes west longitude. This vast territory, about 690,000 square miles in area, comprises Venezuelan Guiana, British Guiana, Dutch Guiana (Surinam), French Guiana (Cayenne), and Brazilian Guiana. The first of these divisions is now part of Venezuela and the last is included in Brazil.
The coast of British Guiana is fringed by low, alluvial flats, the result of deposit by the rivers. Beginning at three feet below high-water mark, these flats extend inland 25 or 30 miles, rising imperceptibly about 15 feet. Beyond is a broad, rolling region of sandy clay formation, 150 feet above sea-level, which runs back to the forest-covered hills. Two ranges of mountains traverse the country from west to east and a third chain forms the southern boundary and the watershed between the Essequibo and the Amazon. The highest mountain peak is Roraima on the western border, 8635 feet.
The rivers of British Guiana and their tributaries form a network of waterways throughout the country and they are practically the only transportation routes from the coast into the interior. The most important are the Essequibo, the Demerara, the Berbice and the Corentyn. The Essequibo has its source in the Acari mountains near the equator at 850 feet above the sea, and it flows north about 600 miles, reaching the Atlantic by an estuary 15 miles wide, in which there are a number of large and fertile islands. At one time sugar cane was grown on four of these islands, but today only one, Wakenaam, has a sugar mill.
For the ten months beginning with October and ending in July, the temperature on the coast is even, as the northeast trade winds keep it down to 80 degrees Fahrenheit on an average, but the cessation of the trades in August and September makes the heat oppressive. Hurricanes are unknown and but little damage is caused in the coast regions by earthquakes, owing to the character of the soil. In the interior the year is divided into one wet and one dry season, but in the low-lying coast country, where the sugar plantations are, there are two wet and two dry periods. The long wet season begins about the middle of April and lasts until August; the long dry period is from September to the end of November. The rainfall varies greatly according to locality; on the coast the yearly average is 80 inches. In 1914 the population was estimated to be 304,089; of these 120,000 were negroes, 124,000 East Indians, 11,600 Portuguese, 4300 Europeans of other nationalities, 6500 aborigines and over 30,000 of mixed race.
Guiana was sighted by Columbus in 1498 and by Alonzo de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci in the year following. Vicente Yañez Pinzon is credited with having sailed up some of the rivers in 1500 and Sir Walter Raleigh ascended the Orinoco in 1595 in quest of the mythical city El Dorado. Dutch traders reached Guiana in 1598 and by 1613 they had established several settlements on the coast of Demerara and Essequibo. Meanwhile English and French adventurers were endeavoring to obtain a foothold in Surinam and Cayenne, which they succeeded in doing in 1652. The colony of Essequibo was under the administration of the Dutch West India company from 1621 until 1791, when the company was dissolved. A Dutch settlement established on the Berbice river in 1624 was the beginning of the colony of that name, which was taken under the protection of the States-general of Holland in 1732. Demerara, formerly a dependency of Essequibo, became a separate colony in 1773. In 1781 the three colonies, Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice, were captured by British privateers. The following year they were taken by France, and restored to Holland in 1783. The British took possession a second time in 1796, retaining them for about six years, at the end of which period they passed back into the hands of Holland once more. The British occupied them in 1803 and they were formally ceded to Great Britain in 1815. The three colonies were consolidated into one under the name of British Guiana in 1831.
Essequibo, Berbice and Demerara all produced a considerable amount of sugar during the Dutch régime. The plantations were on coast and river lands that had been diked and drained. Like all sugar-growing countries, this colony was adversely affected by the abolition of slavery, but owing to the success that attended the introduction of coolies from Hindustan, the labor situation never became so acute as it did in many islands of the West Indies. Traffic in African negro slaves was forbidden in 1808. After 1834 the sugar planters sought free laborers in the neighboring islands and in Madeira. Many people who had been deprived of their means of livelihood by the destruction of the vineyards of Madeira by disease settled in British Guiana. The importation of free negroes from British African possessions was sanctioned by the home government in 1840, and between that year and 1865 a large number of slaves taken by British war ships from Cuban and Brazilian slavers were landed in British Guiana, where they found employment as free laborers. This source of labor supply was cut off by the abolition of slavery in Brazil and other countries. In 1867 the importation of free blacks from British Africa was prohibited and the movement to supply laborers from China came to an end. The Chinese experiment was repeated in 1874 and 1878, but never since. The bringing in of British Indians, however, proved a success ever since the time it was first done in 1838. These laborers are indentured for five years, and five years after the expiration of their contract they have the privilege of being taken back to their homes, without charge. During the five years following their contract term they can obtain work as free hands and they may acquire small parcels of land. In fact many of them have become land owners and have settled permanently in the colony. There are also a considerable number who, after having gone back to India, return to British Guiana of their own volition and at their own expense to work as free laborers.
Most of the sugar plantations are found on the seacoast on lands formerly marshy that have been diked and drained either by sluices or by pumping. The plantations along the river banks, too, are on reclaimed lands that have been drained by sluices. In 1911 there were 160,000 acres of reclaimed land in the colony, and 81,000 acres of it were devoted to sugar cane. The plantations are oblong in shape, one end fronting on the sea or the river, as the case may be. Originally they varied in size from 500 to 1000 acres, but in many instances consolidation has taken place. The dike next to the sea is naturally the strongest and most carefully built, while those at the sides and rear are less substantial. As a rule, there is a broad road that runs through the middle of the plantation, with a navigable canal on either side. These canals contain fresh water, salt water and flood waters being kept out by a gate through which excess fresh water may run off at low tide. Short feeder canals run at right angles, and as they are not connected with the drainage canals they may contain salt water if necessary. In crossing a transportation canal, the waters of drainage canals pass underneath through a siphon. Between these transportation canals are the cane fields, from ten to twenty acres in size, and separated from one another by small drainage ditches. The largest transportation canals are between sixteen and twenty feet wide at the top, between twelve and sixteen feet wide at the bottom and four to five feet deep. The smaller transportation canals are twelve feet wide at the top, nine feet wide at the bottom and four to five feet deep. The large drainage canals are fifteen feet wide and four feet deep, and the irrigation ditches are from two to three feet wide and three feet deep.
Before planting cane in virgin soil the trees are cut down, the ground is cleared of grass and weeds, canals are dug, furrows are made at intervals of from six to seven feet, and then the planting is done. A month later weeds are removed, the young shoots are banked and the ground between the furrows is loosened. When five months old the cane is trashed[77] and weeding is done if necessary. After an interval of three months this operation is repeated, and when the cane is a year old the final trashing is done, the harvesting following two weeks afterward.
When the cane has been cut, the ground is loosened once more, the dry leaves are put in the spaces between the furrows and covered with earth, the young cane shoots come up, and in another year the ratoons are ready for harvesting. Two or three ratoon crops are grown on the same land, but as soon as the yield gets too small the ground is left fallow and planting is done elsewhere. Until recently Bourbon cane was the only variety raised in British Guiana. Of late, however, many kinds of seedling cane have been introduced, and today it is estimated that more than one-half of the crop comes from seedling stock. Fertilizing is done with phosphates, guano, potash, sulphate of ammonia and stable manure.
The cane is brought from the fields to the mills by canal in flat-bottomed boats. The equipment in the factories is good, as a whole; crushing is efficiently done and the juices are boiled to grain in vacuum pans.
In addition to 96-degree centrifugals and second sugars, the celebrated “Demerara crystals” are produced. In making the latter the juice is kept acid throughout the process, from one to five per cent being lost through inversion. Chloride of tin is added in the vacuum pan to heighten the yellow color. The greater part of the molasses goes into the manufacture of rum, and a certain quantity, mixed with ground bagasse, finds a market in England as cattle food.
While on virgin soil the yield of cane runs as high as sixty to seventy tons to the acre, the average is about twenty tons per acre, and the extraction of sugar equals 8½ per cent of the weight of the cane. In late years the number of sugar mills has grown less, owing to the merging of many small plants into a few large ones. In 1908 the area planted in cane was 73,471 acres, and there were forty-two plantations, six of them less than 1000 acres, twenty-five over 1000 acres, six over 2000 acres, four over 3000 acres, and one over 7000 acres in size.
Over half of the sugar exported goes to Canada, the remainder being taken by Great Britain and the United States.
As to the future of British Guiana’s sugar industry, early in 1915 a letter was sent by the government secretary of the colony to the West India committee in London in which it is stated that the possible annual crop on suitable sugar lands eastward of the Pomeroon river is not less than 1,000,000 tons, while, if the large virgin alluvial areas to the east of the Pomeroon river and between there and the Venezuelan boundary were brought under cultivation, the maximum total output might reach 2,500,000 tons per annum. This letter was in reply to a communication addressed by the West India committee to the governors of all of the British sugar-growing possessions for the purpose of securing information regarding the possibilities of development of the industry. Hitherto the United Kingdom has been largely dependent upon foreign countries for its sugar supply, and the movement thus set on foot by the West India committee is to urge upon the home government the importance of drawing the entire sugar requirements of the country from its colonies. This of course would mean the establishment of a preferential tariff.
Exports from British Guiana since 1895, in tons of 2240 pounds:
1895-96 101,059 1896-97 107,073 1897-98 100,839 1898-99 96,648 1899-00 84,783 1900-01 94,745 1901-02 105,694 1902-03 120,127 1903-04 125,949 1904-05 101,278 1905-06 121,693 1906-07 120,334 1907-08 99,737 1908-09 117,176 1909-10 101,843 1910-11 108,297 1911-12 83,294 1912-13 83,922 1913-14 103,774 1914-15 113,632 1915-16 110,000[78]
ARGENTINA
The Argentine republic occupies the southeastern extremity of South America, and extends from 21 degrees 55 minutes to 55 degrees 2 minutes south latitude, and from 53 degrees 40 minutes to 73 degrees 17 minutes west longitude. From north to south its length is 2285 miles, and its greatest width is 930 miles. Its area is 1,135,840[79] square miles, and the population, including the nomadic peoples, numbers about 8,000,000.
Physically, the surface of the country comprises three great divisions: the Andes and the high plateaus to the west, the vast plains of the east and the desolate, barren wastes of Patagonia. Only the northern part lies within the latitudes where sugar cane can be grown, and owing to the mountainous character of that region the area available for cane culture is limited. The provinces of Tucumán, Jujuy, Salta, Santa Fé and Corrientes, and the territories of Formosa, Chaco and Missiones produce the entire sugar crop.
Argentina’s great length and the range of altitude within her borders, from the lofty, snow-clad peaks of the Andes eastward to sea-level, give a widely varied climate, upon which the prevailing winds and the mountain barriers exert a further influence. In the extreme north there is a stretch of country extending about ninety miles into the torrid zone and running from the Pilcomayo river, five hundred miles west, to the Chilean border. The eastern part of this region consists of a low, wooded plain where the mean annual temperature is 73 degrees Fahrenheit and the average annual rainfall is 63 inches. The western end is a dry plateau where the temperature drops below 57 degrees Fahrenheit and the rainfall is only about two inches during the year. In the cane-growing district the rainy season is from October to March. At times during the winter the frost is severe enough to partially wither the cane leaves, but it never wholly kills the cane.
Sugar cane was brought to the La Plata region by the Jesuits, and it appears in the records of the Santo Domingo monastery that sugar was manufactured in Tucumán as early as 1670. After the banishment of the Jesuits nearly one hundred years later, the industry quickly declined, in fact as late as 1871 the total production of Argentina did not exceed 1000 tons. Development in Tucumán followed the completion of the railway, which opened outside markets to the planters of the province in 1876. Railway transportation facilities brought in modern factory equipment and machinery. As a result numerous small primitive mills were eliminated and their owners turned to sugar-cane growing.
Stimulated by a heavy protective tariff, the cane-producing area in Tucumán increased from 12,000 to 104,000 acres between 1881 and 1896, and in other provinces the industry made substantial progress. By 1894 the output exceeded the country’s requirements. This led the government to concede an export bounty in 1896, and a syndicate called the Unión Azucarera was formed by the producers, who agreed to deliver to it 60 per cent of their product. From 1896 to 1904 exports of sugar varied from 15,000 to 50,000 tons per annum. Conditions changed, however. The other South American countries would not buy Argentine sugar, the United States had fixed a countervailing duty on all bounty-fed sugars, and Great Britain was contemplating their exclusion entirely. To save the situation, therefore, it was decided to curtail the output, and the following plan was adopted:
An arbitrary amount was fixed as the total production of the factories in operation, and this tonnage was prorated among them according to their capacity. Upon every 100 kilograms (220.46 lbs.) produced in excess of the allotment, a tax equivalent to 48¾ cents[80] was levied, and factories where operations were not started until after the passage of the law were taxed at this rate upon 25 per cent of their output. The fund raised in this way furnished the compensation for the growers who destroyed their cane crops or left them unharvested. A certain sum was applied to the payment of export bounty[81] and the remainder went into the national treasury.
The Brussels convention, by its provision for countervailing duties, nullified the effect of the export bounty and in 1905 the export privileges were withdrawn.
In 1912 the import duty was established at 3.85 cents gold per pound for 96-degree sugars and 2.977 cents per pound for sugars testing under 96 degrees. A yearly reduction of about one-tenth of a cent per pound was provided for until the rate of 96-degree sugars shall reach 3.0645 cents per pound, and that for those under 96 degrees 2.19 cents. Countervailing duties were also imposed on foreign bounty-fed sugars.
Tucumán produces between 80 per cent and 85 per cent of Argentina’s total crop, the remainder coming largely from Jujuy.
From the “Boletin Mensual de Estadistica Agricola,” Buenos Aires, August, 1913, the following figures are taken:
PROVINCES NO. OF FACTORIES RAW SUGAR YIELD TONS PER CENT
Tucumán 28 121,551 6.8 Salta 1 1,290 8.9 Jujuy 3 20,052 7.9 Chaco 3 2,762 5.9 Formosa 1 231 6.0 Santa Fé 2 838 6.3 Corrientes 1 525 6.6 -- ------- --- 39 147,249 6.9
At the present time, Argentina has over 200,000 acres in sugar cane, and this area can be considerably increased. The present production about takes care of the country’s needs, although a round amount of American refined sugar was imported in the latter part of 1916.
Field methods admit of great improvement. Little care is exercised in the selection of seed cane and disinfection is never practiced. Planting is done in September and October, when the rainy season sets in. Irrigation from rivers and streams is the rule; fertilizers are seldom used, and no preventive measures are adopted to combat diseases of the cane. The yield of cane per acre in poor soil is from nine to fifteen tons, in average soil from eleven to seventeen tons, while on the best lands it is eighteen tons.
Ratoon crops are raised fifteen or more years in succession without replanting, and the period between frosts is too short to admit of the cane reaching maturity.
Grinding is begun about June 1st and usually takes one hundred days, depending, naturally, upon the amount of cane to be crushed.
The factories are modern and equipped with machinery and apparatus of the latest type, but notwithstanding this the recovery of sugar is poor, owing to the quality of the cane. In 1911 the average extraction obtained by the factories of Tucumán was 7.65 per cent. A few factories make white sugar for direct consumption, but the great part of the output consists of raw centrifugal sugar, which is subsequently refined. Most of Argentina’s refined sugar is produced by the Refineria Argentina of Rosario.
Argentina’s sugar industry could not live without a protective tariff, on account of the high cost of production, which even in the best factories is about 4⅓ cents gold per pound. There is no chance to build up an export business now, so, unless conditions change, the production must adjust itself to take care of the consumption and no more.
The statistics from 1906 to 1915 are in long tons:
PRODUCTION IMPORTS RAW RAW REFINED
1906 114,426 646 1,260 1907 107,694 31,434 11,391 1908 157,845 10,648 24,271 1909 121,891 13,546 5,898 1910 146,472 33,542 22,342 1911 177,211 17,866 33,206 1912 147,731 18,728 10,866 1913 275,834 25,081 49,094 1914 330,460 154 6,250 1915 149,864 1 22
FORMOSA
The Japanese island of Formosa (Taiwan) lies off the coast of China, about two hundred miles north of the Philippines, between 21 degrees 45 minutes and 25 degrees 38 minutes north latitude and 120 degrees 10 minutes and 122 degrees east longitude. It is about two hundred and twenty-five miles long and narrow in shape; its width is seventy-seven miles and its total area 13,504 square miles. A range of mountains runs from north to south, and the highest peak is 13,600 feet. The mountainous region is rugged and well wooded, but in the southwestern part there is a fertile plain which is very productive. Rice, tea and sugar are grown pretty much all along the western portion of the island.
In the west, too, are found the best seaports and bays, also the most important towns. In 1905 Formosa had about 3,000,000 inhabitants, nearly all of whom were Chinese.
The climate is tropical, and at sea-level the average temperature in July, which is the hottest month, is about 72 degrees Fahrenheit, while in February, the coldest month, the mean is 51.6 degrees.
Sugar has been known in the island for a great many years. There is a record of a shipment having been made from there to the Netherlands as far back as 1622, from which time the trade was carried on until the competition of the West Indies closed the European markets to Formosan sugars. Nevertheless, the industry prospered and the production grew until during the last years of Chinese rule it amounted to something between 60,000 and 80,000 tons annually. Nearly all of this was soft brown sugar of fine grain, the remainder being a so-called white sugar, made by purging the brown sugar crystals of their syrup.
The island was seized by Japan in 1895, but the Formosans made a stubborn resistance to the invaders, and it was not until 1898 that they were finally subdued and a stable government established by the Japanese. An insurrection broke out in 1902, but was quickly put down, and since then there has been no further trouble.
In 1895 Formosa had something near one thousand small mills, all driven by buffaloes. The product was a brown clayed sugar, similar to that made in the Philippines, and one-half of it was consumed locally, the other half going to China and Japan.
After the subjugation of Formosa in 1898, the Japanese were not immediately able to set about repairing the damage caused by the war. Two years later, however, they took up the task with characteristic energy and thoroughness, and the sugar industry soon felt the effects of the movement. In 1902 measures were passed providing for the establishment of a sugar station at Tainan and for the investigation of all questions relating to the industry. Young Japanese students were sent to Java, Hawaii and Europe to look into methods employed in the cultivation and manufacture of sugar in those countries and to determine by careful observation and study what would be best suited to Formosan conditions. Seed cane was brought in from other countries and comparisons of results obtained from the different plantings were made at an experiment station built by the government at Daimokko. Striped Tanna and Lahaina canes throve well, but they were rejected because they required an extraordinary amount of irrigation and constant care. The Rose Bamboo, on the other hand, was hardier and did not need so much water, consequently the experts at the sugar station did everything they possibly could to encourage its use.
At the same time the government offered companies starting sugar refineries a bonus of six per cent per annum for five years on the paid-up capital, or a single bonus of twenty per cent of the value of the plant and equipment. Other enterprises were supplied with machinery by the government for five years; in other words, the machinery was bought with government money and the sugar company was given five years in which to reimburse the government. Cane lands could be acquired on very favorable terms, and any planter who was willing to bind himself to raise a crop of cane for five consecutive years was supplied with fertilizer by the government, free of cost. These privileges remained open until the early part of 1911, when they were abrogated.
About the first enterprise to receive the benefit of this special legislation was the Taiwan Sugar company, incorporated in 1900 with a paid-in capital of 500,000 yen, which carried a bonus of 30,000 yen from the government. The company’s intention was to buy the cane from the growers and make it into sugar for the Japanese market. The factory was ready for business by the fall of the following year, but as soon as grinding was begun the Chinese farmers manifested a decided unwillingness to furnish cane. As a consequence, the sugar company determined to grow its own cane, and after increasing its capital to 1,000,000 yen proceeded to carry out this plan. Arrangements were made to turn out 30 tons of sugar per day during the grinding period of 150 days, but the first year’s results were only 1200 tons.
Two factories near Tainan owned by Chinese were started about this time at the instigation of the government, and also with its assistance. Unfortunately, the operators did not understand how to use the modern equipment furnished them by the authorities. Further trouble arose in connection with the buying of the cane and there was constant friction between the factories and the government experts at the sugar bureau. So the venture proved far from profitable either to the factories or the industry.
The Chinese growers continued to cling tenaciously to their crude method of grinding cane in their buffalo-driven mills, instead of selling it to the factories, and they obstinately refused to plant the new and more productive variety of cane, Rose Bamboo, imported from the Hawaiian islands by the government for seed purposes—this in spite of the fact that cane tops for planting could be obtained gratis at the sugar station, and that the substitution of the better cane entitled the farmer to free fertilizer, irrigation privileges and a money bonus.
It was plain that the government would have to take more vigorous action to save its sugar program for Formosa from complete failure, so in 1905 new regulations were framed and made public. Under these rules no one could embark in the business of manufacturing sugar without first securing the official sanction of the director of the sugar bureau. A fixed territory was assigned to the newcomer with the express understanding that no other factory could be established there and that all the cane growers in the territory were obligated to sell their cane to the factory and forbidden to send it out of the district or put it to any other use. The factory owner on his side bound himself to take all the cane grown in his district, even if the supply should be greater than his needs. In order to stimulate modern methods of manufacture, the sugar bureau prohibited the grinding of cane by the growers in their buffalo mills, except by special permission.
In certain sections of the island where there was no cane cultivation, large tracts of land might be granted outright to persons engaging in sugar raising and manufacture. In such cases the capacity of the factory and the period of operation was agreed upon in advance, and as soon as the land was planted to cane, the title to it passed to the factory. If, however, the owners of the factory failed to act in good faith, the undertaking was declared void and the factory dismantled.
By 1911 twenty-nine large factories were in operation and nine others were being built. Every one of these establishments was new and equipped with the latest and most improved machinery.
It was officially announced in November, 1910, that no further charters authorizing the forming of new sugar companies or the extending of the operations of those already in existence would be issued, the reason given being the desire to limit the production to the requirements of Japan until such a time as an outlet could be found in the markets of the world. The measure was regarded as a temporary one.
The opposition of the native farmer to the new order of things was not overcome at once. Cane plantings decreased at first, but when the natives realized that cane paid them better than other crops, they gradually resumed cultivating it on the same scale as formerly, and the government bonus on Rose Bamboo cane helped matters still further.
As long as the manufacturers are far-seeing enough to pay the grower a fair figure for his cane, the supply will be forthcoming. Conversely, if too low a price is offered, the farmer will be driven to raise other crops, and, as the factory cannot purchase cane outside of its own district, lack of material will prevent it from running at full capacity, which means a heavy loss. So there is an excellent reason for maintaining the price of cane at a point which enables the grower to make a profit. Another potent factor, too, is that the price must receive the approval of the government. It is significant that the factories built between 1907 and 1911 have all been put up without government aid.
Irrigation in Formosa has not been developed to any extent and the crop depends upon the rainfall. In the southern part of the island the monsoons are fairly regular and plentiful rains can be counted upon between June and September, with a dry period from November to April. In the north climatic conditions are not so good, and consequently all of the large sugar enterprises are to be found in the south. Ploughing by the natives is poorly done with wooden ploughs, but the modern plantations use steam ploughs with excellent results. Cane is planted every year and there are no ratoon crops. Grinding usually takes 150 days, beginning in November and ending in May.
The old-fashioned mills turn out a soft brown or yellowish white, open-pan sugar. The modern plants make centrifugal sugar only, practically all of which goes to Japan, although shipments have been made to China, Korea, Hong Kong and even Canada. The molasses is consumed at home.
Just how much of the open-pan brown sugar is used in Formosa itself it is impossible to determine, but Willett & Gray’s figures for the crops, by years, since 1901 clearly show what strides the industry has made:
1901-02 48,381 long tons 1902-03 34,769 ” 1903-04 60,650 ” 1904-05 50,276 ” 1905-06 64,190 ” 1906-07 81,448 ” 1907-08 68,450 ” 1908-09 122,000 ” 1909-10 205,000 ” 1910-11 267,000 ” 1911-12 173,224 ” 1912-13 113,100 ” 1913-14 190,000 ” 1914-15 186,000 ” 1915-16 290,953 ” 1916-17 338,997 ”[82]
The crop of 1911-12 suffered severely from prolonged drought at planting time, and the typhoons of August, 1911, devastated the cane fields. The effect of this disaster was to deter the natives from planting cane the following year, and in consequence the production for that season was cut down more than fifty per cent.
It is obvious that the rapid development in Formosa has been brought about by the paternal policy of the government, without whose powerful aid the industry would in all probability have made but slow progress. The total of Japan’s sugar consumption is about 300,000 tons per annum, and it is perhaps safe to hazard the guess that her statesmen will do everything they can in reason to encourage production in her own territory until this quantity shall have been reached.[83]
JAVA
Java, the seat of the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies, lies in the Indian ocean south of Sumatra and Borneo, between 105 degrees 12 minutes and 114 degrees 35 minutes east longitude, and between 5 degrees 52 minutes and 8 degrees 46 minutes south latitude. It is 622 miles long and 121 miles wide at its greatest breadth, and this narrows to about 55 miles toward the middle of the island. The area of Java proper is 48,504 square miles, Madura comprises 1732 square miles and the smaller islands under Javan jurisdiction cover 1416 square miles.
Of the three general divisions of Java, the east, the middle and the west, each has certain structural features of its own. In west Java the highlands lie to the south and the lowlands to the north. Middle Java takes in the isthmus and part of the wide eastern portion. In the isthmus the mountain barrier on the south is less regular and the northern plains are broken to a certain extent. The eastern division is made up of an intricate confusion of hills and valleys, except on the south coast, where the mountain range forms a continuous barrier. The shore line of the north coast is low everywhere, with morasses, sand dunes and shifting river mouths, but it is of much greater importance than the south coast, which is steep, at intervals rocky and constantly battered by a violent surf.
Java is one of the most distinctly volcanic regions of the world—it has fourteen active volcanoes and one hundred and twenty-five recognized volcanic centers.
Both the north and south coast lines are broken by rivers, the principal ones being on the north. In the dry season they contain little water, but during the rainy monsoon[84] they frequently become rushing torrents that burst their banks and overflow the surrounding country. Such inundations carry with them a considerable amount of disintegrated volcanic rock, part of which is deposited on the plains and swept seaward. In this manner the alluvial plains near the river courses are formed and the shoals in the harbors and at the river mouths as well.
Java enjoys a comparatively even temperature the year round. Ninety-six degrees Fahrenheit was recorded in Batavia in 1877 and that is the highest mark known. The lowest was 66 degrees Fahrenheit, which was experienced in the same place in the same year. The mean annual temperature is 79 degrees Fahrenheit, and the difference between the warmest and the coldest months is 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. The year is divided into two seasons by the prevailing winds—the rainy period, that of the wet monsoon, from November to March, and the dry period the remainder of the year, when the dry monsoon blows. There is no long unbroken rainfall and no long spell of drought. The average rainfall is much greater on the south coast than on the north: in Batavia it is 72.28 inches yearly, while Majalenka has an annual fall of 175 inches. Wind-storms are rare and hardly ever cyclonic, but thunderstorms are of frequent occurrence. Under an almost vertical sun, the day is of nearly uniform length throughout the year.
The plains vary in fertility according to their geological formation, but with the exception of the regions abounding in marshes, stretches of disintegrated coral, and lakes, they are tillable and productive.
Sugar cane was brought to Java by the Chinese or Hindus in very remote times. The Chinese pilgrim Fa Hien mentions having found sugar there when he visited the island in 424,[85] and as trading was constantly carried on between Arabia, India, China and Java, there is but little doubt that when the secret of boiling the sugar juice to a grain was discovered it became known to all of them at once.
About 1520 the Portuguese established trade relations with the natives and early in the seventeenth century the Dutch influence began to make itself felt. The Dutch East India company built forts and set up trading stations in the coast towns; at first it acquired only small pieces of land in Jakatra (Batavia) and it was some time before its holdings were increased. Finally Jakatra was conquered and the Dutch power in Java firmly established. But little was done at the outset to help the sugar industry, as the policy of the Dutch East India company was to foster trade in the products of the East rather than undertake to raise any of the commodities itself. The sugars that were sent by it to the mother country at the beginning of its operations, therefore, came from China, Formosa, Siam and Bengal, and no Javan sugars reached Holland until after 1637, in which year the company decided to establish sugar mills on its own land near Batavia.
It also parceled out land to Chinese sugar growers and granted them special concessions in consideration of the entire product of the land being sold to the company at an agreed figure. Prices and terms changed from year to year, however, and much confusion and dissatisfaction resulted. War, cane pests, cattle diseases and labor troubles still further complicated the situation. In 1648 the company’s plantations produced 124 tons and in 1652 the outturn was 723 tons. The increase in West Indian production hurt the Javan factories and the war in Bantam in 1660 stopped development. In 1652, twenty mills were running, but in 1660 half of the number had closed. Peace with Bantam was concluded in 1684 and matters then began to improve. By 1710, one hundred and thirty mills were in operation and the industry was extended to Bantam, Cheribon and Japara. The policy of the company, however, was to restrict production so as to keep up prices, and to this end it prohibited the erection of any new mills and limited the output of those that were running to eighteen tons per annum each, thus fixing a maximum total of 2340 tons. This amount was not realized, however, as the number of factories decreased until in 1745 only sixty-five were in operation in the territory near Batavia. The company then decided to raise the number to seventy, and five years later it added ten more. As years went on the number of factories diminished, but their capacity increased, and in 1779 fifty-five mills furnished 6176 tons of sugar to the company.
The Dutch East India company was dissolved in 1795 and the Dutch interests in Java passed under the control of the Batavian republic,[86] afterward the kingdom of Holland, which was brought under French rule when Holland fell into the hands of Napoleon. In 1811 it was seized by England and was finally restored to Holland in 1816.
All this time the regulations governing the sugar industry were being constantly changed. The producers had always been at loggerheads with the company, for while they were bound to deliver their entire output to the company, it did not consider itself obligated to take delivery of any definite amount. This left the planters in a very unsatisfactory position, as they could never look ahead with any degree of certainty. At length a law was passed in 1797 calling upon the factories near Batavia to produce 2810 short tons yearly for the government, with the privilege to them to dispose of any sugars made in excess of this amount for their own account. A similar law affecting the factories on the north and east coasts was proposed. In this territory there were thirty-one factories in 1794 with a capacity of 1000 tons, which quantity it was proposed to increase to 2000 tons for delivery to the government and 500 tons for sales for account of the producers. In furtherance of this plan, the mill owners were to be granted tracts of new cane land and the government was to make cash advances up to 50 per cent of the estimated value of the growing crop. These propositions were never carried into effect, and a production of 1000 tons per annum remained the maximum for that section of the country.
In the vicinity of Batavia, however, the measure was a success, especially as the government encouraged the manufacturers by increased advances and by supporting prices. The result was that during the early years of the nineteenth century the production grew, but a sharp decline came in 1811-13, and in the latter year the total production of Java fell to about 600 tons.
The causes were not hard to find. Holland was dominated by France and sea traffic was blocked by the British, so that Java had to keep her sugar in storage at home. Nevertheless, the government continued to encourage the production in the hope of an early peace and so that the industry might not die out. Each year, therefore, added to the government’s stocks of sugar until the amount became burdensome for financial reasons, and the traditional policy of the government was abandoned. Manufacturers were allowed to dispose of their sugars freely and without restriction, but unfortunately the privilege was granted at a time when it was impossible to sell and the British occupation of Java did not mend matters.
When Java was restored to Holland in 1816, the new government continued the freedom of the industry, but it had received so severe a check that to revive it was a difficult matter. In 1826 the output was 1220 tons, and in this year the authorities renewed the system of making advances and stimulated growth and manufacture, so that in 1830 the production had increased to 6700 tons.
That same year a new governor-general, van den Bosch, was appointed. He was entrusted with the task of making the island a producer of the commodities required by the mother country and was given a free hand as to the means to be employed in accomplishing his purpose. The plan he put into effect was known as the “Cultural System” and its principal features were as follows:
In the districts adapted to sugar cultivation, the natives were to contribute one-third of their arable land to be planted in cane as required. The natives were to till the fields, supply fuel and cattle for ploughing and transportation, and in consideration of this they were exempted from the free service due from them by law to the state. Payment for labor was to be made out of the proceeds of the crops after deducting the land tax.
The crushing of the cane and its manufacture into sugar was done under contract by private individuals who were assisted by government money in the building of factories. The contractors turned over the sugar to the government at a fixed rate, at the same time repaying the money advanced to them.
At the outset there was next to no profit for either the government or the producers, in fact the first few years showed an actual loss, so that it became a hard matter to induce anyone to undertake the manufacture of sugar on a contract basis. This led to a modification of the regulations and the manufacturers were permitted to sell a part of their output on their own account. In this way their interest was stimulated and there was a change for the better, attended by a profit both for the producer and the state. By 1870 the government, recognizing that the sugar industry was established on a sound footing, decided to withdraw from any participation in the manufacture and a new set of rules was formulated, under which the government’s direct connection with the industry was confined to the growing of the cane. The government then had to dispose of a portion of the land and the native labor at a just figure, and when once the cane crop was turned over to the contractor he had to take care of any further field work, together with the harvesting and transportation of the cane, out of his own funds without government help. Commencing with the year 1879, the government was to reduce its interest in the original contract plantations one-thirteenth annually, so that government participation in both cultivation and manufacture of sugar should terminate by 1891. It was stipulated that the manufacturers could make whatever disposition of their output they wished, and in lieu of rent for the land they planted to cane, they were to pay a fixed price for the cane, and in addition a premium based on the yield of the years 1864-69. On privately owned plantations the government exacted a tax of $10.00 for every 1.74 acres. This tax on privately grown cane was abolished in 1886 in order to stimulate the then languishing industry, and the premium on state plantations was cut down one-half between 1887 and 1891, with the proviso that the payment of the other half should be deferred until 1892-96.
Unfortunately for the producers in Java, there was a disastrous slump in sugar prices just about the time these new measures were formulated. The tremendous output of beet sugar sent the price below cost in 1882-84, and besides this a strange disease, called _sereh_, worked havoc with the cane in the fields and caused serious loss. This disease made its appearance in western Java in 1884 and spread rapidly, affecting the production everywhere. After carrying on a hard but losing fight for some years, the sugar men summoned science to their aid in this difficulty. H. C. Prinsen Geerligs was called to Java in 1891 and three experimental stations were established to fight the sereh. Through the efforts of the officials in charge of the experiment stations, specimens of cane were brought from all parts of the cane-producing world, the object being to find a cane that would be as rich in sugar as the Black Cheribon (the most popular variety then grown in Java) and yet able to withstand the sereh. Fresh healthy cane was planted for seed purposes in the mountains, far from the disease-infected region, and much care was taken in the way of disinfection and quarantine precaution to prevent the sereh from spreading into the sections that were free from it. These measures were accompanied by exhaustive scientific experiment work to find out the cause and the nature of the disease and how it could be overcome.
These stations not only accomplished the purpose for which they were built, but they were of great benefit to the industry in all of its branches. As a result, planting, growing and manufacturing methods have been vastly improved, chemical control of factories has been introduced and economic scientific methods govern every department of the work. By these means, supported by the addition of fresh capital, the sugar industry of Java was not only saved from extinction, but was lifted into a very prominent world’s place, and for years past Java has furnished an example of remarkable efficiency and low cost of production.
Java’s sugar plantations are situated in the eastern and central part of the island. The surface of much of the western end is broken and mountainous, lacking uninterrupted stretches of level land suitable for agriculture, and presenting obstacles to transportation. The great drawback, however, even in the vast plain of Krawang, is climatic. As has been said, the ideal climate for sugar cane is one that combines abundant rain during the period of growth with an uninterrupted dry season to ripen the cane and admit of its being readily harvested and transported to the mill. In west Java these conditions do not obtain, as the wet and dry seasons are not sharply defined.
The plains along the north central coast, east of the river Tjimanoek, between the sea and the foothills are, with the exception of a few open stretches, devoted to cane growing. There is also a considerable area in cane south of the central chain of mountains.
In east Java the sugar estates are found in the wide valley of the river Brantas, on the plateaus of the provinces of Madioen and Kediri, in the fertile plains along the north coast and in the lowlands bordering upon the Bali strait.
In 1912 Java had 184 sugar factories in operation, divided among the various residencies as follows:
ACREAGE SUGAR PRODUCED RESIDENCY FACTORIES IN CANE TONS OF 2240 LBS.
Cheribon 12 22,346 85,728 Pekalongan 15 29,847 124,322 Samarang 12 22,490 97,462 Banjoemas 5 } 18,640 82,142 Kedoe 2 } Djokjakarta 18 27,785 120,384 Soerakarta 16 24,122 97,706 Madioen 6 13,376 47,463 Kediri 20 48,005 195,232 Sourabaya 38 65,633 275,920 Pasoeroean 29 57,684 199,390 Bezoeki 11 16,763 58,493 --- ------- --------- Total 184 346,691 1,384,242
While these figures show the acreage actually under cane, the total amount of land used in the production of the crop is much greater. It takes over twelve months for the cane to mature, and as some fields are being cut others are being planted. The ground required for factory buildings, dwellings, roads and other purposes connected with the industry must also be taken into account, and it has been estimated that altogether 1,200,000 acres are tributary to cane culture. The annual plantings cover about 350,000 acres and the portion of the remainder that is not devoted to roads, buildings and so forth is sown with other crops or allowed to lie fallow for a time.
The general plan of crop rotation on an average is:
First year May-October, sugar-cane crop is cut. ” October-November, soya beans, maize, etc. ” November-April, rice. Second year April-November, indigo, tobacco, beans, fallow. ” November-April, rice. Third year April until May-October of the fourth year, sugar-cane crop.
Sometimes tapioca is planted instead of rice immediately after the cane crop is harvested, but cane invariably follows a rice crop. The European planter confines his operations to sugar cane, and the other products are raised by the native farmer exclusively by his own efforts and on his own account.
The terms under which plantation land is held in Java differ widely from those that govern in other cane-growing countries. Between 1830 and 1879, when the compulsory cultural plan was in effect, the government determined what lands were to be planted in cane. It compelled the natives to cultivate and harvest the crop, but allowed them compensation for their labor and the use of their fields. The wages thus paid were ultimately accounted for when the sugar was sold by the government. Each district, or group of districts, delivered the cane product to the mill agreed upon and the grinding was done under a contract with the government.
When, at a later period, the sugar estates had to produce their own cane, they gradually took over the land on a rental basis and grew cane upon it by paid native labor. In 1879, when cultivation was free, the government factories had 7531 acres leased from the natives, in addition to 64,470 acres of cane that they ground under contract with the government. At this time the independent factories had 16,824 acres rented and were growing cane upon it under their own management and for their own account.
During the gradual abolition of the cultural system, the fields first given up by the government were those situated at a considerable distance from the factories and those to which it was difficult to bring water for irrigation. It came about naturally that when the factories had the selecting of the lands they were to rent, they picked out the best in their neighborhood for their purposes. In this way an exchange of the tilled fields was effected. Subsequently, estates were extended and new tracts of land occupied, but in increasing the acreage, each factory was careful to confine its operations to its own district and thus avoid competing with other factories in renting new ground. The old-established factories already had their acreage, and when the compulsory cultivation plan was abandoned, they mutually agreed upon the territory in which each factory should rent land without interference on the part of any of the others. Whenever a new plantation was established, its district was clearly defined, so it will be seen that under this plan there could be no competitive bidding on land rents. There have been instances of newcomers having disregarded this convention, but in every case they have sooner or later acknowledged their error, and today there is perfect harmony among the factors as to the territory in which each interest rents its land.
In Java, cane is almost always grown on lands irrigated by the same means that are employed in irrigating rice, the privilege of using these works being included in the rent of the land. Under the compulsory régime it was the rule that in the dry season irrigation water should be utilized for the cane fields during the day and for native agriculture during the night, and this regulation remained effective after the withdrawal of the government from the industry.
As the water supply was controlled by private enterprises, it frequently happened that in a time of scarcity it was not impartially distributed. After 1890, when the acreage of the cane plantations was being constantly extended, the authorities found themselves obliged to prevent encroachment by the cane growers on the land required to produce the necessities of life for the natives, and also to see to it that the new extensions of cane land should not be allowed to appropriate an undue proportion of the available water to the detriment of both the established plantations and the native agriculture. Accordingly, in 1894, legislation touching the renting of land and the use of water was begun, the principal features being as follows:
All new sugar enterprises, or any addition to an existing enterprise, to apply to the director of the civil service for his sanction of the undertaking, and the applicant to declare the maximum area of land to be planted with cane each year, as well as the names of the districts in which it is desired to rent cane lands.
The authorities investigate conditions in order to determine whether or not the proposed increase will conform to the rules governing the “Lease under contract with the native population.” They are also careful to satisfy themselves that the granting of the request will not produce unfair disparity between the amount of land and water used for cane cultivation and that devoted to the raising of foods for the natives.
The permit to rent the necessary amount of ground provides that, while the length of the lease may vary according to conditions, the land cannot be held by the sugar factory any longer than is necessary to grow and harvest one crop of cane. This takes between fifteen and seventeen months, and the land must be in the hands of the native farmer directly before and after that period. Leases to be valid must be drawn up before a civil-service official and have his approval.
No permits for the establishment of new factories or the extension of existing enterprises will be issued for the time being in districts where important changes in the irrigating system, either new construction or additions, are contemplated. As a rule, the period during which the natives are prohibited from renting lands that have been opened up to irrigation for the first time is fixed at five years. This is done in order to afford the natives an opportunity to realize what the land is worth before leasing it. The amount of water to be used in the growing of rice and other crops as well as cane has also been clearly agreed upon and great care is taken to see that full justice is done to all concerned.
As the water brought by canal is not sufficient to irrigate the entire cane acreage, the government has allowed the factories to install a number of large pumping plants by which water is raised from rivers. In such cases, whenever the factories have pumped water enough for their own requirements, they are generally willing to operate the pump free of cost to supply water to the native farmer.
In the principalities or semi-independent states of Java, where the native princes have made grants of land to their nobles as appanage, another rental system prevails. Both princes and nobles lease large tracts of land for long periods to European agriculturists, and such leases include not only the fertile portion with the irrigation facilities and the water, but the rocky, barren spaces as well. Here the tenant has to make the most of the possibilities of the property and determine what part of it is best suited for cane culture and what part for other purposes.
Besides the two plans of tenure just described, certain lands are held under absolute title or perpetual lease. Over a hundred years ago large tracts were sold outright at times, the title carrying all the seignioral rights, and consequently the owners are free to plant and irrigate without restriction. In later years European farmers were no longer permitted to purchase, but much jungle land was leased for seventy-five-year periods. Such leases were made for the most part in mountainous or sparsely settled territory, and as sugar culture thrives best in the low plains where labor is plentiful, sugar has not been benefited as much by the long-term leases as have tea and cinchona bark. Still there are sugar plantations that hold land under perpetual lease with unrestricted rights and water for irrigation.
Plantations situated in the thickly populated lowlands have no trouble in securing labor, but it is another matter in districts that have been newly opened up or on perpetual-lease holdings where the population is small. In the last two cases labor must be brought in from other districts, and sometimes there is difficulty in doing this, especially during the rice harvest or when large public works are under construction.
However, such conditions are unusual, and, as compared with other sugar-producing countries, Java is in a peculiarly fortunate position with respect to a steady supply of good labor at low cost. All of the arduous work is done by men, but women cut cane tops, plant seed and do watering and weeding, while children are employed in destroying insects and other light work.
In April or May, as soon as the rice crop has been cut, the field is prepared for planting sugar cane. The soil is first drained of its superfluous moisture, and, if the ground be loose, it is generally ploughed several times. Heavy soils, instead of being ploughed, are treated by the Reynoso method. This consists of digging deep ditches to carry off the subsoil water and to supply irrigation water later on. The plot is then divided by cross ditches into pieces about one-sixth of an acre in size and finally the furrows for the seed are dug. These furrows are generally thirty feet long, from twelve to eighteen inches wide, twelve or fifteen inches deep and four or five feet apart. The earth displaced in digging is piled up between the furrows. Thus prepared, the field is left exposed to wind and sun for about six weeks and at the end of this period the heavy wet clods have crumbled into a gray or light-brown powder. During the drying-out process the grass has to be removed repeatedly, and in case of rain, the soil that is washed down into the furrows is thrown back upon the ridges to prevent the furrows from silting up. The hard bottom of the furrow is loosened or square holes are dug in it and filled with loose soil. Part of the earth on the ridges is thrown into the furrow and the field is then ready for planting.
Before the outbreak of the sereh, seed for new plantations was obtained exclusively from tops of ripe cane, but when the disease became prevalent, it was found that cuttings taken from sereh-infected cane gave diseased yields, while cuttings from cane grown in districts not affected by the sereh produced cane that did not suffer so greatly from the disease. At the beginning of the trouble, cuttings from outside healthy districts were used, but as the disease spread, the demand for sound cuttings increased while the sources of supply became fewer. Finally, plantations were established in remote districts free from disease and they were carefully quarantined. Here seedlings were grown from young cane cut at full length, and in this way sound seed was obtainable at all times. Formerly, seed was only to be had in the grinding season, which frequently occasioned delays in planting. The new plan not only enabled the cane growers to stamp out the sereh, but even after the disease had been practically eradicated it was continued because of its manifest advantages.
Seedlings used for planting are cut into lengths, each having three eyes. Unhealthy stalks and any showing the presence of insect pests or fungi are culled, while the sound pieces are carefully disinfected. The seed thus prepared is placed horizontally in the furrows end-to-end and covered with earth. At first water is applied at four- or five-day intervals, afterward less frequently, until the cane has attained a considerable height. About this time the rainy monsoon sets in and further irrigation is not needed. The stalks are banked several times during the early period of growth and fertilizing accompanies the second and third banking. Until comparatively recently the fertilizer consisted of nitrogenous substances, while potash and phosphoric acid were considered of no value. The first investigations concerning fertilizers were made on rich lands that had been irrigated with river water when the wet rice crop was being grown, and the water brought with it sufficient potash and phosphates for the needs of the cane. In such cases it was shown that adding these substances to the soil was unnecessary and that nitrogen was the only element that could increase the yield of cane. Hence groundnut cakes and sulphate of ammonia were used almost entirely. It has been proved, however, by more thorough study that much ground is low in phosphates, and this fertilizer has been added with excellent results. As regards potash, the soil of Java seems to contain sufficient for cane cultivation.
When the cane leaves become sufficiently thick to shade the ground the weeds die. Borers, beetle larvae and termites are caught during the early growing period, but all labor stops with the last banking and the advent of the wet monsoon. When the wet season is over, the cane is trashed and samples of the growing cane are taken from the fields and tested in the laboratory of the factory to determine the degree of ripeness. As soon as the roads become dry enough to admit of cane-laden carts passing over them, the harvesting of the ripest cane begins. The cane is dug up by the roots, care being taken to leave as little as possible of the roots in the ground. The roots and the earth adhering to them are removed, together with the leaves and tops, and the clean cane is loaded on cars to be taken to the mill.
Formerly carts drawn by oxen and buffaloes were used to transport the cane to the factory, but the crop has grown to such proportions that cattle-drawn carts have had to give way to the rail. Today nearly every plantation has its own railroad with permanent and portable tracks, over which the cane moves in cars hauled by cattle or locomotives.
Having been unloaded at the mill, the cane is taken to the crushers on carriers. Three sets of rolls are generally used and water is sprayed on the cane before the last crushing, after which the bagasse is fed to the furnaces as fuel. The juice is strained to free it from fragments of cane and leaves, then milk of lime is added and heat applied. The heavy impurities settle at the bottom, the clear juice is drawn off and the remaining juice is separated from the foreign matter in the filter presses. Another method is to treat the juice at a low temperature with a large admixture of milk of lime, and afterward with carbonic acid or sulphurous acid until all the lime is neutralized. Then all the juice is clarified by filtration without the settling operation. Next follow evaporation, refiltering, boiling to grain and separation of the crystals from the mother liquor in centrifugal machines.
In 1903 the Java manufacturers began to make a bid for the British Indian trade. After some experimenting they succeeded in producing an almost-white raw sugar, which at once found favor in India, where sugar refined by the bone-char process was objected to for religious reasons. Statistics compiled for the year 1912 show that this so-called “Java white” represented 39.2 per cent of the entire output; 26.2 per cent was muscavado, 29.9 per cent European assortment and 4.7 per cent second sugars.
Java, with her population of more than thirty millions, presents altogether different conditions to the sugar grower than other cane-producing countries. A large proportion of the agricultural area is needed for crops of food to nourish the inhabitants. The land available for sugar cane is rented at an equitable figure and, as has been said, there is always an ample supply of cheap and readily obtainable labor. The aim of the Javan planter is to produce cane carrying a high sugar content and to get as great a yield as possible. To this end, unceasing attention is paid to cultivation, fertilizing and the general well-being of the crop; in other words, the soil is worked for all there is in it.
While the scientists of the country are absorbed in the task of producing through cross-culture new species of cane that will give a heavier yield per acre with a higher sugar content and greater purity, the agriculturists are opening up extensive fresh tracts of rice and cane land. New irrigation projects play an important part in this development and everything points to a steady growth of the industry.
The following table shows the annual output since 1840 in tons of 2240 pounds:
1840 46,296 1841 45,176 1842 50,320 1843 55,544 1844 62,419 1845 89,526 1846 86,263 1847 81,431 1848 88,512 1849 103,445 1850 85,153 1851 118,443 1852 74,806 1853 109,961 1854 110,323 1855 102,321 1856 123,124 1857 104,479 1858 130,725 1859 131,571 1860 134,001 1861 134,726 1862 142,755 1863 129,716 1864 138,009 1865 135,714 1866 140,042 1867 130,947 1868 175,960 1869 179,579 1870 150,184 1871 187,851 1872 205,992 1873 195,924 1874 198,318 1875 190,576 1876 234,111 1877 241,930 1878 221,140 1879 229,616 1880 212,763 1881 274,796 1882 287,392 1883 319,574 1884 388,019 1885 374,041 1886 350,397 1887 369,847 1888 349,719 1889 327,735 1890 393,680 1891 400,372 1892 415,332 1893 472,082 1894 522,574 1895 572,381 1896 525,947 1897 577,036 1898 713,575 1899 750,400 1900 732,498 1901 791,046 1902 882,966 1903 929,880 1904 1,038,373 1905 1,022,759 1906 1,050,926 1907 1,191,007 1908 1,222,262 1909 1,227,553 1910 1,258,222 1911 1,443,397 1912 1,331,180 1913 1,345,230 1914 1,303,045 1915 1,264,000 1916 1,500,000[87]
AUSTRALIA
The island-continent of Australia lies south of Asia, between the Indian and Pacific oceans, and it extends from 10 degrees 41 minutes to 39 degrees 8 minutes south latitude and from 113 degrees to 153 degrees 30 minutes east longitude. Its area is 2,974,581 square miles and the population, not including aborigines, is 4,455,005, mainly of British origin.
Dutch and Spanish explorers visited Australia in 1606. On April 19, 1770, its eastern coast was first sighted by Cook, who, nine days later, dropped anchor in Botany bay. Sailing north, he touched at several points, and after having completed a survey of the east coast, he took possession of the territory between 38 degrees south and 10 degrees 30 minutes south. He reached Australia again in 1772 and in 1777 he landed on the coasts of Tasmania and New Zealand. The first settlement was established at Port Jackson in 1788 and gold was discovered in 1851. The commonwealth of Australia comprises the following political divisions: Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania.
As over 90 per cent of Australia’s sugar crop comes from Queensland, this article will deal with the growth and condition of the industry in that state only. Queensland has an area of 668,497 square miles, of which 920,010 acres were under cultivation in 1913; of this, 147,743 acres were planted with sugar cane.
About one-half of Queensland lies in the tropics and the remaining area stretches southward to the twenty-ninth parallel. The temperature is affected in a marked degree by the breezes that blow steadily from the sea and moderate what otherwise would be excessive heat. It is warmer along the coast than in the uplands of the interior, and in the northern part the heat is very trying to people who have come from temperate climes. At Rockhampton the winter temperature averages 65 degrees Fahrenheit, and in summer the mean is nearly 85 degrees. The annual rainfall on the seacoast is large, particularly in the north, where it ranges between 60 and 70 inches. At Brisbane it is about 47 inches, while a large part of the interior receives from 20 to 30 inches, but it falls below 20 inches in the west and south. There are no active volcanoes in Australia and no violent earthquakes have occurred in recent years.
The sugar plantations of Queensland are found in a strip of territory running along the eastern coast between the sixteenth parallel and the southern border. This stretch of land has been divided into three districts, the southern, the central and the northern, the last being the most important, as it furnishes over 60 per cent of the total sugar production of the state.
The cane lands are of two kinds—scrub land and forest land. The scrub lands may be divided into two classes, _true scrub_ and _bastard scrub_, the former being characterized by a dense, almost impenetrable vine growth and timber of soft wood. In the bastard scrub there are both hard and soft woods, the former predominating, and very little vine growth is met with. The soil of true scrub lands is of two kinds, alluvial and volcanic. The alluvial soil is composed of clay, fine sand, gravel and vegetable and mineral matter brought from the high levels by water action. The soil of forest lands is diversified and, for sugar-cane culture, “blady grassed” bloodwood country with a porous subsoil is selected. Here the yield of cane per acre is not so heavy as on scrub lands, but the sugar content of the juice is greater.
The growth of sugar cane and the manufacture of sugar in Australia date back to 1823, but no substantial progress was made for a number of years. The first cane to be raised in Queensland was grown in the botanic gardens in Brisbane in 1847 and sugar was first manufactured in that state in 1862. The following year Captain Louis Hope had twenty acres in cane on a plantation near Brisbane and to him is due the credit of establishing the sugar industry in Queensland. In 1867 there were nearly 2000 acres in cane and six mills in operation, while the next year saw 5000 acres planted, with twenty-eight mills at work. The industry grew and throve until 1875, when the cane crop was almost completely destroyed by a disease known as “rust,” which was really due to imperfect cultivation, lack of proper drainage and the soft variety of the cane. As over 60 per cent of the estates were being operated with borrowed capital, the planters found themselves in serious financial trouble and many mortgages were foreclosed. Up to this time Bourbon cane was the variety generally grown, and when the disease wrought such havoc with the crop, it was noticed that the Rappoe cane did not suffer from rust. The hardiness of this variety encouraged the growers to substitute it and other sturdy species of cane for the Bourbon. The change proved entirely successful and the planters enjoyed good times once more.
The sugar industry of Queensland was carried on at the outset under the plantation system, that is to say, the planter, besides growing the cane, owned the mill and manufactured the sugar. This method worked very well until 1884, when a period of extreme depression came in the wake of the great boom that began in 1879. In 1885 the industry appeared to be in danger of extinction, and, as a remedial measure, the legislative assembly voted £50,000 for the establishing of central factories. Two mills were operated on the new plan as an experiment with such marked success that an act was passed in 1893 to foster the development of the central-factory system. The act enabled a number of planters to form a co-operative company for the purpose of building and equipping a central