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.
[Illustration: HAULING CANE IN THE FIELDS, LOUISIANA]
[Illustration: HAULING CANE IN THE FIELDS, LOUISIANA]
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.
[Illustration: _A. Moscioni, Photo._
SUGAR PLANTATION SCENE IN PORTO RICO]
[Illustration: _A. Moscioni, Photo._
SUGAR-SHIPPING PORT, PORTO RICO]
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.
[Illustration: _A. Moscioni, Photo._
PLOUGHING CANE FIELD WITH STEAM PLOUGH, PORTO RICO]
[Illustration: _A. Moscioni, Photo._
UNLOADING SUGAR CANE AT A MILL, PORTO RICO]
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.
[Illustration: PLOUGHING FIELD BEFORE PLANTING CANE, PHILIPPINES]
[Illustration: PLOUGHING AT LA CARLOTA, OCCIDENTAL NEGROS, PHILIPPINES]
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.
[Illustration: HAULING CANE, PHILIPPINES]
[Illustration: CARABAO MILL, PHILIPPINES]
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.
[Illustration: OLD-STYLE SUGAR MILL, PHILIPPINES—SHOWING POOR CRUSHING]
[Illustration: TINGUIAN CANE CRUSHER, LINGAYEN, PHILIPPINES]
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.”
[Illustration: OLD WATER-DRIVEN MILL, ISLAND OF NEGROS, PHILIPPINES]
[Illustration: MILL DRIVEN BY WATER POWER, OCCIDENTAL NEGROS, PHILIPPINES]
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.”
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration: NATIVE SUGAR FACTORY, PAMPANGA PROVINCE, PHILIPPINES]
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF CAMARIN, PHILIPPINES]
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
[Illustration: LUZON SUGAR REFINERY, MALABON, RIZAL, PHILIPPINES]
[Illustration: LOADING SUGAR ON LORCHAS, PHILIPPINES]
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.
[Illustration: _American Photo Co., Habana._
CENTRAL FACTORY, GENERAL VIEW, CUBA]
[Illustration: _American Photo Co., Habana._
CUBAN CENTRAL—GENERAL VIEW]
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.
[Illustration: _American Photo Co., Habana._
CANE FIELD, CUBA]
[Illustration: _American Photo Co., Habana._
LOADING CANE ON OX-CARTS, CUBA]
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.
[Illustration: _American Photo Co., Habana._
TRAIN-LOAD OF SUGAR CANE, CUBA]
[Illustration: _American Photo Co., Habana._
SELF-DUMPING CANE CAR, CUBA]
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.
[Illustration: _Photo by H. H. Cousins_
MORELANDS SUGAR MILL, VERE, JAMAICA]
[Illustration: THE FLEET, MORELANDS, VERE, JAMAICA]
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.