Chapter XI: Part II: History of the Industry (2)

The original intention was to start operations at Provo, and the sugar machinery was taken there, but the company that John Taylor had organized was dissolved and the machinery turned over to the church, under whose direction it was installed in an adobe building still standing in Salt Lake city.

Once more lack of knowledge resulted in failure. Instead of sugar, the Mormons only succeeded in making a massecuite that was utterly inedible.[29]

In 1856, a coppersmith named Bepler erected a small beet-sugar factory at Ocean View, near San Francisco, California, but the enterprise was unsuccessful.[30]

The next noteworthy attempt was made at Chatsworth, Illinois, in 1863 by the brothers Gennert, who came from Braunschweig, Germany, and who were familiar with the methods of beet-sugar making. They formed the Germania Beet Sugar company, planted a thousand acres of land in beets and sent to Europe for machinery, but their highest extraction of sugar from the beet-roots was only 5.5 per cent. Weather conditions were unfavorable and the soil they selected was not suited to beet culture, so six years of effort ended in failure and the loss of more than a quarter of a million dollars. The plant was removed to Freeport, Illinois, where the final result was disaster.

Otto and Bonesteel, two Germans, established a factory at Fond-du-lac, Wisconsin, in 1866,[31] and during the two following years they achieved some measure of success. Subsequently, they moved to Alvarado, California, where they began operations in 1870. They managed to keep their factory running for a few years, but finally gave up the struggle in 1876.

In 1872 the state of New Jersey passed a law providing that all capital and property employed in the raising of sugar beets should be free from taxation for ten years. New ventures were undertaken in California, Delaware and Maine, and these states stimulated the industry by bounties, or tax exemption, or both. A factory was built at Hartford, Maryland, in 1879, but it was afterward abandoned, and the only going concerns engaged in the manufacture of beet sugar east of the Alleghanies during recent years were the small plants in New York at Rome and Lyons. Dismantled in 1905 and 1911, respectively, part of the machinery of the former was moved to Visalia, California, and the latter plant in its entirety to Anaheim, California.

All of these failures were traceable to the lack of practical knowledge of beet culture and the making of sugar from beet-roots. Then, too, the agricultural lands at first selected were unsuited to the purpose and the seed used up to the year 1890 gave beets of a low sugar content, from 6 per cent to 8 per cent. The development of the Western states gave the beet-sugar industry a permanent place in California, and a little later in Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

The California Beet Sugar Manufacturing company was organized by E. H. Dyer and C. S. Hutchinson in 1869 with $250,000 capital and a factory was erected at Alvarado on Mr. Dyer’s ranch. Otto and Bonesteel were induced to leave Fond-du-lac, Wisconsin, and come west to assume the management. Operations were begun in 1870 and on November 17th of that year the first beet sugar was made in California. The factory and equipment cost $125,000; the daily capacity was fifty tons of beets and one hundred and twenty-five men were employed. Between one thousand and fifteen hundred acres were planted in beets, the factory paying $3.50 per ton for them. The finished product cost about ten cents a pound, while the market price ranged from twelve to fifteen cents a pound. The first year’s output was 250 tons, the second 400 tons, the third 562 tons and the fourth 750 tons. Then financial troubles came and the plant was closed. The machinery was sold to a new concern, which built a factory at Soquel, Santa Cruz county. This enterprise failed in 1876, but the plant was put in operation again in 1880, when 150 tons of sugar were produced. That was the end of the Soquel venture.

In 1879 Mr. Dyer bought the buildings and land of the old California Beet Sugar Manufacturing company, and, with O. F. Giffin, formed the Standard Sugar Manufacturing company, with a capital of $100,000. Subsequently a reorganization was effected under the name of the Standard Sugar Refining company and the capital was increased to $200,000. The machinery and diffusion batteries of a plant built at Brighton by some Sacramento people about eight years previous were purchased and installed at Alvarado in buildings newly erected for the purpose. While it is true that in the operation of this company there was a constant struggle to overcome obstacles and difficulties, it is nevertheless a fact that it achieved success from the beginning. In 1884 the capacity of the mill was increased to 100 tons of beets per day, but disaster overtook the concern toward the end of 1886. Two of the boilers exploded, making it impossible to operate during the season of 1887-88.

Nothing daunted, Mr. Dyer grappled with the problem once more and succeeded in floating a new corporation, the Pacific Coast Sugar company, with $1,000,000 capital and headed by John L. Howard as president. In 1887 and 1888 this company built the middle part of the present factory at Alvarado, where it installed most of the machinery from the old plant, together with some new apparatus. The campaign of 1888 was barren of results and in March of the following year the Pacific Coast Sugar company sold its property to a new concern, the Alameda Sugar company, whose first president was M. H. Hecht. In 1890 two additions to the factory were built, one at each end.

From small beginnings, this Alvarado enterprise, the pioneer of American success in the production of sugar from beets, continued its yearly operations from 1879 until 1914, with the exception of the year following the boiler explosion. In 1889 the output was 872 tons, in 1911 it reached 9966 tons. At the beginning of 1914, sugar prices were low and tariff prospects very discouraging. Under such conditions, the owners of the plant did not believe that they could make sugar at a profit, and the factory remained closed during that season. The sharp advance in sugar values, due to the war in Europe, completely changed matters; beets were planted and 6363 tons of sugar were produced in 1915.

For a long time Mr. Dyer was looked upon as an enthusiast and a dreamer whose sincerity was unquestioned, but whose energies were misdirected. In the midst of the gloomy forebodings of those around him, he held tenaciously to his purpose and devoted his brains and his money to the solution of the problem confronting him. That the beet-sugar industry of the United States proved a success when it did is due to his unfailing courage and persistent effort.

A year before the Alvarado factory was built, a number of moneyed men of Sacramento, head by Julius Wetzlar, then president of the Capital savings bank, conceived the idea of starting a beet-sugar plant there. After some experimenting with local beets, the Sacramento Valley Sugar company was organized and machinery for a seventy-ton plant was ordered from Germany. Construction was delayed for a year, and thus the Sacramentans lost the honor of being the first in the field. In 1871 they built a factory at Brighton, six miles east of Sacramento, near the American river. An expert was brought out from Germany and work was begun on November 18th. The first diffusion battery used in the United States was employed in the extraction of sugar from the beets. The season of 1871 gave good results, but the following year the crop suffered greatly from the ravages of the army worm. The campaign of 1873 opened on August 5th, lasting until November 22nd. The yield of beets was ten tons per acre, the average sugar content 8 per cent and the total output 982,120 pounds of sugar, including all grades.

This enterprise struggled along until 1875, in spite of troubles from drought, army worm, grasshoppers and last, but not least, lack of experience. The plant was then closed and the equipment put up for sale. Briefly, it may be said that at the outset very poor sugar was turned out, and later, when the quality was improved, the cost of manufacture was found to be greater than what the sugar would bring. The final outcome was that the stockholders lost nearly all the money they had invested.

About 1874,[32] the California Sugar Manufacturing company was formed. Sixty-eight acres of land at Isleton were bought, a factory structure of brick was erected and machinery installed, the total expenditure being about $250,000. Sugar of good quality was made, but the financial result was disastrous. Isleton land was ill suited to beet culture, as when the Sacramento river was high the beet fields were covered with water. One authority states that the original idea was to manufacture sugar from watermelons, and when it was found that this was not practicable, attention was turned to beets.

In 1876 numerous mechanics’ liens were filed against the company. Later, the factory was leased to H. M. Ames of Oakland, who operated it during the campaign of 1880. Two years afterward the entire plant was sold at sheriff’s sale for $10,000. The land and building were purchased by P. H. Gardiner of Isleton and the machinery went to a San Francisco junk dealer. This venture is said to have caused financial distress to many of the farmers in the vicinity.

In 1888, Claus Spreckels, so long a prominent figure in the sugar world, established a beet factory at Watsonville, Santa Cruz county, in the rich Pajaro valley. At first its capacity was 300 tons of beets per day, and, the result of the operations being favorable, this was increased from time to time until it reached 1000 tons of beets per day. The Watsonville factory developed into the largest beet plant in America and remained so until 1898, in which year Mr. Spreckels erected a modern 3000-ton plant at Salinas, fifteen miles distant. Since then the new factory has sliced all of the beets grown in that territory and the old one has been dismantled. The capacity of the Salinas plant now is greater than that of any other beet factory in the United States, being 4000 tons per day.

The Oxnard brothers, Henry T., Benjamin, James G. and Robert, with J. G. Hamilton, W. Bayard Cutting and R. Fulton Cutting, organized the Oxnard Beet Sugar company in 1889, and in December of that year broke ground for a beet-sugar factory of 350 tons slicing capacity at Grand Island, Nebraska. In 1891 they built two more, one at Norfolk, Nebraska, and one at Chino, California, both of the same size as the Grand Island plant. The machinery for the first two factories was bought in France and that for the last one came from Germany. Toward the end of 1897, construction at Oxnard was begun, and in 1899 a consolidation of all these factories was effected under the corporate title of the American Beet Sugar company.

At the close of 1890, sixty years after the first experiment at Philadelphia, there were only three beet-sugar factories in operation in America; those at Alvarado, Watsonville and Grand Island. The total capacity of the three plants was eight hundred tons of beets a day, or ten thousand tons of sugar a year. France in the same period increased her production from 5000 to 770,000 tons a year through favorable legislation providing for the payment of bounties.

In the United States, whenever beet-sugar enterprises have been started, there has generally been some legal provision for payment by the state of bounty on the quantity of sugar produced. The story of how this responsibility was evaded is hardly a pleasant one. In Nebraska, for example, three different legislatures enacted laws providing for bounty on beet sugar, but in each case the following legislature either repealed the act or failed to make appropriations for the necessary funds. In the early nineties, Michigan passed a bounty law which resulted in several beet factories being established in that state, but when the claims for bounty were presented for payment, the state auditor refused to honor them, and his action was upheld by the state supreme court on the ground of unconstitutionality. A similar condition arose in Idaho. Minnesota paid bounties in 1890 and 1899, after which the law was declared unconstitutional.

The McKinley bill of April, 1891, was the first national legislation to encourage the beet industry. It called for a bounty of two cents on each pound of domestic sugar produced testing over 90 degrees, and admitted beet seed and sugar machinery free of duty. This encouraged the Oxnards to build the factories at Norfolk, Nebraska, and Chino, California, of which mention has already been made. At the same time Thomas R. Cutler and his associates put up a beet factory at Lehi, Utah, which state offered a bounty in addition to that granted by the Federal government.

The tariff act of August 28, 1894, abolished the bounty on sugar and fixed an ad valorem duty of 40 per cent. As a result of the loss of the bounty and the financial stress that reigned at that time, no beet factories were started except that at Menominee Falls, Wisconsin, which was a flat failure.

The following résumé of the United States tariffs on sugar since the year 1846 may be found useful for purposes of reference:

Tariff act July 30, 1846: All sugars 30 per cent ad valorem.

Tariff act March 3, 1857, to be effective from and after July
1, 1857: All sugars 24 per cent ad valorem.

Tariff act March 2, 1861, effective April 1, 1861: ¾c per pound
on raw, 2c per pound on refined.

Tariff act August 5, 1861: 2c per pound on raw. Sugars above
12 D. S. and not yet refined, 2½c per pound. 4c per pound on
refined.

Tariff act July 14, 1862, effective August 1, 1862: Sugars not
above 12 D. S., 2½c per pound. Sugars above 12 D. S., not above
15 D. S., 3c per pound. Above 15 D. S., not above 20 D. S., and
not stove dried, 3½c per pound. Refined and above 20 D. S., 4c.

Joint resolution of April 29, 1864, in effect for sixty days:
Sugars not above 12 D. S., 2½c per pound plus 50 per cent
equals 3¾c per pound. Sugars above 12 D. S. and not above 15
D. S., 3c plus 50 per cent equals 4½c per pound. Sugars above
15 D. S. and not above 20 D. S., 3½c per pound plus 50 per cent
equals 5¼c per pound. All refined sugars 4c per pound plus 50
per cent equals 6c per pound.

Tariff act June 30, 1864, effective July 1, 1864: Sugars not
above 12 D. S., 3c per pound. Sugars above 12 D. S., not above
15 D. S., 3½c per pound. Sugars above 15 D. S., not above 20 D.
S., and not stove dried, 4c per pound. All refined sugars and
all sugars over 20 D. S., 5c per pound.

Tariff act July 14, 1870, to be effective on and after December
31, 1870, which means January 1, 1871. Later amended by tariff
act of December 22, 1870, to be effective immediately: Sugars
not above 7 D. S., 1¾c per pound. Sugars above 7 D. S., not
above 10 D. S., 2c per pound. Sugars above 10 D. S., not above
13 D. S., 2¼c per pound. Sugars above 13 D. S., not above 16 D.
S., 2¾c per pound. Sugars above 16 D. S. and not above 20 D.
S., 3¼c per pound. All sugars above 20 D. S. and all refined,
4c per pound.

Tariff act March 3, 1875: Sugars not above 7 D. S., 1¾c per
pound plus 25 per cent equals 2.19c per pound. Sugars above 7
D. S., not above 10 D. S., 2c per pound plus 25 per cent equals
2.50c. Sugars above 10 D. S., not above 13 D. S., 2¼c plus 25
per cent equals 2.81c per pound. Sugars above 13 D. S., not
above 16 D. S., 2¾c plus 25 per cent equals 3.44c per pound.
Sugars above 16 D. S., not above 20 D. S., 3¼c plus 25 per
cent equals 4.06c per pound. All sugars above 20 D. S. and all
refined sugars, 4c per pound plus 25 per cent equals 5c per
pound.

Tariff act March 3, 1883, effective June 1, 1883: Sugars not
above 13 D. S. and not above 75-degree polarization, 1.40c per
pound and .04c additional per degree or fraction thereof.
Sugars above 13 D. S., not above 16 D. S., 2.75c per pound.
Sugars above 16 D. S., not above 20 D. S., 3c per pound. Sugars
above 20 D. S., 3½c per pound.

Tariff act October 1, 1890, effective April 1, 1891 (McKinley
bill): Bounties effective July 1, 1891. Bounties declared
unconstitutional by the United States supreme court: Bounty on
domestic productions, sugars testing 80 degrees to 90 degrees,
1¾c per pound. Bounty on domestic productions, sugars testing
at least 90 degrees, 2c per pound. All sugar not above 16 D.
S., free. All sugar above 16 D. S., duty ½c per pound. All
sugar above 16 D. S. from bounty-paying countries, duty ⁶⁄₁₀c
per pound.

Tariff act August 27, 1894, effective August 28, 1894 (Wilson
bill): Bounty on domestic production repealed. All sugars 40
per cent ad valorem. All sugars above 16 D. S. and all sugars
discolored, 40 per cent and ⅛c per pound. All sugars from
bounty-paying countries, ¹⁄₁₀c per pound additional.

Tariff act July 24, 1897 (Dingley bill): Raws not above 16
D. S. and not above 75-degree polarization, .95c per pound.
Each additional degree or fraction thereof, .035c per pound
additional. Sugar above 16 D. S. and all refined, 1.95c. All
sugars from bounty-paying countries, countervailing duties
equal to bounties additional.

Tariff act August 5, 1909 (Payne-Aldrich bill): Raws not above
16 D. S. and not above 75-degree polarization, .95c per pound.
Each additional degree or fraction thereof, .035c per pound
additional. Sugar above 16 D. S., and all refined, 1.90c per
pound. All sugars from bounty-paying countries countervailing
duties equal to bounties additional.

Tariff act October 3, 1913, effective March 1, 1914 (Underwood
bill): Raws testing not above 75-degree polarization, .71c per
pound. Each additional degree or fraction thereof, .026c per
pound additional. No. 16 D. S. clause repealed. All Philippine
sugars to be admitted free. After May 1, 1916, all sugars to be
admitted free of duty.

In April, 1916, a bill was passed by Congress repealing the free-sugar clause of the tariff act of October 3, 1913. The President signed the bill on April 27, 1916.

The Democratic party was defeated in 1896 and the following year saw the passage of the Dingley bill, which levied a duty of 1.685 on 96-degree raw centrifugals under 16 D. S. in color and 1.95 on raws over 16 D. S. and on refined sugars. Under the beneficial influence of this law the industry revived and within a period of about two years from the enactment of the bill twenty-four beet factories sprang into being. One-half of the number were unsuccessful[33] because the stimulating provisions of the new tariff caused ventures to be made hastily and without regard to actual conditions. Of the twelve factories that survived, nearly all were situated in California and Michigan.

From 1900 to 1902 the building of beet plants was not so rapid, for the reason that the failures just mentioned and the popular demand for preferential terms for Philippine and Cuban sugars were not exactly encouraging. A 25 per cent preferential was given to Philippine sugars March 8, 1902, and a concession of 20 per cent of the duty was allowed Cuba December 27, 1903; still, notwithstanding the failures and the political agitation, five or six beet factories were erected each year during this period. The number of beet factories operating in the United States in 1915 was sixty-seven and the total daily slicing capacity was 73,320 tons. The acreage harvested was 611,301 acres, ninety-three per cent of which was worked by independent farmers and seven per cent by the factories. The total amount of beets sliced during that season was 6,150,293 short tons, which produced 874,220 short tons of sugar.

The following is a list of the factories themselves:

DATE SLICING
BUILT CAPACITY
ARIZONA

Southwestern Sugar & Land Co.[34] Glendale 1903 600 tons

CALIFORNIA

Alameda Sugar Co. Alvarado 1870 750 ”
American Beet Sugar Co. Chino 1891 900 ”
American Beet Sugar Co. Oxnard 1898 3000 ”
Anaheim Sugar Co. Anaheim 1911 800 ”
Holly Sugar Co. Huntington Beach 1911 1200 ”
Los Alamitos Sugar Co. Los Alamitos 1897 800 ”
Santa Ana Co-op. Sugar Co. Dyer 1912 1000 ”
Southern California Sugar Co. Santa Ana 1909 600 ”
Spreckels Sugar Co. Spreckels 1899 4000 ”
Union Sugar Co. Betteravia 1898 900 ”
Sacramento Valley Sugar Co.[34] Hamilton City 1906 700 ”
San Joaquin Valley Sugar Co. Visalia 1906 450 ”
Pacific Sugar Co.[34] Corcoran 1908 600 ”

COLORADO

American Beet Sugar Co.[34] Lamar 1905 400 ”
American Beet Sugar Co. Las Animas 1907 800 ”
American Beet Sugar Co. Rocky Ford 1900 1600 ”
Great Western Sugar Co. Brush 1906 1100 ”
Great Western Sugar Co. Eaton 1902 1000 ”
Great Western Sugar Co. Fort Collins 1903 2000 ”
Great Western Sugar Co. Fort Morgan 1906 1150 ”
Great Western Sugar Co. Greeley 1902 1000 ”
Great Western Sugar Co. Longmont 1903 2000 ”
Great Western Sugar Co. Loveland 1901 1800 ”
Great Western Sugar Co. Sterling 1905 1000 ”
Great Western Sugar Co. Windsor 1903 1100 ”
Holly Sugar Co. Swink 1906 1200 ”
National Sugar Mfg. Co. Sugar City 1900 500 ”
Western Sugar & Land Co. Grand Junction 1899 600 ”

IDAHO

Amalgamated Sugar Co. Burley 1912 725 ”
Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Blackfoot 1904 860 ”
Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Idaho Falls 1903 950 ”
Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Sugar 1904 900 ”

ILLINOIS

Charles Pope Riverdale 1905 450 ”

INDIANA

Holland St. Louis Sugar Co. Decatur 1912 800 ”

IOWA

Iowa Sugar Co.[34] Waverly 1907 500 ”

KANSAS

Garden City Sugar & Land Co. Garden City 1906 900 ”

MICHIGAN

Continental Sugar Co. Blissfield 1905 900 ”
German American Sugar Co. Bay City 1901 1500 ”
Holland St. Louis Sugar Co. Holland 1899 400 ”
Holland St. Louis Sugar Co. St. Louis 1903 600 ”
Menominee River Sugar Co. Menominee 1903 1150 ”
Michigan Sugar Co. Alma 1899 1400 ”
Michigan Sugar Co. Bay City 1899 1400 ”
Michigan Sugar Co. Caro 1899 1200 ”
Michigan Sugar Co. Crosswell 1902 700 ”
Michigan Sugar Co. Carrollton 1902 900 ”
Michigan Sugar Co. Sebewaing 1902 850 ”
Owosso Sugar Co. Lansing 1901 600 ”
Owosso Sugar Co. Owosso 1903 1200 ”
Mt. Clemens Sugar Co. Mt. Clemens 1902 600 ”
Western Sugar Refining Co.[34] Marine City 1900 600 ”
West Bay City Sugar Co. West Bay City 1899 900 ”

MINNESOTA

Minnesota Sugar Co. Chaska 1906 700 ”

MONTANA

Billings Sugar Co. Billings 1906 2000 ”

NEBRASKA

Scottsbluff Sugar Co. Scottsbluff 1910 1850 ”
American Beet Sugar Co. Grand Island 1890 400 ”

NEVADA

Nevada Sugar Co.[34] Fallon 1911 600 ”

OHIO

Continental Sugar Co. Fremont 1900 500 ”
Continental Sugar Co. Findlay 1911 800 ”
German American Sugar Co. Paulding 1910 900 ”
Ottowa Sugar Co. Ottowa 1912 600 ”
Toledo Sugar Co.[34] Toledo 1912 1100 ”

UTAH

Amalgamated Sugar Co. Lewiston 1905 900 ”
Amalgamated Sugar Co. Logan 1901 750 ”
Amalgamated Sugar Co. Ogden 1898 750 ”
Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Elsinore 1911 620 ”
Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Garland 1903 950 ”
Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Lehi 1891 1165 ”
Utah Idaho Sugar Co. Payson 1913 700 ”
Layton Sugar Co. Layton 1915 450 ”

WISCONSIN

Chippewa Sugar Refining Co. Chippewa Falls 1904 500 ”
Rock County Sugar Co.[34] Janesville 1904 600 ”
U. S. Sugar Co. Madison 1906 600 ”
Wisconsin Sugar Co. Menominee Falls 1901 600 ”

WYOMING

Sheridan Sugar Co. Sheridan 1915 750 ”
-----------
Total capacity (76) U. S. factories 73,320 tons

TERRITORY OF HAWAII

The Hawaiian islands lie in the north Pacific ocean, between 18 degrees 54 minutes and 22 degrees 15 minutes north latitude and 154 degrees 50 minutes and 160 degrees 30 minutes west longitude. The group consists of eight inhabited islands and a number of small barren islets extending several hundred miles in a west-northwesterly direction.

The area of the various inhabited islands in square miles is as follows:

Hawaii 4210
Maui 728
Oahu 600
Kauai 547
Molokai 261
Lanai 139
Niihau 97
Kahoolawe 69
----
Total 6651

All of them are of volcanic and comparatively recent origin, and their age, or at least the time since the last eruptions on them, decreases from west to east. On Hawaii, the largest and most easterly of the group, the volcanic forces are still active and its surface is covered with lava thrown up at no very remote period. The principal port is Hilo and the highest mountain peaks are Mauna Kea (White mountain), 13,823 feet, and Mauna Loa (Great mountain), 13,675 feet.

Maui is formed by two mountains connected by an isthmus. Mauna Haleakala, the higher of the two, rises to a height of 10,032 feet.[35] Kahului is the most important town and seaport.

Oahu is of irregular quadrangular shape. Two nearly parallel mountain ranges traverse it from southeast to northwest and between them is a plateau that slopes down to the sea both in a northerly and southerly direction. The principal port is Honolulu, the “cross-roads of the Pacific,” a flourishing city of about 60,000 inhabitants and the capital of the group. It is admirably situated on a fine harbor and, in addition to its commercial importance, is one of the most attractive spots in the world on account of its balmy climate and wondrously beautiful surroundings. It is strongly fortified and a considerable military force is maintained there.

Pearl Harbor lies about seven miles from Honolulu in a westerly direction. Here the United States government has established a great naval station, one of the finest in existence. It has the most improved apparatus for supplying coal or fuel oil to vessels; there are machine shops, storehouses and barracks; and the huge dry-dock when completed will accommodate the largest dreadnaughts. The entrance from the sea has been dredged to make it navigable for ships of the greatest draft and the station is protected by powerful long-range guns of the most modern type.

Kauai, the oldest island of the group, is irregularly circular in shape, with a maximum diameter of about 25 miles. On the northwest a precipice rises to a height of 2000 feet and beyond that is a mountain plain, but the other portion of the island consists of shore plains with the mountain peak, Waialeale, 5250 feet high, in their midst. The shore plains are broken by ridges and broad, deep valleys and the island is well watered on all sides by mountain streams. There are a number of ports, but no large towns.

The climate of the Hawaiian islands near sea-level does not vary greatly from one year’s end to the other. It is cooler than other regions in the same latitude and extremely healthful. The northeast trade winds blow with periodic variations from March to December, or, as one writer says, 264 days out of 365 every year.[36] The leeward coast, protected by high mountains, is refreshed by regular land and sea breezes. The heaviest rainfall is from January to May, and naturally the greatest precipitation takes place on the windward side of the principal islands. The extremes of local rainfall in the larger islands have been known to range from 12 inches to 300 inches for the year. In Honolulu the average temperature runs from 72 degrees to 74 degrees, the maximum about 88 degrees and the minimum 52 degrees Fahrenheit. In ascending the mountains a lower temperature will be encountered as a matter of course and some of the highest mountain peaks are covered with snow nearly all the year round. Winds seldom blow with extreme violence and hurricanes are unknown.

Singular it is that so little should have been written upon a subject so important as the history of the growth of the sugar industry of the Hawaiian islands. Jarves and Thrum bring the narrative down to 1875 and Mr. H. P. Baldwin, in his book entitled “The Sugar Industry in Hawaii” (1895), contributes a fund of valuable information which is freely drawn upon in this chapter.

Tradition has it that a Japanese junk touched at the island of Maui during the thirteenth century and a Spanish vessel is said to have put in on the south coast of Hawaii during a voyage from Mexico to the Philippines in 1550. Be this as it may, our knowledge of these islands dates only from the time of their discovery by Captain Cook in 1778. He found sugar cane growing there when he landed and speaks of it in his description of his first visit as being “of large size and good quality.” According to the old natives, it grew wild and luxuriant in the valleys and lowlands. As far back as 1837 Mr. D. D. Baldwin recalls having seen fields of white cane on the edge of the woods at Hana, Maui, at an elevation of 2000 to 3000 feet. The natives made no attempt to use sugar cane except as an article of food, although it is said that in ancient days it served as an offering to their gods, particularly the god “Mano” (shark).

Cleveland[37] says that upon his first visit to the Sandwich group in 1799 the natives came alongside the ship in canoes bringing many fruits and vegetables, among which was sugar cane.

L. L. Torbert, one of the early planters, in a paper read before the Royal Agricultural Society in January, 1852, claims that the earliest sugar factory was put up on the island of Lanai in 1802 by a Chinaman who came to the islands in one of the vessels trading for sandalwood. He brought with him a stone mill and boilers, and after grinding one small crop and making it into sugar, went away the next year taking his apparatus with him.

Anderson[38] makes a statement that 257 tons of sugar were exported from the islands in 1814, but cites no authority upon which to base his assertion.

According to Jarves[39] the first instance of the manufacture of sugar goes back beyond 1820, but the name of the pioneer planter is unknown. It is certain that at first molasses was manufactured and then sugar some time before 1820.

Don Francisco de Paula Marin made sugar in Honolulu in 1819, the year before the arrival of the first missionaries. Lavinia, an Italian, did the same thing in 1823. His method was to pound the cane with stone pestles on huge wooden trays (poi boards) by native labor, collecting the juice and boiling it in a small copper kettle.

Accounts from various sources agree that the making of sugar and molasses was general in 1823-24. This undoubtedly had direct connection with the manufacture of rum, which was extensively carried on at that time.

In 1828 a considerable amount of cane was raised in the neighborhood of Honolulu and mills were built in the Nuuanu valley and Waikapu, Maui. A pioneer cane grower, Antonio Silva by name, lived at the latter place, and some Chinamen had a sugar mill near Hilo. In those days mills were made of wood, very crudely put together and worked by oxen.

The first attempt at sugar cultivation on a large scale was made at Koloa, Kauai, by Ladd & company, a Honolulu merchant firm, in 1835. This was the beginning of what is now known as the Koloa plantation, and the first breaking of the soil for planting cane was done with a plough drawn by natives. A mill was established here at the same time, and the enterprise was managed by a Mr. Hooper.

As has been said, the general character of the mills was rude and primitive and it continued to be so up to 1850. The rollers were generally of wood and the kettles in which the juice was boiled were whalers’ trypots. The buildings were adobe or simple grass huts. Only one grade of sugar was made. The juice was boiled to a thick syrup and put into coolers to grain, after which the granulated mass was packed in mats, bags, boxes or barrels with perforated bottoms for the molasses to drain off. The mills were run by bullocks, horses and in some cases by water power, and were fed by hand, one stalk at a time. The whole process, both in the field and in the mill, was very crude and imperfect.

The value of the sugar exported from the islands from 1836 to 1841 was $36,000 and that of the molasses for the same period $17,130.

An article by the late William Ladd on the “Resources of the Sandwich Islands,” published in the “Hawaiian Spectator” for April, 1838, speaks thus prophetically of the manufacture of sugar, then in its infancy:

“It is a very common opinion that sugar will become a leading article of export. That this will become a sugar country is quite evident, if we may judge from the varieties of sugar cane now existing here, its adaptation to the soil, price of labor and a ready market. From experiments hitherto made, it is believed that sugar of a superior quality may be produced here. It may not be amiss to state that there are now in operation, or soon to be erected, twenty mills for crushing cane propelled by animal power, and two by water power.”

Just here it may be remarked that at that time the price of labor was a potent argument in favor of making the islands a sugar-producing country, for native labor was available in abundance and the current rate of wages was from 12½ cents to 37½ cents per day, or $2.00 to $5.00 per month.

In an article on commercial development,[40] Thrum says:

“Hawaiian produce in the early days had to seek distant markets, for we find shipments of sugar, hides, goat skins and the first shipment of raw silk moving to New York per the bark _Flora_ in 1840. A trial shipment of sugar was sent to France, but it did not offer sufficient encouragement for any renewals. The Sydney market was also exploited with sugar, where it obtained better figures than similar grades of Mauritius.”

Between the years 1840 and 1850 a cane field and rude mill in Lahaina, Maui, were owned by David Malo, a well-known Hawaiian, who made molasses and sold it for home consumption. His apparatus consisted of three whaling-ship trypots set up on adobe and stone mason work. The crushing was done with wooden rollers, strengthened by iron bands.

In 1841, Kaukini, governor of Hawaii, planted about one hundred acres of cane in Kohala and the crop when harvested was ground under contract by a Chinese named Aiko.

In Wyllie’s “Notes” on the islands, published in the “Friend,” December, 1844, the quantity of sugar exported from the island of Kauai is estimated at about 200 tons, and the molasses at 20,000 gallons. Hilo, in the same year, exported 42 tons of sugar. Maui had, at that time, two mills, but the amount of sugar produced is not reported.

In 1851, D. M. Weston, then manager of what is now the Honolulu Iron Works, invented the first centrifugal machine for drying sugar, and this machine was installed on the East Maui plantation in the same year. This, it is claimed, was the first centrifugal to be used for the purpose anywhere.

Prominent among the early planters are the names of Stephen Reynolds, William French, Ladd & company, Dr. R. W. Wood, L. L. Torbert, W. H. Rice, and later on S. L. Austin, A. H. Spencer and Captain Makee.

In the year 1854 or 1855, Captain Edwards of the American whaler _George Washington_ brought from Tahiti two varieties of cane, one known as Cuban and the other as Lahaina. The latter proved to be profitable to raise and fifteen or sixteen years later began to displace other species throughout the islands. Since then its popularity continued to increase and up to twenty years ago it was the variety most in favor on all Hawaiian plantations.

Twelve varieties of cane were imported from Queensland, Australia, in 1880, but of these only one—the Rose Bamboo—compared with the Lahaina in productiveness, and that only in high altitudes.

In 1898 Lahaina and Rose Bamboo seemed to have outlived their usefulness on the Hamakua coast of the island of Hawaii, and while they continued to give excellent results in the low, sheltered valleys, it became evident that they could not be profitably grown on the uplands. The yields in the Hamakua region were becoming smaller each year and the plantation owners had to seek a new variety. A cane known as Yellow Caledonia[41] solved the difficulty and wonderful crops of it have been raised uninterruptedly in that section ever since.

In 1856 no fertilizers were used and practically nothing was known of irrigation. The average yield of sugar at that time was one ton per acre. The extraction of sugar from the cane was less than 50 per cent, while today in the best mills it exceeds 98 per cent and the average result from all Hawaiian factories shows over 90 per cent.

The industry struggled along under severe handicaps and discouraging circumstances until 1857, when the number of plantations on the islands had dwindled down to five: Koloa and Lihue on Kauai, the East Maui and the Brewer on Maui and a Chinese outfit near Hilo, Hawaii.

In 1858-59 steam was adopted as the motive power in the mills; wooden mills were superseded by those built of iron and in 1861 the first vacuum pans were introduced. The same year saw the number of plantations increase to twenty-two, nine of which employed steam for the grinding of the cane.

The outbreak of the Civil war in the United States cut off the supply of sugar drawn from the Southern states and caused the price of Hawaiian sugar in kegs to advance to ten cents a pound. This gave the Hawaiian producers their first real start. In 1863 the export tonnage was 2600, and this increased until in 1860 it reached 8869 tons.

A small plantation was started at Paia, Maui, by a Captain Bush in 1868 and in the following year he disposed of it to S. T. Alexander and H. P. Baldwin. The former gentleman was then manager of the Haiku plantation and the acquisition of his interest in the Paia venture necessitated his going to Honolulu to borrow the sum of $9000, which he managed to do, but not without difficulty. Mr. Alexander was the father of irrigation in Hawaii. He promoted and built the Haiku ditch, which was the forerunner of the present magnificent water-distributing system of the islands.

The period from 1869 to 1876 was one of arduous struggle for the planters. Their very existence was at stake. The duty levied on imports by the United States cut their margins down to nothing, labor was scarce and the cost of obtaining it great, the rate of interest was from ten to twelve per cent, agents’ commissions for buying and selling ran from five to ten per cent; in short, many plantations were threatened with utter ruin, and so seriously discouraged did the business men become that the only gleam of hope for the salvation of the sugar industry seemed to be annexation.

Repeated efforts were made to negotiate a reciprocity treaty with the United States. Finally this was accomplished; the treaty was consummated in 1876 and a new Hawaii was born.

The expansion that followed was more rapid than the finances of the country could stand. Depression ensued, and as a result the resources of the islands were taxed to the utmost.

The demand for labor during this period of expansion was so great that the pay of the laborers in the fields was raised to one dollar a day, with free rent, fuel and medical attendance. Laborers were sought for in the far corners of the earth, and in consequence the islands have a race mixture rarely found anywhere else in the world.

In 1876 the annual crop of the islands could have been put in one vessel of the capacity of those that are now engaged in freighting Hawaiian raw sugars to the United States, the total being in the neighborhood of 13,000 short tons. At that time, however, this seemed an enormous amount to the planters with their small acreage and mills. It is well known that one planter was very much exercised as to how he was possibly going to handle the extraordinary production of 1100 tons from his plantation, which was then the largest in the islands.

The crop came on the market in such small quantities that it was of no value to refiners, as they could not depend upon definite deliveries. It was therefore put up in special containers, known as “island kegs,” and sold directly to the wholesale grocers on the Pacific coast.

Some plantations turned out sugars that found especial favor with the trade, and these grades brought as high as 14 cents per pound.

Under the benefits of reciprocity the crop increased by leaps and bounds and in a short time the planters ceased selling these raw grocery sugars and turned their attention to supplying the wants of refiners. The “island keg” became a thing of the past and the small sailing vessels which had heretofore carried all the island products to the mainland gave way to steamers. At the present day there is only one sailing vessel plying regularly between San Francisco and the islands, and she usually loads at a port where the large freighting steamers do not care to venture.

Annexation to the United States in 1898 was the next important step in the development of Hawaii. Its immediate effect was to create a feeling of security and confidence in every direction, for while the reciprocity treaty had produced excellent results, the danger of its being made the subject of attack in Congress was ever present. The hoisting of the American flag in the islands permanently dispelled any anxiety on that score.

Of all the early pioneers whose steadfastness and courage kept the sugar industry alive through so many vicissitudes, but few survive. Their descendants have succeeded to their possessions and responsibilities, and today in Hawaii cane cultivation and sugar manufacture have attained a higher degree of development than has been reached by any other country in the world. Crude methods and appliances have long since disappeared. Scientific principles govern the treatment of the land and the selection and care of the cane. The irrigation works are marvels of engineering skill. The mills are modern steel-frame structures, with concrete floors and equipped with machinery of the most improved type. And the end is not yet. The minds of many highly trained men are constantly at work upon the various problems presented by the industry, and what the fruit of their effort will be, who shall say?

Production of Hawaii since 1837 in tons of 2240 pounds:

1837 2
1838 40
1839 45
1840 161
1841 27
1842 ...
1843 511
1844 229
1845 135
1846 134
1847 225
1848 223
1849 292
1850 335
1851 9
1852 312
1853 287
1854 257
1855 129
1856 248
1857 313
1858 538
1859 816
1860 645
1861 1,144
1862 1,342
1863 2,363
1864 4,649
1865 6,838
1866 7,915
1867 7,646
1868 8,175
1869 8,171
1870 8,386
1871 9,715
1872 7,587
1873 10,326
1874 10,967
1875 11,197
1876 11,640
1877 11,418
1878 17,157
1879 21,884
1880 28,386
1881 41,870
1882 50,572
1883 50,941
1884 63,685
1885 76,496
1886 96,528
1887 94,984
1888 105,307
1889 108,110
1890 115,977
1891 122,761
1892 109,178
1893 136,269
1894 148,600
1895 133,596
1896 201,632
1897 224,200
1898 204,834
1899 252,506
1900 258,522
1901 321,463
1902 317,510
1903 391,063
1904 328,103
1905 380,579
1906 383,226
1907 392,872
1908 465,288
1909 477,818
1910 461,687
1911 506,090
1912 531,480
1913 488,212
1914 550,926
1915 577,183
1916 545,000

LOUISIANA

The cane crop of Louisiana comes from the southern part of the state, principally along the banks of the Mississippi, the Bayou Teche and the Bayou Lafourche. As this region is outside the tropics, being between 29 degrees and 31 degrees north latitude, frosts must be looked for in winter. The sugar industry of Louisiana, therefore, as well as that of Texas, Florida and Georgia, has to cope with climatic conditions that are unknown in most other cane-producing countries.

All of the sugar plantations are situated in the low plains, the highest elevation above sea-level not exceeding 83 feet. The annual rainfall varies from 67 to 95 inches, and 80 inches may be taken as a fair average, which amply suffices for the needs of the growing cane. In December, January and February there is always the danger of frost and planters must be constantly alert to guard against this as far as possible. During the autumnal equinox much damage to the cane is caused by hurricanes that rush in from the Gulf of Mexico.

Sugar cane was brought to Louisiana in 1751. According to Gayarré, two ships that were transporting troops from France to Louisiana touched at a port in Hispaniola during the voyage and the Jesuits of the island obtained permission to put some sugar cane on board these vessels to be taken to Louisiana and there delivered to their Jesuit brethren.

The same means were employed to send a number of negroes to cultivate the cane, which was planted according to direction on a piece of ground belonging to the order situated just above the present course of Canal street, New Orleans. The cane grew to maturity and was sold in the market as a luxury.

In 1759 a rich colonist, Dubreuil by name, built a mill and attempted to make sugar, but his efforts were unsuccessful and the idea was abandoned. _Tafia_, a kind of rum, was made from sugar cane shortly afterward.

In 1791 Don António Mendez, an officer of the Spanish crown who lived in St. Bernard parish, bought from a Spanish refugee from Santo Domingo named Solis his land, crop of cane and distilling outfit and attacked the problem with a firm determination to conquer it. He called in a Cuban sugar maker named Morin to assist him, but whether it was that he lacked the means to erect a proper factory, or whether he became discouraged, the fact remains that he only succeeded in turning out a few small barrels of sugar. There is evidence that he did something in the way of refining as well, but not in an appreciable quantity.

The first crop of sugar sufficiently large and profitable to serve as an incentive to others was raised by Etienne de Boré about 1794. Of this achievement Gayarré says: “When the whole agricultural interest of Louisiana was thus prostrated and looking around for the discovery of some means to escape from annihilation, and the eager and anxious inquiry of every planter was ‘What shall I do to pay my debts and support my family?’, the energy of one of the most spirited and respected citizens of Louisiana suddenly saved her from utter ruin and raised her to that state of prosperity which has increased with each successive year.”[42]

In 1794 de Boré purchased seed cane from Mendez and Solis and after planting it he went ahead with his preparations for harvesting, crushing and manufacturing. The following year the sugar he produced sold for $12,000, a considerable sum of money in those days. The boiling of the sugar juice to grain was done under the direction of Antoine Morin, the former associate of Mendez. The method was naturally very primitive, the mill being driven by animal power, and much sugar was lost in the bagasse.

Following the example of de Boré, many planters set out cane and built sugar mills. Their operations were highly successful and they all became wealthy within a comparatively short period.

The industry continued to flourish and prosper, and the year 1820 marked a decided step forward. Up to that time the only two kinds of cane that had been grown in Louisiana were the Creole (from Malabar or Bengal) and the Tahiti. The cane originally planted by de Boré and from which he made his first sugar was the Creole; the Tahiti variety was not introduced from Santo Domingo until 1797. It became patent to the planters that neither of these canes was suited to the Louisianan climate, and they set about looking for a hardier plant. Toward the middle of the eighteenth century the purple and striped varieties were brought by the Dutch from Java to the island of St. Eustatius, and from there a quantity of these canes was taken to Savannah, Georgia, about 1814. They throve extremely well and a former resident of Savannah who had moved to Louisiana and become a planter there, having heard about them, secured some for seed purposes. His experiment proved wonderfully successful and from this single estate the cultivation of the new canes spread over the entire sugar-producing region. As these varieties could stand greater cold than the Creole and the Tahiti, the planters were able to extend their growing area northward and in this way greatly increase their acreage. As recently as 1897 these canes still constituted the crops of Louisiana with a few exceptions.

Of late years, however, seedling canes obtained from Demerara have come into great favor in consequence of the researches of the botanists at the experiment station. In addition to an advantage both in cane and sugar over the varieties previously used, the time of vegetation is shorter, so that the canes mature earlier, and this, on account of the short season in which Louisianan cane has to ripen, makes the Demeraran decidedly desirable. It has also been proved that Demeraran cane is better able to resist damage by storms, so that taking it all in all it would appear that the newer varieties are quite likely to displace the older kinds.

Cane is usually planted in the same ground every three years. The crop of plant cane is followed by a crop of ratoons and then maize is put in. As soon as the maize is cut the field is sown with a species of large pea (_Vigna sinensis_) and when summer is over the pea vines and the maize stubble are ploughed under. A month after this is done, furrows are dug about six feet apart and early in October cane is planted once more. In this operation two rows of whole cane stalks are placed in the furrows and covered with five or six inches of earth as a protection against frost. Most of this layer of earth is removed in the spring to help the growth of the young cane shoots. Stable manure, cotton-seed meal, nitrates, phosphates and kainite are used as fertilizers.

Harvesting begins at the end of November, and, weather permitting, the cane is allowed to remain standing in the fields until required for grinding. If, however, the Government Weather Bureau should predict cold, the cane is cut without delay, piled in the furrows and covered with dry cane leaves to prevent it from freezing. Cane stored in this manner keeps well so long as the weather remains cold, but as soon as warm weather comes it rapidly deteriorates.

Labor in Louisiana is both scarce and costly, consequently agricultural machinery is used in the fields as far as possible.

The steam engine was first employed in the crushing of cane in the year 1822. About this time, when slavery was such a tremendous factor in the South, sugar raising was marked by a tendency toward the large plantation method. From 1830 to 1840 the number of plantations in Louisiana decreased, but the number of slaves employed on them increased 40 per cent. Later, however, the plantations began to grow in number and by 1853 there were more than fifteen hundred of them, as against 668 thirteen years previous. In those days, each plantation had its own sugar mill, so that 1853 may be taken as close to the high-water mark for the number of mills in the South. With the outbreak of the Civil war, the industry was virtually wiped out of existence, and when its rehabilitation was begun, it was carried on along entirely different lines and the separation of the raising of sugar from the manufacture was gradually brought about. Year by year the small mills were abandoned and the crops of cane raised by the planters, large and small, were brought to the central factory to be worked up. Today, where large plantations still exist, it is the practice to rent subdivisions of land from twenty to fifty acres in size to tenants who grow cane for the central mill.