Chapter XII: Part II: History of the Industry (3)

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.

SUGAR PLANTATION SCENE IN PORTO RICO]

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.

PLOUGHING CANE FIELD WITH STEAM PLOUGH, PORTO RICO]

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.

John W. Dwinelle, in an address delivered in San Francisco in 1866, said: “Previous to the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, the Portuguese had discovered the Azore islands in longitude 31 W., and on the strength of that discovery claimed that the countries discovered by Columbus belonged to the crown of Portugal, and that the Spaniards should be wholly excluded from them. But the Spaniards refused to admit this pretension and referred the matter for decision to the Pope, Alexander VI. It was then part of the law of nations, and of the public law of the world, that the Pope was the ultimate source of all temporal power; that he could make and unmake kings, and dispose of all the kingdoms of the earth—powers which he frequently exercised and against which it were vain to contend. He was therefore, by general consent, the acknowledged source of all lawful title to land. He assumed to decide the case thus referred to his decision, and on May 3d, A. D. 1493, determined the matter in dispute between the crowns of Portugal and Spain, by drawing an imaginary line of longitude one hundred leagues west of the Azores, and granting to the Spanish monarchs all countries inhabited by infidels, which they had already discovered, or might afterwards discover, lying to the west, and to the crown of Portugal all those lying to the east of that line. This line was afterwards removed two hundred and seventy leagues further to the west, by a treaty subsequently made in the year 1494, between the kings of Portugal and Spain; but so thoroughly was the title thus conceded by the Pope respected by the civilized world, that when Henry VII of England was afterwards about to intrude upon some of the dominions thus granted to Spain, he abandoned his project upon being warned by the Pope to desist.”

This division of the surface of the globe into two parts gave to Portugal all the territory both known and unknown east of the arbitrary meridian drawn 470 miles west of the Cape Verde islands, and to Spain everything west of this line.

Ferdinand Magellan, the famous Portuguese navigator, in the service of the Emperor Charles V of Spain, set out on a voyage west-bound with the object of taking possession of the Moluccas, as they lay west of the line of demarcation. Sailing around Cape Horn, Magellan discovered the Philippine islands in 1521, landing first on Malhou, between Samar and Dinagat. Afterward, he touched at Mindanao, from which he sailed to Cebú. Thence he went to the small island of Mactan, where he was killed in a skirmish.

But little action was taken with regard to this territory until after the accession of Philip II (hence “las Filipinas”—Philippines), when an important expedition was fitted out at the Mexican port of Navidad. It sailed in November, 1564, under the command of Miguél Lopez de Legaspi, the distinguished conquistador, who, in the following year established on the island of Cebú the first permanent settlement in the Philippines. The city of Manila was founded in 1571 and became the capital of the group. Through his tact, courage and resourcefulness, Legaspi won the confidence of the people and placed the colony on a sound footing. At the same time he checked all attempts at encroachment on the part of the Portuguese. Spanish rule was undisturbed until 1762, when a British naval force bombarded Manila and occupied it. At the conclusion of the war between Great Britain and Spain in 1764, the British withdrew and the domination of Spain endured until 1898, when the Spanish fleet was destroyed by Dewey at Manila bay.

The title to the Philippines therefore passed through the Pope to Spain and from Spain to the United States.

When Magellan reached these islands he found that sugar was made in a primitive fashion. The methods employed were very much like those in vogue in China, and the sugar, when made, greatly resembled the Chinese product. This is very strong presumptive evidence that cane and the knowledge of its manufacture were originally brought to the Philippines by the Chinese.

The industry, however, amounted to very little prior to 1849, in which year the island of Negros was placed under the jurisdiction of the religious order of Recoletos, who did much to encourage the manufacture of sugar, and this movement was stimulated by the high prices resulting from the Crimean war. In consequence, cane sugar was exported with profit from Negros, Luzon and Cebú. Notwithstanding the lack of capital, the rough, crude mills, the planters’ scant knowledge of manufacturing methods and the wretched transportation facilities, the sugar trade forged rapidly ahead until in 1893 the exports totaled 257,550 long tons. A slump in the price of silver, however, brought on a financial crisis, and subsequently internal dissensions affected the crops so that in 1901 only 51,448 tons were exported. Since then a change for the better has taken place and the figures for 1915-16 indicate a production of 345,000 tons.

Sugar cane is used as a delicacy in all of the inhabited islands of the Philippine group, but the growing and manufacture of it as a regular industry are confined to Negros, Mindoro, Cebú, Panay, Luzon and Leyte. In 1914-15 about 350,000 acres altogether were planted in cane, and the quantity of sugar exported during 1916 was about 300,000 tons.

The first care of the United States after its occupancy of the Philippines was the bettering of conditions in sanitation, education, banking methods, railway communication and deep water terminals. Apart from the primitive character of the sugar mills and the loss growing out of poor extraction of juice, open-kettle boiling and curing in earthen pots, the sugar producer was generally in debt to the buyer for advances that carried a high rate of interest. The government has taken steps to correct this evil and has made it possible for the farmer to get credit on reasonable terms, limiting its loans, however, to those who have Torrens titles to their property,[45] but the Filipino has been under the influence of the money-lenders too long for him to break his bonds entirely. Besides, his instinctive dislike for anything new is a hindrance to progress in this direction.

In addition to the measures just alluded to, a special law was passed in 1902, under which all Philippine sugars entering the United States paid 25 per cent less than the regular customs tariff. The Payne-Aldrich bill of August 5, 1909, provided for free admission of Philippine sugars up to 300,000 gross tons, and it stipulated that the small producer (less than 500 tons per annum) was to receive first consideration in the event of the importation exceeding 300,000 tons. Any excess coming into the United States would have been assessed the full tariff. During the life of this legislation, however, the largest production of the islands was that of 1913-14, which amounted to 265,000 tons, of which 225,000 tons were exported.[46] The tariff act of 1913, which became effective March 1, 1914, admits all Philippine sugars free of duty without any restriction as to quantity.

The religious orders were formerly large land owners in the Philippines, and the feeling of discontent that ultimately led to the insurrection of the Filipinos against Spain in 1896 was largely due to agrarian difficulties between the friars and their tenants. When the revolution came, the friars had to flee for their lives, and after peace was restored by the United States, the insular government felt that if they returned to their possessions they would be in constant danger from the hostility of the natives. It was, therefore, decided to acquire these lands and to that end Congress passed an act authorizing the Philippine government to issue bonds to the amount of $7,000,000 and to purchase the lands of the various orders with the money so raised. With one or two minor exceptions, all of these lands, amounting to something over 600,000 acres, were bought by the government and are being resold on long-term payments at a price that will reimburse the government. In disposing of this property preference is always given to the resident tenants.

A measure was carried through the Philippine legislature approving the sale of the unoccupied portions of these friar estates to individuals without restriction as to acreage, and it was under the provisions of this act that large tracts of land were acquired by the interests connected with the Mindoro company in the San José estate in Mindoro and by the people associated with the Calamba estate in the Calamba, Santa Rosa and Biñan districts of Laguna province, Luzon.

Apart from these so-called friar lands, the public lands in the Philippine islands are held for sale or lease subject to the following conditions: Corporations can purchase or lease up to 1024 hectares, or 2500 acres, and individuals up to 64 hectares, or 158 acres. The terms of sale are a minimum of 10 pesos, or $5 per hectare, 25 per cent of which must be paid at the time the contract is entered into and the remainder within five years, with interest at 6 per cent, or leased at a minimum rental of 50 centavos, or 25 cents, per hectare per annum, leases running for fifty years.

The Mindoro and Calamba companies, controlling 55,000 and 20,000 acres respectively, and the San Cárlos Milling company of San Cárlos, Negros, have erected the first and only modern sugar mills in the Philippines, and they have gone into cane cultivation and sugar manufacture in a scientific way. The management of these three enterprises has been entrusted to men who have had thorough field and factory experience in Hawaii.

Unlike the other two large companies, the San Cárlos Milling company operates a _central_ pure and simple. The company owns no land except the site for the mill and the outbuildings connected with it. It has, however, acquired leases of a certain amount of railway trackage. The capacity of the mill is 1000 tons of cane per day, which means about 125 tons of centrifugal sugar. It was completed at the end of 1913 at a cost of about one million dollars, and the first cane ground was from the 1914 crop.

In the Philippines cane is not planted every year. Herbert S. Walker, in his work “The Sugar Industry in the Island of Negros” (Manila, 1910), says: “A decidedly large proportion of the total land under cultivation in Negros is not replanted every year, but is allowed to ratoon, from two to eight crops being taken off without replanting. This is especially true in the rich soils of the districts around Ilog-Cabancalan, Binalbagan-Isabela, San Cárlos and Bais. Theoretically, cane planted in some of these alluvial soils, which are flooded and fertilized each year by silt brought down from the mountains by the overflow of a river, might go on ratooning indefinitely. Practically, the period between plantings is limited strictly by financial considerations.

“Much time and expense are saved by not being obliged to replant. On the other hand, the yield from plant cane is, as a rule, greater than even from first ratoons, and with each successive ratoon crop the total amount of sugar produced per hectare of land is decidedly diminished. This is partially due to the shorter time in which the cane is allowed to ripen. Owing to excessive rains prevalent in this country, canes must be cut every year, and the practice so common in Hawaii of allowing ratoons to ripen for eighteen months or more, is here out of the question. A further obstacle, especially when canes are planted closely in rows, is the tendency of ratoons to spread out in every direction from the original plant so that in the course of a few years the cane rows lose all semblance of regularity, and proper tillage of the soil is rendered very difficult; thus many young ratoons are stunted in their growth by weeds.”

The time of planting in most parts of the islands is usually from December until April, but in Negros, where the soil is good and the rainfall well distributed, planting can be done at almost any time, except during the period of very heavy rains, _i. e._, from July to October.

The yield of sugar per acre may be approximated as follows:

Plant cane 2.5 tons
First ratoons 2.0 ”
Second ratoons 1.75 ”
Third ratoons 1.50 ”
Fourth ratoons 1.25 ”

When the yield drops as low as eight-tenths of a ton of sugar per acre, replanting is necessary, and allowing for the reduced yield of first and second ratoons, it may be reckoned that one-half of the production is from plant cane and the other half from ratoon crops.

The length of time during which the cane is allowed to remain in the ground varies from nine to fourteen months and will probably average between eleven and twelve.[47]

The labor problem is present in the Philippines as in all cane-sugar countries. The natives are willing enough to work, but shrink at the idea of leaving their homes to take employment at any considerable distance away.

Apart from the three modern factories previously mentioned, sugar-making facilities are greatly behind the times, although there are a few minor exceptions. Over one thousand small mills were in operation in the islands in 1907 and of these 528 were driven by steam, 470 by carabao (water oxen) or natives, and 77 by water power. The carabao mills, however, are rapidly disappearing. The capacity of most of these small mills is from 50 to 60 tons of cane per day, and, as the cane is only crushed once, there is a considerable loss in recovery. A little lime is added to the juice to clarify it and it is then boiled to grain in a series of five or six open pans. The general arrangement is shown by the accompanying sketch, which is taken from Herbert S. Walker’s “Sugar Industry in the Island of Negros.”

The drawing shows two sets of pans, each set being built over a separate furnace. The number 5 pan, into which the juice from the crusher flows, is connected to both sets. The furnaces are fed directly under number 1 pan, where the final boiling is done and where the greatest heat is required. The two furnaces converge when they reach the boiler, which may be fired separately, so that grinding and boiling may, if necessary, be done independently of each other. As the juice leaves the crusher through an open wooden trough, particles of cane and other matter are removed by straining through a cloth or a close-meshed wire screen. It runs into the receiving pan—number 5—and is heated to between 160 and 175 degrees Fahrenheit, which brings certain impurities to the surface in the form of froth. This is skimmed off and thrown into the scum tank; the juice is then ladled by hand as required into the smaller pans (number 4) where lime is added for clarification. Violent agitation takes place in pans numbers 3 and 2, and as fast as scum forms it is skimmed off. The clarified juices are then concentrated in pans number 2 and number 1, after which the massecuite is put into wooden trays and stirred with a spade until it granulates. It is then ready to be taken to market.

As has been pointed out, the loss in this primitive method of manufacture is very heavy. Notwithstanding the fact that all of the molasses is retained in the sugar, the amount of sucrose that is lost or wasted is 44 per cent, and over one-half of this is left in the bagasse.

Apart from centrifugals, Philippine sugars consist of the following grades: _Superior_, _Humedo_ (wet) and _Corriente_ (current). Sugars polarizing from 87 to 88.9 degrees are called Superior No. 1, those testing from 85 to 86.9 degrees, Superior No. 2, and those running from 80 to 84.9 degrees, Superior No. 3. Humedo sugars polarize from 76 to 79.9 degrees and Corriente from 70 to 75.9 degrees. Roughly speaking, the proportions are about 85 per cent of Superior of 84 degrees purity and 15 per cent of wet sugar testing somewhere near 75 degrees.

The Bureau of Agriculture of the Philippines maintains experiment stations at La Granja, near La Carlota, Occidental Negros, and at Calamba, Luzon, for the study of cane, soil analysis and the solving of fertilization problems. This work of scientific investigation is sure to be of great benefit to the industry. Some experimental work with sugar cane is also carried on at the station at Alabang, Laguna province, Luzon.

American control in the Philippines promises much for the future of the sugar industry of these islands, for when it is remembered that for many years, in spite of the handicap of crude, uneconomic methods, export duties at home and import duties abroad, sugar was made and sold at a profit in the markets of the world, it is not unreasonable to look for a considerable stimulus to be given to production by advanced scientific management and free admission of the commodity to the markets of the United States.

Quantity of sugar exported from the Philippine islands from 1895 to 1916, in tons of 2240 pounds:

1895 227,279
1896 226,279
1897 198,899
1898 177,962
1899 91,583
1900 61,752
1901 51,448
1902 90,617
1903 88,144
1904 82,656
1905 103,334
1906 122,417
1907 120,050
1908 140,197
1909 125,276
1910 114,506
1911 203,394
1912 190,702
1913 155,201
1914 232,761
1915 207,679
1916 300,000

CUBA

The island of Cuba lies between 74 degrees and 85 degrees west longitude and 19 degrees 40 minutes and 23 degrees 33 minutes north latitude; its length is about 730 miles, running nearly east and west, and its width varies from 25 to 100 miles. In area it comprises about 45,883 square miles, or 29,365,120 acres, which is approximately that of Pennsylvania or Louisiana. Habana, the capital, is almost on the same parallel as Honolulu and the City of Mexico.

With the exception of a strip of the central-southern coast, Cuba rises boldly out of the sea and presents a rugged appearance to the eye on approach. About one-quarter of its surface is mountainous; three-fifths consists of gently sloping country, valleys and rolling plains; the rest is swampy.

A variety of topographic and climatic characteristics divides the island naturally into three distinct parts. The eastern end is high and broken, with tall commanding peaks; the wide central region, lying well above sea-level, is made up of excellently drained, undulating plains, interrupted at intervals by low, wooded hills; the western portion is a picturesque country of mountain and valley, but of lower altitude than the eastern end. The entire island is covered with a mantle of luxuriant verdure, kept always green by warm mists and generous rains.

A coral reef extends around the greater part of the coast, but between the forbidding rocks and the marshes there are a number of good harbors, chiefest among which is that of Habana, one of the finest in the world. The distance from Cuba to Key West, Florida, is one hundred miles. The census of 1908 placed the population at 2,048,890.

The prevailing winds are the northeast trades, but these are interrupted at frequent intervals by variable winds from other directions which bring changes in temperature and rainfall. Compared with those of Hawaii, the mountains are low, usually not over 2000 feet, and do not produce the effect of a wet side and a dry side to the island, as the trades sweep it from end to end and not transversely. To give an idea of climatic conditions, the average maximum temperature in Habana in 1914 was 90 degrees Fahrenheit, the minimum 53 degrees and the mean average 77 degrees. The total rainfall was 46.15 inches. Seventy-five per cent of the rain occurs in the summer months, between the first of May and the first of October, and the precipitation is greater in the eastern part of the island than in the western. The winters are comparatively dry. This combination of dry winters and wet summers is extremely favorable to the growing and harvesting of sugar cane.

The low plains along the coast are of coral formation and the soil overlying the coral is often found to be shallow. The richest and most productive soil is that of the uplands some distance from the sea. In Cuba the soils may be said to consist of two kinds—the red and the black. The red is generally of great depth, from 30 to 50 feet, and rests on a stratum of free limestone. The black soil, varying in color from a mulatto to a “gumbo” black, overlies a clay formation, and as a general rule is not so deep as the red soil. Owing to the fact that the black soil retains such a large percentage of water during the extremely rainy period, the cost of cultivation is double that of working the red soil.

CENTRAL FACTORY, GENERAL VIEW, CUBA]

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.

CANE FIELD, CUBA]

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.

TRAIN-LOAD OF SUGAR CANE, CUBA]

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.)