Chapter XVII: Section I (9)

The Major da Luz kindly presented me with 300 young tea-plants,
which he had caused his negroes to pull up for me; and in an
adjoining farm, where an immense tract planted with tea is now
allowed to run to waste, being no object of value to the proprietor,
I was permitted to take all I could carry away; and in a single
day's time, M. Houlet and I, aided by some slaves, succeeded in
possessing ourselves of 3,000 young plants, which we carefully
arranged in bamboo baskets (here called cestos). To diminish the
weight, M. Houlet removed as little soil as possible; but carefully
wetted the roots before closing the baskets, and covered them with
banana leaves. In one garden, the largest I have seen devoted to the
growth of tea, but which is not particularly well kept, I saw that
the spaces between the shrubs were planted with _maize_, and the
bordering of the squares which intersect this vast plantation, and
the whole of which is inclosed with valleys of _Araucaria
Brasiliensis_, is formed of little dwarf tea-plants, which are kept
low by cutting their main shoots down to the level of the soil.

On the 8th of February I again embarked in the steam-boat to return
to Rio Janeiro, and when we came in sight of St. Sebastian, I left
M. Houlet to proceed to the city alone, charging him to take the
very greatest care of our package of tea-plants, as well as of the
nursery-ground at St. Theresa, while I should visit the flourishing
colony of Ubatuba, inhabited by French families, who cultivate most
successfully _coffee_, and other useful vegetables. After a
delightful sail through an archipelago of enchanting islands, I
landed at Pontagrossa, where I was most kindly received, and spent a
week, obtaining much and varied information, both respecting
cultivated plants and the kinds of trees which grow spontaneously in
the virgin forests of this lovely land, and afford valuable woods
for building, cabinet work, and dyeing. Finally, I visited the tea
plantations of M. Vigneron, which are remarkably fine, though their
owner finds a much more profitable employment in the growth of
_coffee_, which is very lucrative. He kindly gave me a quantity of
young tea-plants and chocolate trees. Reluctantly quitting these
worthy colonists, I re-embarked in a Brazilian galliot, which took
me back to Rio Janeiro in the close of February. There I found the
tea-plants from St. Paul, set by M. Houlet, in our garden at St.
Theresa, and I added to them the stock I had brought from Ubatuba.
All the very young ones had perished on the way, from the excessive
heat, and M. Houlet had much difficulty in saving the others.

* * * * *

M. Guillemin concludes his interesting narration with this partially
discouraging fact;--that though the culture of the tea-shrub
succeeds perfectly well in Brazil; though the gathering of the
foliage proceeds with hardly any interruption during the entire
year; though the quality (setting aside the aroma, which is believed
to be artificially added) is not inferior to that of the finest tea
from China--still the growers have not realised any large profits.
They have manufactured an immense quantity of tea, to judge by what
he saw in the warehouses at St. Paul, but they cannot afford to sell
it under six francs for the half kilogramme (a pound weight), which
is higher than Chinese tea of equally good quality. This is,
however, precisely one of those commodities in which free labour,
that is, the labor of a free peasant's family, the wife and
children, the young and the old, can successfully compete with slave
labor, and considerably undersell it. It is manifest, from the
remarks of M. Guillemin, that the cost for plantation slaves, under
a system apparently so profitable as labor without wages, is a dead
weight on the Brazilian planter."

_Paraguay Tea._--A species of holly (_Ilex Paraguensis_), which grows spontaneously in the forest regions of Paraguay, and the interior of South America, furnishes the celebrated beverage called _Yerba Mate_, in South America. The evergreen leaf of this plant is from four to five inches long; when prepared for use as tea it is reduced to powder, and hence the decoction has to be quaffed by means of a tube with a bulb perforated with small holes.

The leaves yield the same bitter principle called theine, which is found in the leaf of the Chinese tea-plant, the coffee berry, &c. Various other species of Ilex are sometimes employed in other parts of South America for a similar purpose. Although the leaves may not contain as much of the agreeable narcotic oil as those of the China shrub, in consequence of the rude way in which it is collected and prepared for use, yet it is much relished by European travellers in South America, and would doubtless enter largely into consumption if imported into this country at a moderate rate of duty.

The consumption in the various South American Republics is estimated at thirty or forty millions of pounds annually. It is generally drank without sugar or milk.

There are no correct data for calculating the exports, but some authorities state the amount sent to Santa Fe and Buenos Ayres at eight millions of pounds.

A great trade is carried on with it at Sta. Fe, where it is brought from the Rio de la Plata. There are two sorts, one called "Yerba de Palos," the other, which is finer, "Yerba de Carnini." Frezier tells us that, in the earlier part of the 17th century, above 50,000 arrobas, or more than 12,000 cwt. of this herb were brought into Peru from Paraguay, exclusive of about 25,000 arrobas taken to Chile; and Father Charleroix, in his "History of Paraguay," states the quantity shipped to Peru annually at 100,000 arrobas, or nearly 2,500,000 lbs.

My friend, Mr. W.P. Robertson, has favored me with some details as to the production of Paraguay tea. His brother has graphically described a visit he paid to the wastes or woods of the Yerba tree, with a colony of manufacturers from Assumption. These woods were situated chiefly in the country adjacent to a small miserable town called Villa Real, about 150 miles higher up the river Paraguay than Assumption. The master manufacturer, with about forty or fifty hired peons or servants, mounted on mules, and a hundred bulls and sumpter mules, set out on their expedition, and having discovered in the dense wood a suitable locality, forthwith a settlement is established, and the necessary wigwams for dwellings, &c., run up. The next step is the construction of the "tatacua." This was a small space of ground, about six feet square, of which the soil was beaten down with heavy mallets, till it became a hard and consistent foundation. At the four corners of this space, and at right angles, were driven in four very strong stakes, while upon the surface of it were laid large logs of wood. This was the place at which the leaves and small sprigs of the yerba tree, when brought from the woods, were first scorched--fire being set to the logs of wood within it. By the side of the tatacua was spread an ample square net of hidework, of which, after the scorched leaves were laid upon it, a peon gathered up the four corners and proceeded with his burthen on his shoulders to the second place constructed, the barbacue. This was an arch of considerable span, and of which the support consisted of three strong trestles. The centre trestle formed the highest part of the arch. Over this superstructure were laid cross-bars strongly railed to stakes on either side of the central supports, and so formed the roof of the arch. The leaves being separated after the tatacua process, from the grosser boughs of the yerba tree, were laid on this roof, under which a large fire was kindled. Of this fire the flames ascended, and still further scorched the leaves of the yerba. The two peons beneath the arch, with long poles, took care, as far as they could, that no ignition should take place; and in order to extinguish this, when it did occur, another peon was stationed at the top of the arch. Along both sides of this there were two deal planks, and, with a long stick in his hand, the peon ran along these planks, and instantly extinguished any incipient sparks of fire that appeared.

When the yerba was thoroughly scorched, the fire was swept from the barbacue or arch; the ground was then swept, and pounded with heavy mallets, into the hardest and smoothest substance. The scorched leaves and very small twigs were then thrown down from the roof of the arch, and, by means of a rude wooden mill, ground to powder.

The yerba or tea was now ready for use; and being conveyed to a larger shed, previously erected for the purpose, was then received, weighed, and stored by the overseer. The next and last process, and the most laborious of all, was that of packing the tea. This was done by first sewing together, in a square form, the half of a bull's hide, which being still damp, was fastened by two of its corners to two strong trestles, driven far into the ground. The packer then, with an enormous stick, made of the heaviest wood, and having a huge block at one end, and a pyramidal piece to give it a greater impulse at the other, pressed, by repeated efforts, the yerba into the hide sack, till he got it full to the brim. It then contained from 200 to 250 pounds, and being sewed up, and left to tighten over the contents as the hide dried, it formed at the end of a couple of days, by exposure to the sun, a substance as hard as stone, and almost as weighty and impervious too.

Having described the process of making ready the yerba for use, we will now accompany Mr. Robertson to the woods, to see how it is collected.

"After all the preparations which I have detailed were completed
(and it required only three days to finish them), the peons sallied
forth from the yerba colony by couples. I accompanied two of the
stoutest and best of them. They had with them no other weapon than a
small axe; no other clothing than a girdle round their waist and a
red cap on their head; no other provision than a cigar, and a cow's
horn filled with water; and they were animated by no other hope or
desire, that I could perceive, than those of soon discovering a part
of the wood thickly studded with the yerba tree. They also desired
to find it as near as possible to the colonial encampment, in order
that the labor of carrying the rough branches to the scene of
operations might be as much as possible diminished.

We had scarcely skirted for a quarter of a mile the woods which shut
in the valley where we were bivouacked, when we came upon numerous
clumps of the yerba tree. It was of all sizes, from that of the
shrub to that of the full-grown orange tree; the leaves of it were
very like those of that beautiful production. The smaller the plant,
the better is the tea which is taken from it considered to be.

To work with their hatchets went the peons, and in less than a
couple of hours they had gathered a mountain of branches, and piled
them up in the form of a haystack. Both of them then filled their
large ponchos with the coveted article of commerce in its raw state,
and they marched off with their respective loads. Having deposited
this first load within the precincts of the colony, the peons
returned for a second, and so on till they had cleared away the
whole mass of branches and of leaves cut and collected during that
day. When I returned to the colony I found the peons coming by two
and two, from every part of the valley, all laden in the same way.
There were twenty tatacuas, twenty barbacues, and twenty pies of the
yerba cut and ready for manufacture. Two days after that the whole
colony was in a blaze, tatacuas and barbacues were enveloped in
smoke; on the third day all was stowed away in the shed; and on the
fourth the peons again went out to procure more of the boughs and
leaves."--(_Letters on Paraguay_, vol. ii. p. 142-147).

Each peon or laborer, going into the woods for six months, can procure eight arrobas, or 200 lbs. of yerba a day. This, at the rate of two rials, or 1s. for each arroba, would make his wages per day 8s.; and this for six months' work, at six days in the week, would produce to the laborer a sum of £57 12s.

Wilcockes, in his "History of Buenos Ayres," published in 1807, states:--"Though the herb is principally bought by the merchants of Buenos Ayres, it is not to that place that it is carried, no more being sent thither than is wanted for the consumption of its inhabitants and those of the vicinity; but the greatest part is dispatched to Santa Fe and Cordova, thence to be forwarded to Potosi and Mendoza. The quantity exported to Peru is estimated at 100,000 arrobas, and to Chile 40,000. The remainder is consumed in Paraguay, Tucuman, and the other provinces. It is conveyed in parcels of six or seven arrobas, by waggons, from Santa Fe to Jugui, and thence by mules to Potosi, La Paz, and into Peru proper. About four piastres per arroba is the price in Paraguay, and at Potosi it fetches from eight to nine, and more in proportion as it is carried further."

SUGAR.

Sugar is obtained from many grasses; and, indeed, is common in a large number of plants. It is procured in Italy from _Sorghum saccharatum_; in China, from _Saccharum sinense_; in Brazil, from _Gynerium saccharoides_; in the West Indies, from _saccharum violaceum_; and in many other parts of the world from _S officinarrum_. The last two are commonly known as sugar canes, and they are generally considered as varieties of a single species, _S. officinarum_, which is now widely spread over different parts of the world.

Some curious specimens of palm sugars were exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851, among others,--gomuti palm sugar (_Arenga saccharifera_) from Java; date palm sugar, from the Deccan; nipa sugar, from the stems of _Nipa fruticans_, and sugar from the fleshy flowers of _Bassia latifolia_,--an East Indian tree.

Among the other sugars shown were beet root sugar, maple sugar, date sugar, from Dacca, sugar from the butter tree (_Bassia butyracea_), produced in the division of Rohekkund, in India; and sugar candy, crystallized by the natives of Calcutta and other parts of India.

Sugar and molasses from the grape, were also shown from Spain, Tunis and the Zollverein.

Sugar, or sugar candy, has been made in China from very remote antiquity, and large quantities have been exported from India, in all ages, whence it is most probable that it found its way to Rome.

The principal impurities to be sought for in cane sugar are inorganic matter, water, molasses, farina, and grape, or starch sugar. The latter substance is occasionally, for adulterating purposes, added in Europe to cane sugar; it may be detected by the action of concentrated sulphuric acid and of a solution of caustic potassa; the former blackens cane sugar, but does not affect the starch sugar, while potassa darkens the color of starch sugar, but does not alter that of cane sugar. But the copper test is far more delicate. Add to the solution to be tested, a few drops of blue vitriol, and then a quantity of potassa solution, and apply heat; if the cane sugar is pure, the liquor will remain blue, while, if it be adulterated with starch sugar, it will assume a reddish yellow color.

Inorganic matter is determined by incineration, farina by the iodine test, water by drying at 210 deg., and molasses by getting rid of it by re-crystalization from alcohol, as also by the color and moisture of the article.

The natural impurities of sugar are gum and tannin; gum is detected by giving a white precipitate with diacetate of lead, and tannin by giving a black coloration or precipitate with persulphate of iron.

An experienced sugar dealer easily judges of the value of sugar by the taste, smell, specific gravity, moisture and general appearance.

The value of molasses may be determined by drying at 220 degs., and by the taste.

The commercial demand for sugar is mainly supplied from the juice of the cane, which contains it in greater quantity and purity than any other plant, and offers the greatest facilities for its extraction.

Although sugar, identical in its character, exists in the maple, the coco-nut, maize, the beet root, and mango, and is economically obtained from these to a considerable extent, yet it is not sufficiently pure to admit of ready separation from the foreign matter combined with it, at least by the simple mechanical means, the ordinary producers usually have at command; unless carried onto a large extent, and with suitable machinery and chemical knowledge and appliances.

The different species of commercial sugar usually met with in this country, are four, viz:--brown, or muscovado sugar (commonly called moist sugar); clayed sugar, refined or loaf sugar, and sugar candy; these varieties are altogether dependent on the difference in the methods employed in their manufacture.

The cultivation of the sugar cane, and the manufacture of sugar, were introduced into Europe from the East, by the Saracens, soon after their conquests, in the ninth century. It is stated by the Venetian historians, that their countrymen imported sugar from Sicily, in the twelfth century, at a cheaper rate than they could obtain it from Egypt, where it was then extensively made. The first plantations in Spain were at Valencia; but they were extended to Granada, Mercia, Portugal, Madeira, and the Canary Islands, as early as the beginning of the fifteenth century. From Gomera, one of these islands, the sugar cane was introduced into the West Indies, by Columbus, in his second voyage to America in 1493. It was cultivated to some extent in St. Domingo in 1506, where it succeeded better than in any of the other islands. In 1518, there were twenty-eight plantations in that colony, established by the Spaniards, where an abundance of sugar was made, which, for a long period, formed the principal part of the European supplies. Barbados, the oldest English settlement in the West Indies, began to export sugar in 1646, and as far back as the year 1676 the trade required four hundred vessels, averaging one hundred and fifty tons burden.

The common sugar cane is a perennial plant, very sensitive to cold, and is, therefore, restricted in its cultivation to regions bordering on the tropics, where there is little or no frost. In the Eastern hemisphere its production is principally confined to situations favorable to its growth, lying between the fortieth parallel of north latitude and a corresponding degree south. On the Atlantic side of the Western continent, it will not thrive beyond the thirty-third degree of north latitude and the thirty-fifth parallel south. On the Pacific side it will perfect its growth some five degrees further north or south. From the flexibility of this plant, it is highly probable that it is gradually becoming more hardy, and will eventually endure an exposure and yield a profitable return much further north, along the borders of the Mississippi and some of its tributaries, than it has hitherto been produced. In most parts of Louisiana the canes yield three crops from one planting. The first season is denominated "plant cane," and each of the subsequent growths, "ratoons." But, sometimes, as on the prairies of Attakapas and Opelousas, and the higher northern range of its cultivation, it requires to be replanted every year. Within the tropics, as in the West Indies and elsewhere, the ratoons frequently continue to yield abundantly for twelve or fifteen years from the same roots.

The cultivation of this plant is principally confined to the West Indies, Venezuela, Brazil, Mauritius, British India, China, Japan, the Sunda, Phillippine, and Sandwich Islands, and to the southern districts of the United States. The varieties most cultivated in the latter are the striped blue and yellow ribbon, or Java, the red ribbon, violet, from Java, the Creole, crystalline or Malabar, the Otaheite, the purple, the yellow, the purple-banded, and the grey canes. The quantity of sugar produced on an acre varies from five hundred to three thousand pounds, averaging, perhaps, from eight hundred to one thousand pounds.

Six to eight pounds of the saccharine juice of the plant, yield one pound of raw sugar; from 16 to 20 cart-loads of canes, ought to make a hogshead of sugar, if thoroughly ripe. The weight necessary to manufacture 10,000 hhds of sugar, is usually estimated at 250,000 tons, or 25 tons per hhd. of 15 or 16 cwt.

The quantity of sugar now produced in our colonies is in excess of the demands of the consumers, that is, of their demands cramped as they are by the duties still levied on sugar consumed in Great Britain, imposed for the purposes of revenue; the high duty on all other but indigenous sugar, consumed all over the continent, imposed to promote the manufacture of beet-root sugar, and the legal duty levied on all other than indigenous sugar used in the United States, for the purpose of protecting the sugar production of that country; and so long as that excess exists---until a further reduction of duties shall increase consumption and cause sugar to be used for many purposes which the present high rates prohibit its being applied to--any improvement which may be effected in the quality--any increase which may take place in the quantity of colonial sugar--will only result infinitely more to the benefits of the consumers than the producers. In 1700 the quantity consumed in Great Britain and Ireland was only about 200,000 cwt. In 1852, including molasses, &c., it was not less than 8,000,000 cwt., a forty-fold increase in the century and a-half. Taking the whole population last year, it was nearly 28 lbs. per head. In 1832 the consumption in Great Britain alone was put down by Mr. M'Culloch at 23 lbs.; and as my estimate includes Ireland, where the consumption is notoriously small, we may infer that it has increased in Great Britain since 1832 at least 5 lb. per head. As the allowance to servants is from ¾ lb. to 1 lb. per week, it may be assumed that 50 lb. a year, at least, is not too much for grown persons. In sugar-producing countries the quantity consumed is enormous; the labourers live on it in the manufacturing season; and a Duke of Beaufort, who died about 1720, consumed one pound daily for forty years, and enjoyed excellent health till he was seventy years of age. The consumption of sugar has increased considerably since it has become cheap; and we may expect, therefore, that the consumption will extend more rapidly than ever. The whole quantity consumed in Europe last year, including beet-root sugar, was not less than 16,000,000 cwt. If peace be preserved and prosperity continue, the market for sugar will extend amazingly, and force the cultivation by free men in all tropical countries.

British East India and Total of B.P.
Years. Plantation Mauritius E.I. and Consumption
tons. tons Mauritius tons.
1838-39 176,033 54,017 230,050 195,483
39-40 141,219 60,358 201,577 191,279
40-41 110,739 52,232 162,971 179,741
41-42 107,560 97,792 205,352 202,971
42-43 123,685 80,429 204,114 199,491
43-44 125,178 78,943 204,121 202,259
44-45 122,639 81,959 204,598 206,999
45-46 142,384 102,690 245,074 244,030
47-48 164,646 125,829 290,475 289,537
48-49 139,868 107,844 247,712 308,131
49-50 142,203 121,850 264,053 296,119
50-51 129,471 119,317 248,788 305,616
51-52 148,000 110,000 258,000 312,778

--The above figures refer to raw sugar only.

At these periods, calculating from 1838-39, the duty on British sugar ranged from 24s. down to 10s. per cwt., and foreign slave-grown sugar from 63s. down to 14s. The greatest impetus was given to foreign sugar when the duties were reduced, in 1846.

The extension of sugar cultivation in various countries where the climate is suitable, has recently attracted considerable attention among planters and merchants. The Australian Society of Sydney offered its Isis Gold Medal recently to the person who should have planted, before May, 1851, the greatest number of sugar canes in the colony. I have not heard whether any claim was put in for the premium, but I fear that the gold fever has diverted attention from any new agricultural pursuit, and that honorary gold medals are therefore unappreciated. Moreton Bay and the northern parts of the colony of New South Wales, are admirably suited to the growth of all descriptions of tropical products.

The Natal Agricultural Society is also making great exertions to promote sugar culture in that settlement. Mr. E. Morewood, one of the oldest colonists, has about 100 acres under cultivation with the cane, and I have seen some very excellent specimens of the produce, notwithstanding the want of suitable machinery to grind the cane and boil the juice. Many planters from the East Indies and Mauritius are settling there. His Royal Highness Prince Albert awarded, through the Society of Arts, a year or two ago, a gold medal, worth 100 guineas, to Mr. J.A. Leon, for his beautiful work descriptive of new and improved machinery and processes employed in the cultivation and preparation of sugar in the British colonies, designed to economise labor and increase production.

The centrifugal machines, recently brought into use, for separating the molasses from the sugar, more quickly than the old-fashioned method of coolers, have tended to cheapen the production and simplify the processes of sugar making. The planters object, however, to the high prices which they are charged for these machines, so simple in their construction; and that they are not allowed, by the patent laws, to obtain them in the cheaper markets of France and Belgium.

Great loss has hitherto taken place annually, in the sugar colonies, through the drainage of the molasses, resulting from the imperfect processes in use; but this can now be obviated, by the use of the centrifugal machine. It is a modification of the "hydro-extractor," and is the invention of Mr. Finzel, of Bristol.

The machine being filled with sugar, appropriately placed, is rapidly revolved, and a powerful ceutrifugal force generated; the moisture is speedily removed to the circumference of the revolving vessel, and passes off through apertures adapted for the purpose.

Various other improvements in the making of sugar have been carried into effect within the last few years, by Dr. Scoffern, Messrs. Oxland and M. Melsens, but the description of these would occupy too much of my space, and those who are desirous of growing sugar on an extensive scale, I must refer to Dr. Evans' "Sugar Planter's Manual," Mr. Wray's "Practical Sugar Planter," Agricola's "Letters on Sugar Farming," and other works which treat largely and exclusively of the subject.

An announcement has recently been made, that a Mr. Ramos, of Porto Rico, has discovered some new dessicating agent, to be used in sugar making, which is to cost next to nothing, but improves most materially the quality of the sugar made, and also increases considerably the quantity obtained by the ordinary process.

The average annual quantity of cane sugar produced and sent into the markets of the civilised world, at the present time, may be taken at 1,500,000 tons, exclusive of the amount grown and manufactured for local consumption in India, China, Cochin-China, and the Malay Archipelago, of which no certain statistics exist, but which has been estimated at about another million tons.

So far back as 1844, the Calcutta "Star," in an article on sugar, estimated the domestic consumption in India, at 500,000 tons. This is considerably below the mark, even if India is taken in its limited signification, as including only British subjects. On this estimate the 94,000,000 of British subjects, men, women and children, would not individually consume more than one pound avoirdupois by the month. A fat, hungry Brahmin, at any of the festivals given by the great, will digest for his own share four pounds, without at all embarrassing his stomach.

Assuming the million and a half of tons that find their way into civilized markets, to represent an average value at the place of production of £15 per ton, we have here the representation of £22,500,000 sterling. But this value may fairly be increased by one-fourth.

The whole exportable production of the sugar-growing countries was found to be, in 1844, about 780,000 tons, of which Cuba furnished 200,000 tons. In 1845, notwithstanding Cuba only produced 80,000 tons, the increase from other sources was so considerable (namely:--the British Colonial supply 40,000, United States 40,000, Porto Rico 15,000, Brazil 10,000 tons) that the total produce fell very little short of the previous year--having reached 764,000 tons.

The present SUPPLY of sugar to the markets of Europe, is nearly as follows:--

Cwts.
England 8,000,000
France 2,550,000
German League 1,350,000
Prussia 220,000
Austria, (ten Provinces) 560,000
Belgium 294,000
Other States not defined.

The present DEMAND, according to the estimated consumption per head (28 lbs.), found to exist in England, where taxation is favorable, and the price moderate, would be about 3¼; million tons, viz.:--

Cwts.
England 8,000,000
France 8,875,000
Germany 5,750,000
Prussia 4,100,000
Austria 8,642,857
Belgium 1,250,000
Russia 15,250,000
Rest of Europe 12,500,000

The whole annual PRODUCTION of the world is estimated by another party at 1,471,000,000 lbs., of which the United States produce 150,000,000 lbs., including 40,000,000 lbs. of maple sugar. Of the whole amount of sugar produced, Europe consumes about 648,700 tons, divided nearly as follows:--

lbs.
Great Britain 803,360,096
France 160,080,000
Belgium 19,840,000
Netherlands 42,000,000
Russia 70,000,000
Denmark and Sweden 22,000,000
German Zollverein 101,300,000
Other parts of Germany 160,000,000
Austria 50,000,000
-------------
1,428,580,096

The following figures show the quantities of raw sugar in general, in tons, imported into the British markets for the last five years, compared with consumption:--

Entire British
Years. Importations. Consumption. Surplus.
1847 415,289 290,281 125,008
1848 354,834 309,424 45,410
1849 362,087 299,041 63,046
1850 332,470 310,391 22,089
1851 419,083 329,561 89,472
1852 360,033 358,642 1,391
Deduced from Parliamentary Paper, No. 461, Session 1853.

The consumption of sugar then in the whole world may be roughly estimated at two and a half million tons, of which the United Kingdom may now be put down for 350,000; the rest of Europe 420,000, and the United States 300,000.

The United States produce about 140,000 tons of cane and maple sugar, which are exclusively used for home consumption, the remainder of their requirements being made up by foreign importation. The American consumption, which in 1851 amounted to 133,000 tons of sugar cane reached last year a total of 321,000 tons, almost as much as England consumed--358,000--and more than the consumption of 100,000,000 of persons on the continent.

The whole production of tropical sugar, is about one million and a-half tons, while the consumption is probably two million tons; but the manufacture of sugar from beet root, maple and other sources, supplies the deficiency.

The total quantities of sugar, and molasses as sugar, consumed in the United Kingdom in the last six years, were, according to a Parliamentary paper, No. 292, of the last session, as follows:--

Cwt. sugar. Cwt. molasses.
1847 4,723,232 1,256,421
1848 5,003,318 865,752
1849 5,283,729 1,021,065
1850 5,570,461 752,027
1851 5,043,872 1,522,405
1852 7,203,631 799,942

The returns further specify that the annual average consumption of _British colonial sugar_, in the five years ending 1851, was 5,124,922 cwt.; and in the five years ending 1846, was 4,579,054 cwt.; the average consumption of British colonial sugar, has, therefore, exceeded in the five years since the duties were reduced, in 1846, the average consumption for the five previous years by 545,868 cwt. per annum; or in the aggregate in the five years, the excess has been 3,239,338 cwt. The quantity consumed in the year ending December, 1852, was 4,033,879 cwt.[16] There can be no doubt whatever, that the consumption of sugar in Great Britain is capable of very large increase; moderate cost, and the removal of restrictions to its general use, being the main elements required to bring it about. The question of revenue must of course be a material consideration with Government; but recent experience certainly leads to the conclusion that it would not suffer under a further reduction of duty.

The revenue derived from sugar before the reduction of the duty, was five millions per annum; in the past two years it reached nearly four millions.

The reduction in duties which took place in 1845, may be said to have answered the expectations formed of it, as regards the increase of consumption, which there is no doubt would have even gone beyond the estimate, if the failure in the crop of sugar in Cuba--that most important island, which usually yields one-fifth of the cane crop of the whole world--had not driven up prices in the general market of the continent, and, in consequence, diverted the supply of free labor sugar from this country. As it was, however, the consumption of the United Kingdom, which in 1844 was 206,472 tons, in 1845 was not less than 243,000--Sir Robert Peel's estimate was 250,000 tons--the average reduction in price to the consumer during the latter year having been 20 per cent. The large increase in subsequent years I have already shown.

The consumption of sugar we find, then, has been steadily and rapidly increasing in this country, and if we add together to the refined and raw sugar and molasses used, it will be seen that the consumption of 1852 amounted to 400,178 tons; which is at the rate of 29 lbs. per head of the population per annum. Whilst the quantity retained for home consumption in the United Kingdom, in 1844; was but 4,130,000 cwt., the amount had risen in 1852 to upwards of 8,000,000 cwt.

Sugar unrefined, entered for home consumption.

Colonial Raw. Foreign Raw. Total.
Cwt. Cwt. Cwt.
1848 5,936,355 1,225,866 6,162,221
1849 5,424,248 498,038 5,922,386
1850 5,201,206 911,115 6,112,321
1851 5,872,288 1,383,286 6,255,574
1852 6,241,581 687,269 6,928,850

To the foregoing should be added the following quantities of refined sugar and molasses, entered for home consumption.

Refined Sugar and Candy. Molasses. Total
Cwt. Cwt. Cwt.
1848 46,292 637,050 683,342
1849 75,392 812,330 887,722
1850 116,744 917,588 1,034,362
1851 338,734 773,035 1,111,769
1852 274,781 799,942 1,074,723

The quantity of sugar refined by our bonded refiners, and exported, is shown by the following figures. The increase in 1851, was one-fourth in excess of the previous year.

Cwt.
1848 248,702
1849 222,900
1850 209,148
1851 258,563
1852 214,299

The following were the imports of sugar into Great Britain, in 1848 and 1851, respectively--and the quarters from whence supplies were derived:--

1848--Tons. 1851--Tons.
West Indies 121,600 153,300
Mauritius 43,600 50,000
East Indies 65,200 78,286
Java and Manila 11,000 20,850
Havana, Porto Rico, and Brazil 76,900 76,526
------- -------
318,300 378,962

The production of sugar in the last four years, may be stated comparatively as follows:--

+----------------------+---------+---------+---------+-----------+
| CANE SUGAR. | 1849. | 1850. | 1851. | 1852. |
+----------------------+---------+---------+---------+-----------+
| | Tons. | Tons. | Tons. | Tons. |
| Cuba | 220,000 | 250,000 | 252,000 | 320,000 |
| Porto Rico | 43,600 | 48,200 | 49,500 | 50,000 |
| Brazil | 106,000 | 103,000 | 113,000 | 100,000 |
| United States | 98,200 | 120,400 | 103,200 | 110,000 |
| The West Indies | | | | |
| 1. French Colonies | 56,300 | 47,200 | 50,000 | 50,000 |
| 2. Danish Do. | 7,900 | 5,000 | 6,000 | 5,000 |
| 3. Dutch Do. | 13,800 | 14,200 | 15,000 | 20,000 |
| 4. British Do. | 142,200 | 129,200 | 148,000 | 140,000 |
| The East Indies | 70,403 | 67,300 | 66,000 | 60,000 |
| Mauritius | 50,782 | 57,800 | 55,500 | 65,000 |
| Java | 90,000 | 89,900 | 99,347 | 104,542 |
| Manila | 20,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 |
+----------------------+---------+---------+---------+-----------+
| | 919,182 | 952,200 | 977,547 | 1,044,542 |
+----------------------+---------+---------+---------+-----------+

+----------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
|BEET ROOT SUGAR.| 1849. | 1850. | 1851. | 1852. |
+----------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| | Tons. | Tons. | Tons. |Estmd. Tons.|
| France | 38,000 | 61,000 | 75,000 | 60,000 |
| Belgium | 5,000 | 6,000 | 8,000 | 9,000 |
| Zollverein | 33,000 | 38,000 | 49,000 | 50,000 |
| Russia | 13,000 | 14,000 | 15,000 | 16,000 |
| Austria | 6,500 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 18,000 |
+----------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| | 95,500 | 129,000 | 162,000 | 153,000 |
| Cane Sugar | 919,182 | 952,200 | 977,547 | 1,044,542 |
+----------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Total | 1,014,682 | 1,081,200 | 1,139,547 | 1,197,542 |
+----------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+

The price of sugar has, however, fallen considerably, and like many other things--corn, and cotton, and tea--has been lower for a long period than ever was known before.

Average price per London Gazette.
Year ending July 5, British West India. Mauritius.
1842 37s. 0d. -----
1843 34s. 7d. 33s. 10d.
1844 34s. 9d. 34s. 7d.
1845 31s. 3d. 30s. 3d.
1846 35s. 3d. 34s. 2d.
1847 32s. 11d. 32s. 1d.
1848 24s. 3d. 23s. 3d.
1849 24s. 4d. 24s. 0d.
1850 25s. 3d. 28s. 8d.
1851 27s. 3d. 26s. 9d.
Half-year ending Jan. 5,
1852 27s. 3d. 26s. 9d.

Thus, it is equally clear that the fall in the price has been very considerable since 1845, and that in 1849 and 1850 the price of sugar was about 10s. per cwt., or nearly one-third less than in 1838. The planters complain of the fall of price; and the only question in dispute is whether the fall has been occasioned by the reduction of the duties. Now the reduction of duties subsequent to 1846 and to 1851, was, on brown Muscovado sugar, from 13s. to 10s., or 3s.; and on foreign, from 21s. 7d. to 16s. 4d., or 5s. 3d. At the same time there was a very large increase of consumption, and the price, as of almost all articles, would not have been reduced to the full extent of the reduction of the duties, and certainly not reduced in a much greater degree, had there not been other causes at work to reduce the price. Between 1846 and 1851 freight from the Mauritius fell from £4 1s. 8d. to £2 13s. 9d., or 35 per cent.; and that reduction of price was not made from the planter. In the interval, too, great improvements were made in the manufacture of sugar; and in proportion as the article was produced cheaper, it could be sold cheaper, without any loss to him.

I shall now take a separate review of the capabilities and progress of the leading sugar producing countries.

_Production in the United States_.--Sugar cultivation, in the United States, is a subject of increasing interest. The demand is rapidly advancing. Its production in the State of Louisiana, to which it is there principally confined, is a source of much wealth. In 1840, the number of slaves employed in sugar culture was 148,890, and the product, 119,947 hhds. of 1,000 lbs. each; besides 600,000 gallons of molasses. Last year, the crop exceeded 240,000 hhds., worth 12,000,000 of dollars. The capital now employed, is 75,000,000 of dollars. The protection afforded by the American tariff, has greatly increased the production of sugar in the United States. From 1816 to 1850, this increase was from 15,000 hhds. to 250,000 hhds.

In 1843, the State of Louisiana had 700 plantations, 525 in operation, producing about 90,000 hhds. In 1844, the number of hogsheads was 191,324, and of pounds, 204,913,000; but this was exclusive of the molasses, rated at 9,000,000 gallons. In 1845 there were in Louisiana 2,077 sugar plantations, in 25 parishes; 1,240 sugar houses, 630 steam power, 610 working horse power; and the yield of sugar was 186,650 hhds., or 207,337,000 lbs.

The introduction of the sugar cane into Florida, Texas, California, and Louisiana, probably dates back to their earliest settlement by the Spaniards or French. It was not cultivated in the latter, however, as a staple product before the year 1751, when it was introduced, with several negroes, by the Jesuits, from St. Domingo. They commenced a small plantation on the banks of the Mississippi, just above the old city of New Orleans. The year following, others, cultivated the plant and made some rude attempts at the manufacture of sugar. In 1758, M. Dubreuil established a sugar estate on a large scale, and erected the first sugar mill in Louisiana, in what is now the lower part of New Orleans. His success was followed by other plantations, and in the year 1765 there was sugar enough manufactured for home consumption; and in 1770, sugar had become one of the staple products of the colony. Soon after the revolution a large number of enterprising adventurers emigrated from the United States to Lower Louisiana, where, among other objects of industry, they engaged in the cultivation of cane, and by the year 1803 there were no less than eighty-one sugar estates on the Delta alone. Since that period, while the production of cane sugar has been annually increasing at the south, the manufacture of maple sugar has been extending in the north and west.

Hitherto, the amount of sugar and molasses consumed in the United States has exceeded the quantities produced--consequently there has been no direct occasion for their exportation. In the year 1815 it was estimated that the sugar made on the banks of the Mississippi amounted to 10,000,000 lbs.

According to the census of 1840, the amount of cane and maple sugar produced in the United States was 155,100,089 lbs., of which 119,947,720 lbs. were raised in Louisiana. By the census of 1850, the cane sugar made in the United States was 247,581,000 lbs., besides 12,700,606 gallons of molasses; maple sugar, 34,249,886 lbs., showing an increase, in ten years, of 126,730,077 lbs.

The culture and manufacture of sugar from the cane, with the exception of a small quantity produced in Texas, centres in the State of Louisiana--where the cane is now cultivated and worked into sugar in twenty-four parishes. The extent of sugar lands available in those parishes is sufficient to supply the whole consumption of the United States. Sugar cultivation was carried on in Louisiana to a small extent before its cession to the United States. In 1818 the crop had reached 25,000 hogsheads. In 1834-35 it was 110,000 hogsheads, and in 1844-45 204,913 hogsheads. Each hogshead averaging 1,000 lbs. net, and yielding from 45 to 50 gallons of molasses.

The number of sugar estates in operation in 1830, was 600. The manual power employed on these plantations, was 36,091 slaves, 282 steam-engines, and 406 horse power. The capital invested being estimated at 50 million dollars. In 1844 the estates had increased to 762, employing 50,670 slaves, 468 steam-engines, 354 horse power.

The sugar-cane is now cultivated on both branches of the Mississippi from 57 miles below New Orleans to nearly 190 miles above. The whole number of sugar houses in the State is 1,536, of which 865 employ steam, and the rest horse power.

The crop of 1849-50 was 247,923 hhds. of 1,000 lbs., which, at an average of 3½ cents., amounted to nearly 9½ million dollars. The quantity of molasses produced was more than 12 million gallons, worth, at 20 cents the gallon, about 2,400,000 dollars, giving a total value of close upon 12 million dollars, or an average to each of the 1,455 working sugar houses of 8,148 dollars.

The overflow of the Mississippi and Red Rivers in 1850, shortened the crop near 20,000 hhds., and was felt in subsequent years. Since 1846, not less than 355 sugar mills and engines have been erected in this State. The sugar crop of 1851-52 was 236,547 hhds., produced by 1,474 sugar houses, 914 of which were worked by steam, and the rest by horse-power. Texas raises about 8,000 to 10,000 hhds. of sugar, and Florida and Georgia smaller quantities.

In the year ending December, 1851, there were taken for consumption in the United States about 132,832 tons of cane sugar, of which 120,599 were foreign imported. The quantity consumed in 1850 was 104,071 tons, of which 65,089 was foreign.

_Production in Cuba_.--The average yearly production of sugar in Cuba has been, in the five years from 1846 to 1850, 18,690,560 arrobas, equal to 467,261,500 lbs., or 292,031 hhds. of 1,600 lbs. weight. The crop of 1851 was estimated at twenty-one and a-half million arrobas, equal to about 335,937 West India hhds. Thus, the increase from 1836 to 1841, has been as 29 per cent.; from 1841 to 1846, as 25 per cent.; and from 1846 to 1851, as 45 per cent. A portion of sugar is also smuggled out, to evade the export duty, and by some this is set down as high as a fourth of the foregoing amounts.

In the three years ending 1841, the exports of the whole island were 2,227,624 boxes; in the three years ending 1844, 2,716,319 boxes; in the three years ending with 1847, 2,805,530 boxes.

Between 1839 and 1847, the exports had risen from 500,000 to 1,000,000 boxes. The following table exhibits the quantity shipped from the leading port of Havana, to different countries:--

Countries. Sugar boxes of about 400 lbs. each.
1850. 1851.
Spain 81,267 101,762
United States 146,672 199,204
England 25,697 46,615
Cowes and a market 221,385 270,010
The Baltic 45,085 81,866
Hamburgh and Bremen 29,271 33,165
Holland 23,242 26,828
Belgium 62,849 29,814
France 44,947 46,517
Trieste and Venice 38,627 14,832
Italy 2,856 5,243
Other places 13,888 16,601
------- -------
Boxes 743,249 872,457

Our West India possessions have, owing to the want of a good supply of labor and available capital to introduce various scientific improvements, somewhat retrograded in the production of sugar; which, from the low price ruling the past year or two, has not been found a remunerative staple.

The two large islands of Jamaica and Cuba, may be fairly compared as to their production of sugar. From 1804 to 1808, Jamaica exported, on the average, annually 135,331 hhds., and from 1844 to 1848, it had decreased to 41,872 hhds. The exports from the single port of Havana, which in the first named period were 165,690 boxes, rose during the latter period to 635,185 boxes; so that the shipments of sugar from Jamaica, which were in 1804 to 1808 double those of Havana--in the period from 1844 to 1848, were five times less!

Cuba will be able to withstand the crisis of the low price of sugars, better than the emancipated British Colonies, for the following reasons:--

1. It will find, in its present prosperity, a power of resistance that no longer exists in the British sugar-growing colonies.

2. Because it enjoys in the Spanish markets a protection for at least 16,955 tons of its sugar, or about eight-tenths of its total exportation.

3. Because it has secured a very strong position in the markets of the United States; and both from its proximity to, and its commercial relations with that country, as also from the better quality of its sugar, will command the sale of at least 33,500 tons, or about 16 per cent. of its total production.

4. Because in 1854, after the duties shall have been equalized, it will be enabled to undersell the British article in its own market.

5. Because, not being an exclusively sugar-growing colony, as are almost all British West India Islands, it may suffer from the present depressed condition of the sugar market, but cannot be entirely ruined, owing to its having commanding resources, and many other valuable staples,--coffee, copper, cotton, &c.

6. Because, by improving its agriculture and introducing useful machinery, railroads, &c., for which it has large available capital, it can produce sugar at a diminished cost.

7. And lastly, because the proprietors have _continuous_ labour at command, until slavery be abolished--of which there seems no present prospect. The slave population numbers about 350,000, and the free coloured population, about 90,000.

The consumption of sugar, during 1847, very singularly tallied with the production of the British Colonies that year--being exactly 289,000 tons; but as 50,000 tons of foreign sugar were consumed, an accumulation of British plantation sugar necessarily remained on hand.

The production of the French colonies was 100,000 tons, of which France received nine-tenths.

In 1836, Jamaica made 1,136,554 cwt. of sugar. In 1840, its produce had fallen off to 545,600 cwt.; but in the same years, Porto Rico had increased its sugar crop, from 498,000 cwt., to 1,000,000 cwt. In 1837, Cuba made 9,060,058 arrobas of sugar, equal to 132,765 hhds.; in 1841, it had increased to 139,000 hhds. The largest crop grown in the West Indies, since 1838, was that of 1847, which amounted to 159,600 tons.

The annexed returns of the sugar crops of Barbados and Jamaica, for a series of years may, be interesting:--

SUGAR CROPS OF THE ISLAND OF BARBADOS, FROM 1827 TO 1846 AND 1851.

1827 18,109 hhds.
1828 28,533 "
1829 23,486 "
1830 26,360 "
1831 28,174 "
1832 19,761 "
1833 28,099 "
1834 28,710 "
1835 25,371 "
1836 26,358 "
1837 31,670 "
1838 33,058 "
1839 28,213 "
1840 13,589 "
1841 17,801 "
1842 21,607 "
1843 24,587 "
1844 23,147 "
1845 24,767 "
1846 21,936 "
1851 48,000 "

SUGAR CROPS OF THE ISLAND OF JAMAICA, FROM 1790 TO 1851.

1790 91,131 "
1791 91,020 "
1792 ... "
1793 82,136 "
1794 97,124 "
1795 95,372 "
1796 96,460 "
1797 85,109 "
1798 95,858 "
1799 110,646 "
1800 105,584 "
1801 139,036 "
1802 140,113 "
1803 115,496 "
1804 112,163 "
1805 150,352 "
1806 146,601 "
1807 135,203 "
1808 132,333 "
1809 114,630 "
1810 112,208 "
1811 138,292 "
1812 113,173 "
1813 109,158 "
1814 104,558 "
1815 127,209 "
1816 100,382 "
1817 123,766 "
1818 121,758 "
1819 116,382 "
1820 122,922 "
1821 119,560 "
1822 94,515 "
1823 101,271 "
1824 106,009 "
1825 72,090 "
1826 106,712 "
1827 87,399 "
1828 101,575 "
1829 97,893 "
1830 100,205 "
1831 94,381 "
1832 98,686 "
1833 85,161 "
1834 84,756 "
1835 77,970 "
1836 67,094 "
1837 61,505 "
1838 69,613 "
1839 49,243 "
1840 33,066 "
1841 34,491 "
1842 50,295 "
1843 44,169 "
1844 34,444 "
1845 47,926 "
1851 41,678 "

The average of the five years ending 1851, being the first five of Free trade, shows an annual export from Jamaica of 41,678 hhds.

The quantity of unrefined sugar imported from the British West Indies and Guiana in a series of years since the emancipation, is shown by the following abstract:--

Cwts. Cwts.
Sugar. Molasses.
1831 4,103,800 323,306
1832 3,773,456 553,663
1833 3,646,205 686,794
1834 3,843,976 650,366
1835 3,524,209 507,495
1836 3,601,791 526,535
1837 3,306,775 575,657
1838 3,520,676 638,007
1839 2,824,372 474,307
1840 2,214,764 424,141
1841 2,148,218 430,221
1842 2,508,725 471,759
1843 2,509,701 605,632
1844 2,451,063 579,458
1845 2,853,995 491,083
1846 2,147,347 477,623
1847 3,199,814 531,171
1848 2,794,987 385,484
1849 2,839,888 605,487
1850 2,586,429 470,187

_Mauritius_.--In the year 1813 the exports of sugar from this island were but 549,465 lbs., and increasing gradually to 128,476,547 lbs. in 1849, or two-hundred fold in thirty-six years.

The equalisation of the duties in 1825, and the admission of Mauritius sugars into England on the same footing as those from the West Indies, had the effect of stimulating the sugar trade of Mauritius, and advancing it to its present remarkable success. Notwithstanding its immense crops, scarcely more than three-fifths of the island is yet under cultivation; but it has the advantage of a cheap and abundant supply of labor, and much improved machinery has been introduced. The planters first commenced introducing Coolies in 1835, and were for some time restricted to the single port of Calcutta for their supply.

The recent advices from Mauritius furnish some interesting information regarding the progress making in the sugar production of that colony. In reference to the cultivation of the cane, it is stated that by the introduction of guano upon several estates in the interior, the production has been very largely increased; but as the value and economy of manure has not been hitherto sufficiently estimated, its introduction has not been so general as could be desired. The importance of free labor to the cultivation of the estates, has now become fully appreciated by the planters; it being found that an equal amount of work can be obtained by this means from a less number of hands, and that at lower rates of wages than were current in previous years, the average of which is shown in the following table:--

+--------+-----------------+------------------+--------------+
| | Number of | Aggregate | Average |
| Years. | Coolies | amount of wages |wages per head|
| | employed. | paid per week. | per week. |
+--------+-----------------+------------------+--------------+
| | | £ | s. d. |
| 1846 | 47,733 | 33,484 | 14 0 |
| 1847 | 48,314 | 35,338 | 14 9 |
| 1848 | 41,777 | 26,627 | 12 9 |
| 1849 | 45,384 | 27,625 | 12 2 |
| 1850 | 47,912 | 31,664 | 12 3 |
| 1851 | 42,275 | 27,832 | 12 2 |
+--------+-----------------+------------------+--------------+