36 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



February 8, 1919. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



THE SUGAB. FACTORIES IN ANTIGUA 

 AND ST. KITTS 



The fourteenth annual report of the Directors of the 

 Antigua Sugar Factory. Limited, and the seventh annual 

 report of the Directors of the St. Kitts (Basseterre) Sugar 

 Factory, Limited, have been forwarded to the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculturef or the West Indies. Both of 

 these are of considerable interest with regard to the sugar- 

 cane industry in the smaller West Indian islan-ls. They 

 both report on the year ended September 30, 1918. 



In Antigua the year was, from an agricultural point of 

 view, a gloomy one. The crops, generally speaking, were at 

 least 33 per cent, below normal, owing to the drought which 

 prevailed. In the northern part of the island the rainfall 

 for the year only averaaed 30 inches, while the centre and_^ 

 south, with 35 and 40 inche.^, respectively, were still far .short 

 of the average. Thus the whole island suffered badly. 

 Nevertheles.?, on account of the high prices for sugar, the 

 factory was enabled to make a lair profit on I he year's trans- 

 actions. 



There was some serious trouble amongst a portion of the 

 labourers in Antigua during the year, but the Directors were 

 glad to record that during the disturbances all the factory 

 employees behaved loyally and well, as they did throughout 

 the year. 



The Directors regret that, in spite of pointing out 

 in their la.st report the necessity of more regular deliveries of 

 cane, there has been no improvement. The factory was left 

 during the season for 627 hours out of cane. As they 

 point out, this means a serious loss to the planters themselves, 

 for it means that it took si.x: weeks longer than necessary 

 to finish the crop, which of nece.ssity reduced the bonus that 

 might have been earned, and besides, prevented the ratoons 

 from having as early a start as they might have had for 

 the next crop, and also retarded the preparation of land 

 for pi .nting. 



The total tonnage of canes dealt with during the year 

 reported on was 84, 282 tons, as compared with 102,601 

 tons in the preceding season. Of this amount, 16,267 

 tone were supplied by original i-ontractors, who received 

 £i \9s O'ltf. per ton, including bonus; new contractors 

 supplied 4G,1I6 ton», paid for at the rate of £1 9.(. it/, per 

 ton, including bonus; while peasants supplied 1,697 tons at 

 the rate of \8s. 10'|(f. per ton. 



The factory ch.arges, which include salaries, wages, 

 repairs, duties, and local taxes, worked out at the rate of 

 £T> 11.5. ]},d. per ton of sugar made— a large increase on 

 the charges for the previous crop; railway transport charges 

 were 1."m. 2J//. per ton — a decrease on the last year's 

 expenditure; while the London Oltice administration charges 

 were 4i. 3J//. \)er ton. The number of tons of sugar made 

 was 7,316, as compared with 11,706 in 1917, and the total 

 proceeds of sugar and mola.sses [jroducod was £176,835, 

 as compared with £252,617 in the year before. On the 

 other hand, the expenditure was £124,338, thus leaving 

 a surplus for divi.sion of £51,297. Of this .sum £19,2111 

 wa* paid as bonuses to new contractors, while the remainder, 

 £32,778, was equally divided, half being p^id as bonuses 

 to original contractors, and half placed to the credit of 

 the shareholders, and is liable to Kxcess Profits Duty. 



The company has had to bear heavy charges in extra 

 taxation. Locally it paid £3,060 as export duty, besides the 

 Excess Profits Duty paid to the Imperial Exchequer >f 

 £16,578 in respect' of the crop of 1917. In consequence 

 the interest obtained by the shareholders, although fair, 

 cannot be reasonably cpmpared with the profits which may 

 have been declared in similar concerns in places which have 

 not had tojaear such extra taxation. 



The factory work has again maintained a high level of 

 efficiency. The percentage of sucrose in the canes dealt with 

 shows a rise as compared with the years since 1915, although 

 the purity of the juice and recovery of sucrose were .somewhat 

 lower, as might have been expected owing to the dry 

 season; but again, less sugar per cent, was left in the megass 

 than ever before, showing the efficient milling The fact 

 that there was a good market for molasses led to somewhat 

 less efifort being made to secure complete recovery of the sugar 

 from this product. 



The report on the St. Kitts Factory also records a very 

 low rainfall during the year, in consequence of which, as. in 

 Antigua, the crop was much below those of previous years. 

 On many estates the total crop was from 40 to 60 per cone, 

 below that of 1917, although the estates on the northern side 

 of the island did not sutler so much. The dry weather experi- 

 enced was reflected in the high fibre content of the canes 

 dealt with, being 1602 per cent, on the total crop, as compared 

 with an average of 14 15 per cent, in previous years. 



The cost of production per ton has been considerably 

 higher in the year reported on than in the preceding year, 

 mainly owing to the fact that the output was 3S per cent, 

 less; but against this the be'ter price at which the siig^r was 

 solil must be put. ' 



The total amount of cane dealt with was 62.354 tons, of 

 which -5.5,820 tons were supplied by original cintractors, who 

 received, including bonus, £1 5.v. lOld. per ton, while outside 

 suppliers furnished 6.533 tons at the rate of £1 5.f, G//. per 

 ton. 



The factory charges were .£4 19,*. 2^v/. per ton («f 

 sugar made, the railway transport was I'l I2s. l^t/. per ton, 

 and the administration charges of the London Office were 

 3i. 8J//. per ton. The number of tons of sugar . produced 

 was 7,314, and the net proceeds of the sale of sugar ind 

 molasses were £171,616. After charging this revenue with 

 expenditure, there remained for division a "surplus of 

 £.32,752, which was equally divided between the contr.icting 

 cane suppliers and the factory shareholders, the latter portion 

 being liable to I'^xcess I'rofits Uuti. 



.'Vs ill Antigu:^, the profits are lessuned very considerably 

 by the extra taxation, the export duty levied locally having 

 been £4,085, and the .Kxcess I'rofits Duty paid into the 

 Imperial Exchequer being £21,554 on account of 1917. 



This factory also maintains a high .standard of e.vcellence 

 in working, as is shown by the following figures; .sucrose in 

 cane, 13 02 per cent.; sucrose left in megass, 2"55 per cent.; 

 recovery of sucro.se in cane, 86 55 per cent. 



Neither of these two factories is at all below the level 

 of work of factories dealing with canes of a similar type in 

 in other p-irts of the world 



THE STANDARDIZATION OP MOLASSES. 



The /<>///'.v/a«.i /'/»(«/(■/•, December 21, 1918, has .some- 

 thing to say about thr standardization of molasses. The advice 

 given is sound, and is worth beini; noted by sugar makers in 

 the West Indies. The molasses from some of them has already 

 a good reput-ition in the market, but the standard must bf 

 .maintained it th- market i^ to be retained. 



