148 



. THE AGRICULTDKAL NEWS. 



May 17, 1919. 



CUBAN SUGAR INDUSTRY, PAST 

 AND PRESENT. 



An interesting paper published in the Cuba Review, 

 March 1919, gives a history of the progress of the sugar 

 industry in Cuba and draws attention to the very striking 

 ccntiast between the conditions of the industry in the past 

 and those of ihe present day, both with regard to tie 

 manufacture of su^ar, and the production of the crop. 



The production of sugar in Cuba in the early years of 

 the eighteenth century of some 40,000 tons, the further 

 production towards the close of the War of Independence in 

 1898 of some 300,000 tons, and the tremendous contrast 

 between these moderate quantities and the over 4,000,000 

 tons predicted as the crop of 1918-19, give an invitation 

 to look back over the history of this by far the most impor- 

 tant of Cuba's industries, upon which the welfare and 

 happiness cf fully nine-tenths of her inhabitants depend, to 

 note the ditt'erent conditions under which sugar has been 

 produced, and the methods which have been employed at 

 different periods. 



Xot many years after the occupation of the island by the 

 Spaniards, and at about the time Diego Velazquez had been 

 made Governor, sugar-cane had been introduced, and its pro- 

 duction was being given considerable attention, its plantings 

 being doubtless confined largely to the eastern portion of 

 the island. Thus it was that in 1792 some 493 small 

 mills produced about 14,600 tons of sugar, while in 1802, 

 only ten years later, the number of mills had increased to 

 870, producing approximately 40,800 tons, while in 1870 

 some 1,200 mills producrd about 610,000 tons of sugar, 

 thus showing an average of about -500 tons or 3,-500 of the 

 present-day bags per mill. 



The earliest mills used in the island were the very 

 crudest of affairs. Short vertical or horizontal rollers were 

 used, moved by animal power, and the canes were inserted 

 between the rollers, one or two at a time, by a man employed 

 for this purpose. Frequently it was found necessary to 

 bruise the ends of the cine in order to allow it to be 

 inserted and grasped promptly by the roller. The juice 

 extracted was carried by hand to the evaporating kettles, 

 large open affairs, and here, over a fiie maintained by the use 

 of wood and the refuse cane, stoked by a human attendant, 

 the juice was evaporated to as great a degree as possible 

 without burning. Later on animal power was substituted 

 by steam, and more perfect grinding was accomplished, but 

 even under the best circumstances sugar was obtained only 

 to the extent of from 5 or 6 per cent of the weight of the cane 

 ground, as compared with from 12 to 14 per cent, in the 

 modern mills. During this period the imperfect cru.shing of 

 the cane left a bagasse which was filled with moisture, making 

 it necessary to have a considerable force of labourers, who 

 would remove this material, spread it over a large area 

 close to the mill, leaving it to dry in the sun, after which 

 it was again brought to the mouths of the furnaces to bo 

 used as fuel. Upon indications of a .shower, the whole mill 

 force was hurried into :he drying field to pile this bagasse 

 into ridges, thus permitting only a relatively small portion to 

 become wet. Great changes, and of tremendous importance to 

 the stability of the sugar industry, have occurred within the 

 mills themselves. The old system of two or three rollers, in 

 which the cane was very imperfectly crushed, has given place 

 to the modern train of mills, .sometimes con.sisting of as many 

 as six mills composed of eighteen rollers preceded by one or 

 two sets of crushers. To the crushers the cane is brought by 

 carrierx, iind the bagaa.se, as it proceeds to the last mills, 



is treated with water and a combination of water and juice, 

 so that the greatest possible percentage of the sugar content 

 may be extracted. 



The article then goes on to describe the modern process 

 of evaporating the water from the juice and the crystallizing 

 and drying processes as carried out in a Urge modern factory, 

 which, being familiiir to most of our readers, is not re- 

 produced. 



Attention is then directed in the contrast between the 

 former and the modern methods of cane cultivation in Cuba. 



Changes have occurred in the methods of cultivation that 

 correspond in importance to those brought about in the 

 factories themselves. The first Ciu e of the island was un 

 doubtedly produced on lands fiom which the forests had been 

 felled, and with the aid of only the cane knife or ' machete' 

 and the hoe. This system is still employed in those parts 

 of Cuba where virg'n forest abounds, and is practically the 

 most economical and satisfactory method of producing sugar 

 cane, as when planted on fertile virgin soil of this character, 

 the cane stools ratoon and produce crops for many years 

 without the nece.'sity of new plantings. 



The first ploughs to be used in Cuba were beyond a doubt 

 composed of crooked sticks, and doubtless were without a 

 metal point of any description. At a later date the rounded 

 metal instrument with extended point was added, and a means 

 of lowering and raising the ' plough point ', thus enabling 

 deeper or shallower ploughings to he effected. 



By means of this instrument excellent ploughini; can be 

 done, but the work is very slow, and entirely inadequate to 

 the preparai ion and planting of the tremendous areas re« 

 quired for replanting cane each year. The introduction, 

 therefore, of the modern American plough was a boon to the 

 sugar planter. The extremely heavy soils utilized for cane 

 planting in Cuba rendered it necessary to use from two to 

 three pairs of oxen on each plough, requiring two men to 

 each outfit. Also even with this instrument the preparation 

 for planting was slovv, though niucli more rapid than with 

 the native plough. Consequently, it was quite natural that 

 shortly after the American occupation the idea should be 

 conceived that the tractor as used in the United Sates should 

 be introduced into Cuba. This was done, and after years 

 spent in remodelling and adapting both tractors, ploughs, and 

 harrows, to the treniondous strains caused by the intractable 

 nature of Cuban .soils, instruments have been perfected by 

 means of which satisfactory work can be done. In addition 

 to, in fact preceding, the introduction and successful use of 

 the American tractor, there was employed here an English 

 system, expensive and heavy, it is true, but productive of 

 good results, and enabling the planter to plough practi- 

 cally to any depth that he might desire. The sy.stera referred 

 to consisted of two tractors, each containing a large drum, 

 around which is drawn a cable extending to the gang plough, 

 usually made up of three shares, from which the cable 

 continues to the other tractor on the other side of the field. 

 Thus these tractors practically .stand still, the plough being 

 pulled alternately from one side of thL- field to the other, 

 while the idea sought in the American tractor is to produce 

 an instrument which, drawing the plough after it, would work 

 economically and successfully. 



These American tractors, and also smaller ones hardly 

 capable of turning over the soil, have been utilized for har- 

 rowing and cross ploughing, and, where special machines 

 have been adapted to this purpose, for cultivation of the 

 growing cane, as also for drawing the wagons and carts loaded 

 with cane at the harvest time, and their work has proved to 

 be labour .saving and very economical. 



