1920.] THE TBINIDAD CANE FARMING INDUSTRY. 3 



MUTUAL INTEREST, FACTORY AND FARMER. 

 Our cane farmers now produce half the crop ; it is evident therefore 

 that the success of the colony's sugar iudustry depends on the efficiency 

 of both the factory and the fanner. To secure the greatest efficiency 

 both should be mutually interested in the results of their work, sharing 

 fortune good or bad. It will be of use to describe briefly some methods 

 .already in use to attain this object in cane growing countries. 



GUNTHORPE'S FACTORY, ANTIGUA. 



The factory was erected fifteen years ago, by a group of London 

 capitalists (with a contribution of jG15,000 from the Imperial Govern- 

 ment). Certain estates agreed to sell their canes from a stated acreage 

 to the factory for a period of fifteen years, receiving the price of 

 4i-lb. of sugar for every 1001b. of cane and half the profits made by the 

 factory. (Other details are given in an article by me on " Agricultural 

 Co-operation in the West Indies." Bulletin, Department of Agriculture, 

 Trinidad. XVIX. 1918. 118-30). The prices received by the cultivators 

 between 1905-1919 on this basis have ranged from 7s. 5d. to =£'2 Is. 8d. 



per ton. 



SHARE SYSTEM OF FIJI AND HAWAII. 



An interesting account of this system was contributed to the W. I. 

 Agricultural Conference held in Trinidad in 1905, by Sir Henry .Jackson 

 then Governor of the colony. {West Indian Bulletin, VI. 18-21 and 

 VII. 311-316). 



The land is divided into blocks, 60 acres is a convenient area, it is 

 prepared [i.e., ploughed, &c.), planted by the estate and then handed 

 over to a group of men kuown as a " cane company " consisting of 

 free or indentured labourers or both, who work it under estate supervision. 

 Up to the crop they get an advance of Is. a day. The estate pa^'s for 

 the cane cutting and takes the crop at a price agreed on at the beginning 

 of the season. 



An actual Fiji account given by Sir H. Jackson was as follows : — 

 The block yielded 1,813 tons, which at 4s. a ton gave 



the cane company a return of ... ... ^368 12 



Deduct — Advances for days worked ... ... 141 19 11 



Cost stripping and loading by estate ... ... 8 18 11 



Hircdlabourfor cutting (advanced to cane company)... 66 



£216 18 10 

 Balance due to cane company .., ... dGlul 13 2 



The bonus or deferred payment to cane company who had worked a 

 ■total of 2,595 days was equivalent to Is 2d a day each, making with 

 original Is a total of 2s. 2d. per man per day. According to the yield 

 of canes the receipts for a block ranged from 2s Od to 3s Od per 

 . day per member of the cane company for 216 working days a year. 

 The balance of their time could be spent earning in other ways, e.g., 

 in the mills in crop time, growing other crops on other lands, &c. The 

 total cost of these canes to the estate is given as 7s Od per ton. I give 

 these figures which are for Fiji previous to 1905 merely to illustrate how 

 the method works. This share system is reported to have been very 

 successful in Hawaii and Fiji and to be worked on a large scale, with a» 

 great profit both to the cane grower and the estate. 



