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THE CUBA REVIEW 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



SUGAR IN EASTERN BOLIVIA 



Sugar cane grows luxuriantly in eastern 

 Bolivia, attaining a great height, and the crop 

 is seldom injured by frost. The cultivation is 

 conducted in the most primitive manner. The 

 land is cleared and the undergrowth burned, 

 the tree trunks that cannot be made into 

 firewood being left to rot in the ground. The 

 planting is done by jaljl)ing oblique holes with 

 a long sharpened stake, about 3 feet apart, 

 and inserting a piece of cane. The cane soon 

 sprouts, after which the ground has to be 

 cleared of weeds. The weeding must be re- 

 peated until the cane is tall enough to smother 

 tlie weeds. The gro\md is never plowed or 

 irrigated, the cultivation consists simply of 

 destroying the weeds, which is all done by 

 hand labor with a small native pushing hoe. 



In about 10 months the cane is ripe and 

 ready for cutting. Two or three weeks after 

 cutting the cane leaves are dry enough to burn, 

 when fire is applied and the whole field burned 

 off. The cane roots soon sprout again, and 

 the same weeding operations have to be gone 

 through as in the previous year. This pro- 

 cess is continued year after year until the 

 field has to be replanted. This replanting is re- 

 peated three or four times, when the ground 

 become exhausted and the field is then aban- 

 doned and the planter changes to new 

 ground. 



Sugar is made by Ijoiling the cane juice in a 

 copper cauldron until it becomes of the proper 

 consistenc}', when it is transferred to earthen- 

 ware crocks with a hole at the bottom for the 

 molasses to drain from. The refining is done 

 by the claying process. The m,olasses is 

 made into alcohol. 



Wooden Mills in Use. 



Many planters still use the antiquated 

 wooden sugar mills, and most of the iron mills 

 in use are operated by anim.al power. Owing 

 to the immense cost of transportation in east- 

 ern Bolivia, even a comparatively small steam 

 mill requires considerable capital to buy, im- 

 port, and install, besides having to wait at 

 least a year from the date of ordering imtil it 

 is set up and in working order. Another rea- 

 son for using the old mills is that the native 

 planter has no love for machinery, and is, in 

 -consequence, ignorant respecting it, and either 



cannot or will not learn anything about a 

 steam engine. There are only 15 steam power 

 sugar mills in all eastern Bolivia. The animal 

 power mills are generally worked by means of 

 oxen. 



During the year 1914 Bolivia imiwrted 

 8,500 tons of sugar, valued at £200,000 

 (roughly, $1,000,000), for consumption in the 

 western Departments. Even under the pres- 

 ent disadvantages of transportation all this 

 sugar could have been produced in the Depart- 

 ment of Santa Cruz.^Bonid of Trade JouriinJ. 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED 

 PROVINCES 



The cultivation of the sugar-cane in tliis 

 part of India presents very diiTerent problems 

 to those encountered in the West Indies. 

 In India, sugar-cane occupies the land only 

 about one-half the time that it does in the 

 West Indies, and after the crop is established 

 it has to carry through a period of drought 

 that is by no means conducive to high 

 yields. Very often dry weather and the 

 attack of white ants seriously interfere with 

 germination, and this is often one of the 

 causes of the low tonnage per acre. Provided 

 irrigation can be carried on during the hot 

 or dry period, the climatic conditions in the 

 United Provinces are otherwise favorable 

 in a general way for excellent growth. 



The reason for the small return of sugar 

 seems to lie more in the preparation of the 

 sugar than in the composition of the cane or 

 the milling. The ])rincipal loss occurs during 

 boiling owing to the fact that no care is taken 

 to avoid acidity. 



The great diffic\ilty that has to be faced 

 in making any attempt to organize cane grow- 

 ing on the central factory basis is that the 

 fields of cane are so small and scattered. 

 Moreover, the cultivator cannot afford to 

 devote all his attention to sugar-cane, he 

 has to grow food crops, and this of necessity 

 means a limited amount of production. 



Considering the fact that most of the 

 sugar-cane soUs have been continuously 

 cropped for himdreds of generations without 

 adequate manuring, it is surprising that 

 growers are able to obtain the j'ields they do 

 under the circumstances.— .4(7rirM'/)/ra/ News, 

 Barbados. 



