THE CUBA K E V I E W 



27 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



INVERT SUGAR. 



Ice-cream inaimfacturers have liad diffi- 

 culty in getting enough sugar for tlieir i)ro- 

 ducts, and are fjeginning to use invert sugar. 

 It is said to be very much better than the 

 granulated sugar for this purpose as it is 

 sweeter than granulated sugar, causes no 

 waste by sticking to the mixer because it is 

 liqui4, and saves time in mixing as well as 

 producing a better "swell." Figuring gran- 

 ulated sugar at 8 cent a pound, the invert 

 sugar costs about 6 cents. "Pure sugar is a 

 compound consisting of carbon, 12 parts; 

 hydrogen, 22 parts; and oxygen, 11 parts. 

 It will be seen that the proportion of hydrogen 

 and oxygen are the same as in water. Cane 

 sugar (sucrose; is a double sugar, called 

 disaccharid, and so is milk sugar and malt 

 sugar. Grape and fruit sugars are single 

 sugars, called monosaccharids. By a simple 

 chemical process, called inversion, cane sugar 

 can be spUt into two other sugars; thus su- 

 crose becomes dextrose, the same as grape 

 sugar, and levulose, the same as fruit sugar. 

 This combination is called invert sugar. 

 This inversion can be brought about by heat 

 and dilute acids, by heat or by fermentation. 

 Certain ferments, known as enzymes as a 

 generic term, but invertase in the process of 

 inverting sugar, will produce the results. 

 All sugar when eaten must be inverted in the 

 stomach by invertase before it can be ab- 

 sorbed by the blood. Thus invert sugar is 

 at once ready for assimilation the second it 

 reaches the stomach." 



SUGAR FUTURES 



The committee of the Xew York Coffee 

 and Sugar Exchange appointed to confer with 

 Herbert C. Hoover, Food Administrator, 

 reported that : 



"It is the desire of the Food Administrator 

 that no further business in sugar futures be 

 entered into for the duration of the war, and 

 that all outstanding contracts be settled as 

 speedily as possible. 



Reports were current in Wall Street that 

 plans were being considered for the organi- 

 zation of a sugar futures market in Havana, 

 although in local sugar circles it was believed 

 little or no support would be found for such 

 an undertaking. 



WASTEFUL CANE CULTIVATION 



The British Vice-Consul at Santa Cruz (St. 

 Croix) gives the following description of the- 

 method of cultivation of the sugar cane in that 

 now American island: — 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 

 jabbing oblique holes with a long sharpened' 

 stake, about three feet apart, and inserting 

 a short piece of sugar 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 

 the weeds. The ground is never ploughed or 

 irrigated; the cultivation consists of simply 

 destroying the weeds, which is all done by 

 hand labor with the small native pushing hoe. 

 In about ten 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 repeated 

 three or four times, when the ground becomes 

 exhaussed and the field is then abandoned 

 ahd the planter changes to new ground. 



PRICE OF CUBAN SUGAR AT NEW YORK 



The difference in the cost of Cuban raw 

 sugar at New York and granulated sugar to 

 the consumer has been gradually widening 

 since last October, according to statistics 

 from an official source received at the office 

 of Herbert Hoover in Washington. 



The weighted average price at New York 

 for the Cuban raw was very carefully com- 

 piled, while the retail price to the consumer 

 was taken from statistics in forty-five cities in 

 the United States. The figures show: 



Retail Price 

 Cuban Raw. to Consum,er^ 



October 6.21 8.2 



November 6.37 8.6 



December 5.17 8.3 



January 5.18 8.0 



February 5.13 8.1 



March 5.59 8.7 



April 6.36 9.6 



