32 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



A GLIMPSE AT SUGAR 



J. B. Walker, Jr. 



Napoleon Bonaparte gave the world its first 

 beet sugar in the year 1812. Prior to that 

 date people had been dependent on sugar 

 from cane and it had indeed been an article 

 which only the few could afford. Dating from 

 the entrance of beet sugar into the world's 

 market, we see a constant and rapid growth 

 in sugar production until at the present we 

 have a world's total of sugar produced under 

 normal conditions of approximately 18,000,- 

 000 tons. The costs of production have at 

 the same time diminished and we now find 

 sugar within the reach of all and firmly es- 

 tablished as a food product. 



It is interesting to note that the last twenty 

 years have witnessed the most rapid growth 

 of this industry. Since 1896-7 the produc- 

 tion has just doubled. In the same period 

 there has been a neck and neck race between 

 beet and cane sugar for supremacy in the 

 world market. At present the honors are 

 about even, and one-half the world gets its 

 BUgar from cane in the tropics and the other 

 half from beet roots in the North Temperate 

 Zone. 



Roughly speaking there are two belts of su- 

 gar production encircling the globe; first, that 

 of cane sugar which is generally supposed to 

 be limited within the bounds of 30 deg. north 

 latitude and 30 south latitude, including such 

 leading territories as Cuba, India, Java, 

 Egypt and Hawaii. The other belt is that of 

 beet sugar, lying entirely north of the Equator 

 in theTemperateZone and including Germany, 

 Austrui, France, Russia and the United 

 States as leading areas of production. 



Spain and the United States hold the dis- 

 tinction of being the only two countries which 

 produce in substantial quantities both beet 

 and cane sugar. 



A general comparison of the methods of 

 manufacture of hoth beet and cane sugar 

 shows that with the former white sugar is 

 made directly from the beet and in one pro- 

 cess,and that in the case of cane there are two 

 distinct processes, viz.: fijst, the making of 

 raw, or trown sugar, at the plantation, and 

 second, the refining of raw sugar at refineries 

 located near centers of consumption. As by- 

 products from the making of beet sugar we 



have molasses and beet pulp. The molasses 

 is sold for making alcohol, and in some cases 

 as a cattle food. The pulp also serves as cattle 

 fodder. In making raw cane sugar we also 

 have two by-products, bagasse and molasses. 

 The bagasse is the shredded cane stalks and 

 serves as a fuel for the cane factories, so that 

 a properly operated factory generates its 

 o'ftTi fuel. It is worthy of note that in both in- 

 stances molasses is a by-product. Cane sugar 

 molasses, however, is the one with which we 

 are most familiar, as beet molasses is not used 

 for eating purposes. 



If the immediate past ia any indication of 

 what we may expect in the near future, there 

 should be a very largely increased production 

 of sugar during the next ten to twenty years. 

 An idea of the rapid growth of this industry 

 may perhaps be best obtained from a con- 

 sideration of the per capita consmnption of 

 sugar in the United States. In 1830, the 

 per capita consumption was only 10.2 lb., in 

 1910, each person in the United States con- 

 sumed practically 80 lb. per annum. In 1913 

 the figure was 89 lb. per annum. 



Thus the increase in consumption has far 

 outstripped the increase in population in the 

 United States, and in the decade ending with 

 1912-13 the total consumption of sugar was 

 42 per cent greater than the preceding decade 

 against an increase of 21 per cent in the popu- 

 lation for the same period. 



Not only have we got to maintain during 

 the next decade or two the development of 

 new areas of production, but there will un- 

 doubtedly be a restoration of those areas 

 which have suffered because of the war. In 

 France alone over 200 factories have been 

 within the active war zone, 58 or so in Bel- 

 gium, and about 20 in Russia. It seems safe 

 to assimie that this restoration of areas of 

 production will be had to such an extent that 

 each of the countries which has suffered will 

 again produce within its own borders sugar 

 equal to its own consumption. A strong ten- 

 dency is now manifesting itself very emphati- 

 cally in Great Britain where tlie Government 

 is now seriously considering a tariff on foreign 

 sugars and is making an effort to initiate beet 

 sugar production in England. 



But irrespective of the extraordinary con- 

 ditions in the sugar industry caused by the 



