SUGAR: THE OUTLOOK IN THE 

 COLONIES. 



PERHAPS one of the most striking phenomena con- 

 nected with the food of nations is the rapid in- 

 crease in recent years of the consumption of sugar. 



Betiveen seven and eight milhoii tons are used in various 

 ways every year. When it is remembered that sugar is 

 not usually regarded as a necessary food, but is rather 

 classed as a " spice " to render other food palatable; and, 

 further, that we have no means of judging the vast quanti- 

 ties used in China and India, and have accordingly not 

 included them in our estimate, these figures appear to be 

 well worthy of note. 



The proportional quantities, again, in which this vast 

 mass is shared by the different nations is a matter of con- 

 siderable interest. The English-speaking races are the great 

 sugar eaters. The average consumption of Great Britain and 

 Ireland is 86*09 lbs. of sugar per head per annum ; in the 

 United States the proportion is 62 "6 lbs. per head, while 

 in France and Germany the figures are 30'6i and 2678 

 respectively. This is all the more surprising when we 

 consider that Germany at the present moment produces 

 nearly double the amount of any other country, while 

 France is an acknowledged rival in export. 



This apparent anomaly is due to the curiously tangled 

 state of affairs brought about by the " Kriegspramien," 

 the " war bounties ". In France and Germany sugar is still 

 a luxury — a spice — whereas it is becoming daily a more 

 necessary article of Anglo-Saxon food. 



The present condition of the sugar industry is thus 

 peculiarly a matter of British interest. And, when it is 

 broadly stated that most of the British Colonies engaged in 

 growing the sugar-cane appear to be on the verge of 

 bankruptcy, the interest becomes acute. The depressed 

 condition in these Colonies may be traced to various 

 causes, chief among which are (i) the competition of 



