290 The Sugar-Beet in America 



likely to be built except in a region thought to be well 

 adapted to the raising of either sugar-cane or sugar-beets. 

 Sugar-cane is restricted to hot moist climates and sugar- 

 beets are raised in comparatively few districts. The parts 

 of the world that produce cane-sugar and beet-sugar 

 are shown in Fig. 34. The sugar-producing area is seen 

 to be very small in comparison to the total land area. 

 The production of cane-sugar in Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, 

 Java, and India is shown in greater detail in Figs. 35 and 

 36. These represent the chief sources of cane-sugar. 



The relative number of beet-sugar factories in Europe 

 and the United States is given in Fig. 11, page 3. The 

 maps are drawn to the same scale and give some idea of 

 the expansion that would be necessary in beet raising 

 in the United States if it were made equal to that of 

 Europe. 



At the opening of the European war, the world's sugar 

 supply was about equally divided between beet-sugar and 

 cane-sugar ; but military operations in the beet-producing 

 areas of northern France, Belgium, Poland, and Italy 

 have greatly curtailed the making of beet-sugar in these 

 sections, and cane-sugar has been given a decided lead. 



The countries exporting and importing sugar are shown 

 in Fig. 37. Cuba is the greatest exporter, followed by 

 the Dutch East Indies, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and 

 the smaller exporters. The United States is the leading 

 importer, followed by the United Kingdom, British India, 

 China, Canada, and the smaller importers. 



The production of sugar in the United States and her 

 possessions is shown in Fig. 38. These give about half 

 of the sugar consumed in the country ; most of the other 



