THE CENTRAL FACTORY SYSTEM 69 



is transferred from the copper- wall to the coolers in a 

 semi-concentrated condition, in which it is known as 

 " syrup." There is a very good market for pm-e syrup, 

 as distinct from molasses. 



(6) The institution of the Central Factory System, 

 which has proved so successful in the working that 

 peasant farming is becoming increasingly popular. 



Under this system, the cane-farmers in a given 

 district contract to sell their crops direct to a central 

 sugar-making factory. Thus, numerous inferior mills, 

 the upkeep of which was a ruinous drain on their 

 owners' slender profits, have given place to one up-to- 

 date factory. In a word, there has been a division of 

 responsibihties in some of the British West Indian 

 islands — notably Trinidad, St. Lucia, and Antigua — 

 by which the man who now wishes to devote himself 

 to the sugar industry need no longer double the roles 

 of grower and manufacturer. 



The first Central Factory erected in these colonies 

 was the Usine St. Madeleine, at Trinidad, founded in 

 1870, at the instigation of Sir Nevile Lubbock. 



The Central Factories favour the process of boiling 

 in vacuum, and are noted for their output of " refining 

 crystals." 



CHAPTER XVIII 



A NIGHT VISIT TO GUNTHORPES CENTRAL FACTORY 



I AM now going to take you to the Island of Antigua, 

 the home of Gunthorpes, one of the largest and most 

 enterprising of the recently erected central sugar 

 factories in the British West Indies. There is only 



