THE CUBA REVIEW 



17 



SUGAR AND TOBACCO NOTES 



CONSUL Rodger's report on the 1913 sugar output — barbadoes 



EXPERIMENTS IN CANE GROWING CIGAR CONSUMPTION 



CANE EXPERIMENTS AT BARBADOES 



"It may be mentioned incidentally that 

 during- the last ten years several of the 

 planters have endeavored to grow the Bour- 

 bon sugar cane in Barbadoes, but in every 

 instance, so far as I know, it has been at- 

 tacked by the fungus Colletotrichum fal- 

 catum. Recently, there were two plots of 

 Bourbon sugar canes growing on one es- 

 tate from plants obtained from Panama, 

 and for a long time they were free from 

 disease, but before they reached maturity 

 this fungus was found to be present. 



Owing to the fact that sometimes there 

 is a delay of more than one day after 

 sugar canes are cut before they are sup- 

 plied to the central sugar factories it has 

 been considered advisable, owing to the 

 number of these recently established, to 

 ascertain the loss that accrues from the de- 

 lay. With this object in view a quantity 

 of B. 376 canes were cut, thoroughly mixed 

 and made into sixty bundles of 105 lbs. 

 each, and sent to the government labora- 

 tory where each bundle was made exactly 

 100 lbs. These bundles were then forward- 

 ed to the Department of Agriculture and 

 divided into three series of twenty bundles 

 each, which were designated A, B and C. 

 The A series were left exposed to the sun 

 and air as tliey would be under ordinary 

 plantation conditions. The B series were 

 covered with the fallen dry leaves of the 

 sugar cane. The C series were covered 

 with dry leaves of the sugar cane and wat- 

 ered once daily. Each day for some days a 

 bundle of each series was crushed and the 

 juice analyzed. The results will be given 

 in full later in the report of the sugar-cane 

 experiments, but it may be briefly men- 

 tioned that for the first three days little 

 change took place; after that time, how- 

 ever, they rapidly deteriorated." — Report of 

 John R. Bovell, Superintendent of Agricul- 

 ture, Barbadoes. 



THE CUBAN SUGAR OUTPUT 



[Consul General James L. Rodgers, Havana, 

 February 7th.] 



According to all present indications, the 

 sugar output of 101,3 will be by far the 

 greatest in the history of the industry in 

 Cuba. The latest statement of production, 

 which carried the figures to February 3, 

 showed a total of r{97,0SS tons as the output 

 of 100 mills, this result being 107,239 tons 

 larger than to a similar date in 1912, when 

 165 mills were grinding cane, ft is known 



also that several other mills will commence 

 operation soon, and therefore, if the pres- 

 ent rate of production continues and the 

 weather is favorable in the spring months 

 it is entirely possible that a total output 

 of 2,200,000 tons will be reached. This 

 would represent a gain over last year of 

 about 11 per cent. 



However, it is apparent in many of the 

 cane districts that much of the cane will 

 remain uncut, this being due to scarcity of 

 labor and to a surplus of the product. Fur- 

 thermore, at the prevailing prices offered 

 for Cuban sugars delivered in New York 

 there is not much incentive for the mills 

 that are not so well equipped to operate, 

 and as a consequence many of the cane 

 growers will not be able to sell their cane. 

 An increase in the price of sugar seems to 

 be expected by all, however, and that may 

 relieve a situation which does not appeal 

 favorably to a substantial percentage of the 

 producers in Cuba. 



The weather has been very favorable for 

 the cane, and were labor more plentiful it 

 is assured that under a normal price for 

 Cuban sugar the industry would be thriv- 

 ing as never before. 



CONSUMPTION OF THREE PROVINCES 



Santa Clara province in 1912 consumed 

 39,557,825 cigars and 4,723,971 packs of 

 cigarettes. It occupies third place among 

 the provinces of the Island for tobacco con- 

 sumption and the second place as regards 

 population. The figures show a large in- 

 crease over those for 1911. 



Matanzas province consumed in 1912, 

 13,886,450 cigars, against 11,847,825 in 1911. 



Pinar del Rio province inhabitants 

 smoked 9,427,250 cigars in 1912 and 8,196,- 

 675 in 1911. 



Camaguey province consumed less than 

 anv other province, the figures being for 

 1912, 3,941,950 cigars and in 1911, 4,291,275. 



Figures for the other provinces are not 

 yet available. 



The population of these four provinces, 

 according to the last census, was as fol- 

 lows : 



Santa Clara 4.^.7,431 



Matanzas 239,812 



Pinar del Rio 240,372 



Camaguey 118,269 



The income of Matanzas province for 

 the month of J'"ei)ru<'iry was as follows: 

 Custom hou.se, $37,849; loan tax, $780.21. 



