82 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN BRAZIL 



Sugar cane thrives very well iu Brazil, 

 where it was introduced by the original 

 settlers. It is grown in practically all the 

 States of Brazil, and the present crop has 

 been estimated to be over 400,000 tons of 

 sugar. 



The State of Pernambuco is credited 

 with 2,500,000 bags of 60 kilos; Rio de 

 Janeiro, 1,100,000 bags; Sergipe, 800,000 

 bags; Sao Paulo, 500,(KX) bags; Alagoas, 

 500,000 bags; Bahia, 4:.0,<Xi0 bags; Minas 

 Geraes, 250,000 l)ags ; Parahyba, 150,tHX) 

 bags. The other States produce less. 



The cultivation of the sugar cane in 

 Brazil has not reached the degree of per- 

 fection which it attained in Cuba, Hawaii, 

 Java, or Deinerara. The country offers 

 boundless possibilities for development of 

 the cauefieUls, as far as nature and qual- 

 ity of the land are concerned, but Brazil 

 has not the excellent service of the Cuban 

 railroads, connecting every field, ware- 

 house or sugar mill with the main line, 

 nor the efficient labor of the Spaniard from 

 the Continent or the Canary Islands. In 

 Hawaii and Java, besides industrious and 

 capable natives, any amount of reserves 

 of labor in .Malaysia or China can be called 

 upon, whiU' in Demerara, cheap and ef- 

 ficient Indian coolie labor and a net of 

 artificial canals and natural waterways, 

 as at no other place in the world, have 

 satisfactorily solved the two most im- 

 portant problems in tropical agriculture, 

 eflScient labor on the estates and cheap 

 transportation to the port of shipment. 

 The countries named and others can pro- 

 duce sugar flu'aper than Brazil ; when 

 prices are low and the necessity arises to 

 export a surplus of sugar, competing in 

 the world's markets, then Brazil is not 

 In the race. 



The following figures of the sugar ex- 

 ported from Brazil show the little influ- 

 ence the war has had to stimulate the 

 planters, and in spite of the high prices 

 Brazilian sugar exports reached their 

 maximum in 1017, with only 138,000 tons: 

 1913, 5,371 tons with an average price 

 per ton of $58.-56: 1915, 59,170 tons, aver- 

 age price. $60.26; 1916, 54,938 tons, aver- 



age price, $112.70; 1917, 138,159 tons, aver- 

 age price, $132.14; 1918, 115,634 tons, 

 average price, $220.36; January to May, 

 1919, 18,374 tons, average price, $182.74. 



At the present moment all exports of 

 sugar are stopped, because the price in 

 Brazil is higher than that offered on the 

 foreign markets. Alcohol and rum from 

 the sugar cane are also only produced for 

 home consumption. 



Sugar making has likewise made but lit- 

 tle progress. The Brazilian sugar mill 

 owner knows that he is dependent on 

 home consumption and on account of the 

 good prices he need not worry at present 

 with problems of analyses and the setting 

 uii of new machinery to obtain better re- 

 sults. Brazil offers a splendid field for 

 introducing up-to-date machinery, as dur- 

 ing the war very little could be imported. 



Investments of foreign capital in cane 

 growing and sugar mills may prove profit- 

 able in a few privileged districts where 

 labor is i>lentiful and transportation cheap 

 and efficient. 



As sugar refining is very antiquated in 

 Brazil, the aim should at first be to pro- 

 duce for the Brazilian market a better 

 grade of sugar and to put the residues of 

 the mill to the best economical use as feed 

 for cattle and manufacture of alcohol for 

 Industrial uses. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH NIPA PALM 

 Experiments which the Bureau of 

 Science of the Philippine Islands has 

 l)een making in the extraction of sugar 

 and alcohol from the nipa palm are re- 

 ported by the International finrinr Jour- 

 nal to have given a lead to the British 

 North Borneo government and the pos- 

 sibility of establishing an industry in the 

 production of alcohol in that colony is 

 being considered. Reports of the experi- 

 ments indicate, it is stated, that the cost 

 of production from nipa is only about 14 

 to 20 cents per gallon. The proportion of 

 recoverable sugar in the nipa juice is 

 estimated, in the light of the experiments 

 made by the Bureau of Science, at 12 

 per cent. 



