28 



THE CUBA REVIEW. 



Sugar Plantations of Porto Rico. 



There are 41 sugar factories in Porto 

 Rico, with a total daily capacity of 27,000 

 tons of cane, says a correspondent of the 

 Beet Sugar Gazette, under date of March 

 24. In addition there are about a dozen 

 old "Moscovado" factories, with a total 

 capacity of 2,000 tons of cane per day. 

 While the maximum product for 100 days' 

 grinding should reach 300,000 tons, the rec- 

 ord for 1906 shows 240,000 short tons. For 

 the present season the estimate is 205,000 

 tons, owing to the severe drought which 

 in localities in the south and southeast has 

 decreased the output some 50 per cent, be- 

 low estimates. Some centrals are working 

 juices below 8° Baume, but prices are 

 somewhat higher. 



Sugar Crop Estimates. 



The following is a statement from 

 sugar mill owners regarding their esti- 

 mate of the shortage of their crop from 

 the estimates made before the season 

 begun: 



Havana Province. — San Augustin mill, 

 Sr. Francisco Perez, 45%. 



Matanzas Province. — Union mill, Sr. 

 Jose Lezama, 60%: Elena mill, Grande 

 Solaun, 35%, as compared with previous 

 years. 



Santa Clara Province. — San Lino mill, 

 J. R. Ross, 50%; Fe mill, Jose Maria 

 Espinosa, 30%; San Pablo mill, Ed. 

 Kurz, from 35 to 40%; Portugalete mill, 

 heirs of Sotero Escarza, 20%; Resolucion 

 mill, Sr. Alavarez Roda, 66%; Trinidad 

 mill, M. G. Pullum, 30%; Adela mill, 

 Ramon Vigil, 30%; Pastora mill, Antonio 

 Carballo, 25%: Manuelita mill, Sr. Falla 

 Monasterio, 44,000 bags, against 54,000 

 last year. 



Camaguey. — Lugareho mill, Mr. P. Mo- 

 reade, 45%. 



Oriente Province. — Nipe Bay Co., O. 



E. Sage, 25%; Tranquilidad mill, Jaime 

 Roca, from 35 to 40%; Santa Lucia mill, 



F. Sanchez; this mill, with 100 cabal- 

 lerias more of lands, will yield the same 

 crop as last year of 90,000 bags; Santa 

 Maria mill, Fernando Pons, 50%; Santa 

 Cecilia, E. Garnett, 9%. 



The Argentine Ant. 



The American Association of Econom- 

 ic Entomologists, at its twentieth an- 

 nual meeting in Chicago, last December, 

 had its attention called by a member 

 to the Argentine or New Orleans ant. 

 Some notes on the habits of this insect 

 by a member, Mr. W. Newell, indicated 

 that its appearance in the United States 

 presented problems as great as those 

 given by such pests as the San Jose 

 scale, the gypsy moth and the cotton 

 weevil. It should interest Cuba, for the 

 ant colonizes the mealy bug found on 



the sugar cane, and by such coloniza- 

 tion and protection the mealy bug's 

 natural enemies are controlled, result- 

 ing oftentimes in the complete destruc- 

 tion of the eyes of young cane buds. 



At the present time, says the Barba- 

 dos Agricultural News, the ant is not 

 known in the West Indies, and its in- 

 troduction should be strenuously pre- 

 vented by the thorough fumigation of all 

 imported plants and packages. 



Available Acres in Cuba. 



The latest British Consular report dis- 

 cussing Cuba's sugar crop and viewing 

 the vast acreage .of suitable lands Still 

 unplanted, finds the limit of production 

 far from being reached. 



As much as 15,451,264 acres, or more 

 than half the area of the island, are 

 said to be suitable for cane growing, but 

 only 458,363 acres (or less than one- 

 thirtieth of this area) are planted. In 

 the province of Matanzas, Avhich has 

 the largest proportion of its available 

 _ land under sugar, no more than 8.33 per 

 ' cent, is planted, while in Havana no 

 more than 1.72 per cent, of the land suit- 

 able is as yet growing canes, and in 

 Pinar del Rio only 0.73 per cent. 



Cane Burning in Cuba. 



From the office of the chief of the armed 

 forces of Cuba comes the following state- 

 ment of losses incurred through cane fires 

 for the first two months of 1907 and 1908: 



Arrobas. 



1907 1908 



Jan'y Jan'y 



Havana & Pinar del Rio. 549,560 102,800 



Matanzas & Santa Clara. .5,065,350 461,400 



Oriente & Camaguey.... 974,514 169,000 



Total in January 6,589,4-24 733,200 



1907 1908 



Feb'y Feb'y 



Havana & Pinar del Rio . 2,409,000 249,700 



Matanzas & Santa Clara. .9,204,950 1,528,338 



Oriente & Camaguey. ... 1,134,020 373,140 



Total in February 12,747,9702,151,178 



Cuban newspaper comment on these fig- 

 ures is that as many of the annual fires are 

 of incendiary origin, the remarkable de- 

 crease this season, under a second Amer- 

 ican intervention, indicates a very general 

 pacification everywhere. 



Manufacture of Paper from Bagasse. 



According to the circular of the West 

 India Committee, a factory to make paper 

 from bagasse has been added to the sugar 

 works of Tacarigua, Barbados, to begin 

 work at the opening of the campaign of 

 1908. Mr. Bert de Lamarre, a sugar plant- 

 er, thinks that in the new plant sugar will 

 become tcr some extent a by-product to the 

 manufacture of paper. 



