32 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



THE 1913-14 SUGAR CROP 



AN ESTIMATE FROM A CIENFUEGOS MAN 



A report on the sugar crop from Cien- 

 fuegos, Cuba, by Alberto Sasso, takes the 

 view that the statistics for the coming crop 

 prepared by H. A. Himely and by Guma 

 and Meyer are much exaggerated, as they 

 reach the figures of 2,569,142 tons and 

 2,479.600 tons respectively. He contends 

 that the rainfall in October was short and 

 that therefore tlie cane plants could not 

 develop, not reaching more than half the 

 size of those of last crop, and for this rea- 

 son he infers that results must be inferior. 



"When this cane reaches the month of 

 March," says Mr. Sasso, "it will be want- 

 ing in juice, inasmuch as the limited quan- 

 tity that it contains will have been absorbed 

 by the land. 



"While this year the cane yields more 

 sugar," he says further, "for the reason 

 that it has less water, that very same con- 

 dition will later on prove injurious, as the 

 cane will not have the strength to with- 

 stand the great drought that generally pre- 

 vails in those months of harvest and grind- 

 ing, and it will be converted to fibrous 

 matter through lack of juices and increase 

 of glucose. 



"A curious circumstance that is interest- 

 ing is that, owing to the demand for cane, 

 many 'Colonos' promised their crop to dif- 

 ferent mills at the same time and in mak- 

 ing up estimates, such cane has figured 

 several times, as each 'Hacendado' counted 

 upon the supply, thus contributing to the 

 exaggeration of the statistics. Surprise has 

 been expressed in Cienfuegos at the state- 

 ments of the compilers." 



Mr. Sasso states that he has examined 

 the fields personally in Santa Clara Prov- 

 ince to convince one that the statistics for 

 the year's crop are not entitled to confi- 

 dence. 



"There is much dissatisfaction throueb- 

 out tlie country on account of the low price 

 of sugar and of the financial crisis now 

 existing, as never before. Not even during 

 the period of the war of independence can 

 its equal be recalled. 



"From data which I have gathered per- 

 sonally during visits made not only 

 throughout this province but also in many 

 parts of the others, it would appear that, 

 provided the weather be favorable, the com- 

 ing crop will be about 2,266,000 tons as 

 maximum, although I would venture to 

 suggest a conservative rebate of say 5 per 

 cent even on the above figures." 



His estimate of the crop of the entire 

 island, 176 mills grinding, is as follows. 

 His tables show sugar exports liy ports on 

 North and South Coast : 



Sacks 



H avana 1,295,000 



Matanzas 2,743,000 



Cardenas 1.8,35,000 



Cien f uegos 2,000,000 



Sagua l,000/)00 



Caibaricn 1,000,000 



Guantanamo 600,000 



Santiago de Cuba 200,000 



Manzanillo 850,000 



Sta. Cruz 200,000 



Xucvitas ;!00,000 



Antilla 800,000 



Nipe 400,000 



Tucaro 900,000 



Gibara 1,500,000 



Manati 150,000 



Zaza 19,000 



Trinidad 70,000 



Total : 15,862,000 sacks or say 2,266,000 tons 



Guma & Mejer figure the yield of sugar 

 for the coming crop as follows : 



Centrals Bags 



Havana 20 1,438,200 



.Matanzas 30 3,043,000 



Cardenas 18 2,035,000 



Cienfuegos 27 2,224,000 



Sagua 23 1,221,000 



Caibarien 12 1.042,000 



Guantanamo 10 650,000 



Santiago 4 200,000 



Manzanillo 10 900,000 



Santa Cruz del Sur 1 280,000 



Antilla 6 850,000 



'Jucaro 4 920,000 



Gibara and Puerto Padre :> 1,555,000 



Manati 1 1.50,000 



Zaza 1 19,000 



Trinidad 1 75,000 



Total 176 17,357,200 



or 2,479,600 tons 



CUBA AND PORTO RICO 



George R. Colton, ex-governor of Porto 

 Rico, whose term expired last November, 

 said recently that the removal of the tariff 

 on sugar had injured the sugar industry in 

 Porto Rico. He added, however, that the 

 men who had suffered most were those 

 who had not been forehanded, and that in 

 time the industry on the island would be 

 adjusted to the new conditions. 



"It is very hard for the sugar men in 

 Porto Rico," said Mr. Colton, "to com- 

 pete on equal terms with those of Cuba, 

 because the soil is much better adapted for 

 raising sugar cane in Cuba and the product 

 can be exported at much less expense than 

 in Porto Rico. 



