THE CUBA REVIEW 



35 



and 10 per cent protein. The number of 

 calories of energy contained in an adult's 

 daily food is variously estimated at from 

 1800 to 3500. Taking 2500 as a fair aver- 

 age this would represent 1500 as coming 

 from carbohydrates. A pertinent question 

 is — what proportion of this should be sup- 

 plied by sugar? At present the average 

 consumption of sugar in the United States 

 is about 87 lbs. per capita per annum. That 

 is equal to 3.81 oz. per day. As sugar de- 

 velops 1860 large calories per pound this 

 amounts to 442.9 calories per day or 17.71 

 per cent of the total energy derived from 

 a 2500 cal. daily ration. Australia and New 

 Zealand consume about 130 lbs. sugar per 

 annum per capita or the equivalent of 5.7 

 oz. per day, equal to 25.50 per cent of the 

 total energy supplied by a similar daily 

 ration. 



The astonishing truth develops that if 

 87 lbs. of sugar supplies one of us with 

 17.71 per cent of his yearly food energy 

 the cost of the entire intake of food, if 

 it could be bought on the basis of sugar at 

 7c. per lb., would be only $34.38 per 

 annum. 



The factors determining the amount of 

 any food used should be its utility and 

 attractiveness on the one hand and on the 

 other its toleration by the system and its 

 cost and work of preparation. 



The greater part of our food goes to 

 the production of heat and muscular energy 

 in the body, the far smaller part towards 

 the building of tissue. As sugar is con- 

 cerned in the former case it is of interest 

 to measure its value through its calorific 

 efficiency and to compare it thus with a 

 number of the other typical foods. The 

 accompanying table gives the calories de- 

 veloped by the food materials mentioned, 

 the ratios of sugar's efficiency to that of 

 each of the other articles, the retail price 

 (determined recently) of the various ar- 

 ticles and from this data the cost of the 

 different articles when considered in quan- 

 tities sufficient to yield in the human 

 system as much energy as one pound of 

 sugar. 



Here we see how much more energy 

 can be obtained for a given amount of 

 money from sugar than from almost any 

 other foodstuff. 



As for its toleration by the system. New 

 Zealand, Australia. Denmark and Cuba all 

 consume more than we do in the United 

 States, while experiments reported in Unit- 

 ed States "Farmers' Bulletin," No. 335, of 

 June 1913, have shown that when 5 ozs. of 

 sugar is eaten daily it is easily taken up by 

 the average adult and 98.9 per cent di- 

 gested, so that with the evident ability to 

 increase our daily consumption from 3.8 

 oz. up to 5 or 5.7 oz. it is quite probable 

 that as the true economic value of sugar 

 comes to be more fully appreciated we 

 shall find the consumption in the United 

 States rapidly approaching these figures. 



Shortage of Sugar in Nicaragua 



A shortage of sugar is being talked of 

 in Nicaragua, and there will probably be 

 no more exports, except about 8,000 quin- 

 tals that are already sold. The local price 

 has advanced to S4.20 per quintal of about 

 100 pounds. 



The 1922 output of the San Antonio 

 Sugar Estates was only 192,000 quintals, 

 as against their estimate of 205,000 quin- 

 tals. The total estimated production for 

 the country was 313,000 quintals. As the 

 actual production of the San Antonio mill 

 was some 6 per cent, less than the estimate, 

 it may be assumed that the total produc- 

 tion of Nicaragua is 10 per cent, under the 

 estimate, or 282,000 quintals. Exports 

 from the port of Corinto to date (May 16) 

 amount to 176,000 quintals, and those 

 from San Juan del Sur may be estimated 

 at 40,000 quintals. This, with the 8.000 

 quintals still to be shipped from Corinto, 

 gives a total export of 224,000 quintals, 

 leaving 58,000 quintals for local use, 

 whereas the local consumption is estimated 

 at 75,000 quintals. The shortage will be 

 made worse by the fact that much of the 

 sugar remaining in the country is brown 

 sugar, which will not keep in wet w^eather. 

 — Consul Harold Playter, Corinto. 



Trinidad Conditions 



About 55,000 tons of sugar per annum 

 is the production of the island of Trini- 

 dad, B. W. I., and it has been ascer- 

 tained that more than half of this is 

 manufactured from cane grown by small 

 farmers whose deliveries do not exceed 

 15 tons of cane each. 



