SUGAR PRODUCTION IN U. S. AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 9 



shows an increase of 7.6 per cent, compared with 14.5 per cent for 

 sugar extraction, which indicates that the improvement in obtaining 

 sugar from the beet has been nearly twice as great as the improve- 

 ment in the quality of the beet. A similar comparison of the three 

 principal producing States for the five-year period 1904—1908 with 

 1911-1915 shows an increase in sugar content of 8 per cent for Cali- 

 fornia, 5.7 for Colorado, and 1.2 for Michigan. The increase in sugar 

 extraction was for California and Colorado each 12 per cent, and for 

 Michigan 2.4 per cent. 



The annual production of sugar for the period 1863 to 1887 varied 

 from 100 to 1,200 tons, the average being about 500 tons. In 1888-89 

 the production amounted to 2,084 tons and gradually increased to 

 32,726 tons in 1895-96, to 184,606 tons in 1901-2, to 483,612 tons in 

 1906-7, and to 862,800 in 1915-16. The annual average production of 

 sugar for the decade ending with 1912-13 was 448,346 tons, as against 

 77,202 tons for the decade ending with 1902-3, an increase of 480.7 

 per cent. 



Comparing the five years 1901-1905 with 1911-1915, the production 

 of sugar increased 202.2 per cent, and the quantity of beets used for 

 sugar increased 166.4 per cent, as compared with 138.5 per cent in- 

 crease for the area harvested. 



The fuel used by the beet-sugar factories in 1909 was mostly coal, 

 amounting to 575,731 tons; oil, including gasoline, was next in im- 

 portance, amounting to 554,174 barrels; the other fuels were small 

 quantities of coke, wood, and gas. The total value of the fuel used, 

 including rent of power, was $1,899,468. 



CANE SUGAR. 



The cane-sugar industry of the United States began about 1794, 

 and has been an important industry for the farmer ever since. The 

 cane is grown in nearly all of the Southern States from North Caro- 

 lina and Arkansas south, and from the Atlantic coast to Arizona 

 on the west. Arizona produces both beets and cane, and one estab- 

 lishment in that State is equipped with machinery for producing 

 sugar from both of these products. In 1890 cane was grown in seven 

 States, but this number was increased to twelve in 1899 and 1909. 

 The area under sugar cane, as reported by the census, has more than 

 doubled during the last 30 years. The area used for cane was 227,776 

 acres in 1879, 274,975 in 1889, 386,986 in 1899, and 476,849 in 1909. 

 Louisiana is the principal cane-growing State and contained 80 per 

 cent of the cane area in 1879, 68 per cent in 1889, 72 per cent in 1899, 

 and 69 per cent in 1909. The area under cane in 1909 exceeded the 

 area under beets by 112,756 acres, but the production of beet sugar 

 exceeded that of cane by 167,543 tons. The production of beet sugar 

 62069°— Bull. 473—17 2 



