12 BULLETIN 473, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 



240,000 tons for beet sugar. During the next five years, 1906-7 to 

 1910-11, the average production of beet sugar exceeded the cane by 

 116,945 tons. The annual production of beet sugar exceeded cane 

 for the first time in 1906-7 and gradually increased to more than six 

 times the cane sugar in 1915-16. 



The production of cane sugar in Louisiana as given by A. Bouch- 

 ereau presents an interesting account of the industry, part of which 

 is not found in other reports. As shown by his report, the area of 

 cane ground increased from 121,991 acres in 1889-90 to 207,674 

 in 1898-99 and to 216,916 in 1907-8. The cane used for sugar for 

 the same years, respectively, was 2,195,838, 4,361,177, and 4,338,320 

 tons, and the production of cane per acre for the same years 

 was 18, 21, and 20 tons. There were 746 factories in Louisiana in 

 1889-90, which decreased to 334 in 1898-99 and to 209 in 1907-8. 

 In 1889-90, 651 of these factories were operated by steam power and 

 95 by horsepower. The horsepower was gradually displaced by 

 steam power, and in 1901-2 all the factories were operated by steam 

 power. In 1889-90, 590 factories used the open-kettle and open-pan 

 process for making sugar and 156 the vacuum-pan process. The fac- 

 tories using the open-kettle process gradually decreased to 28 in 

 1907-8, while the factories using the vacuum-pan process increased 

 to 181. The 590 factories using the open-kettle process produced an 

 average of 84 tons of sugar per factory in 1889-90, as against 606 

 tons for the factories using the vacuum-pan process. In 1907-8 the 

 average Avas 394 and 1,838 tons, respectively, for these two classes 

 of factories. The 746 factories in 1889-90 produced only 143,746 

 tons of sugar, compared with 343.755 tons for the 209 factories in 

 1907-8. The sugar produced per acre by the open-kettle process 

 ranged from 1,431 pounds in 1899-1900 to 2,165 in 1895-96. The 

 production of sugar per acre by the vacuum-pan process varied from 

 2.560 pounds in 1899-1900 to 3,696 in 1902-3. The production of 

 sugar per acre by the vacuum-pan process from 1889-90 to 1907-8 

 was nearly twice as much as by the open-kettle process. The produc- 

 tion of sugar per ton of cane by the open-kettle process was less than 

 two-thirds of the quantity produced by the vacuum-pan process. 

 The production by the open-kettle process varied from 74 to 109 

 pounds per ton of cane, while the vacuum-pan process varied from 

 132 to 168 pounds. The production of molasses increased from 

 18,431,988 gallons in 1889-90 to 28,069,571 in 1902-3, but decreased 

 to 22,532.774 in 1907-8. Approximately 85 per cent of the molasses 

 was produced b t y the factories using the vacuum-pan process. The 

 production of molasses by the vacuum-pan process was as low as 

 26.29 gallons per 1,000 pounds of sugar, while the open-kettle process 

 was as high as 97.61 gallons per 1.000 pounds of sugar. The average 

 production of molasses per ton of sugar by the open-kettle process 



