22 BULLETIN 473, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



As a producer of cane sugar Cuba has held second place among the 

 cane-sugar-producing countries of the globe, being exceeded only by 

 British India. For some recent years Cuba has risen to first place. 

 These two countries together produce approximately one-half of 

 the world's supply of cane sugar, each producing from two to three 

 million tons. The Cuban output of sugar was estimated at 224,000 

 tons in 1839-40, which increased to 500,000 tons in 1859-60, and again 

 increased to 839,000 tons in 1867-68, but on account of the 10 years' 

 war from 1869 to 1878 the production decreased to 582,000 tons in 

 1876-77 and continued at approximately that figure until 1884-85, 

 when the production amounted to 707,000 tons, and it gradually in- 

 creased to more than 1,000,000 tons in 1891-92. During the follow- 

 ing year the production fell slightly under the million mark, but 

 again exceeded that figure for the two years 1893-94 and 1894-95. 

 On account of the War of Independence and the Spanish- American 

 War, the production decreased to 300,000 tons or less during the 

 period 1896 to 1900. At the close of this last war the business of 

 the island was established on a firmer basis : the production of sugar 

 gradually increased, exceeding 1,000,000 tons in 1902-3, 2,000,000 

 in 1909-10, and reaching to 2,891,000 tons in 1913-14. The effect of 

 that war is shown in the following figures: During the five-year 

 period of war the production decreased to an annual average of 

 slightly less than 300,000 tons, while during the five-year periods 

 immediately preceding and following the war the average produc- 

 tion exceeded 1,000,000 tons, which increased to double that quantity, 

 or more than 2,000,000 tons, for the five-year period ending with 

 1912-13. 



The greater portion of the sugar produced in Cuba is exported, 

 amounting to about 95 per cent during the last 20 years, of which 

 about 90 per cent was sent to the United States. The United King- 

 dom was the best European customer. These two countries received 

 99.5 per cent of the sugar exported during the decade ending with 

 June 30, 1913 ; the percentages were 96.8 per cent to the United States 

 and 2.7 per cent to the United Kingdom. The Cuban consumption of 

 sugar during the decade ending with 1912 was approximately 62,000 

 tons, or about 60 pounds per capita. 



BRITISH WEST INDIES. 



The British West Indies hold third place as a sugar-producing 

 possession of the British Empire, being exceeded by Mauritius and 

 British India. Prior to 1900-1901 the British West Indies exceeded 

 Mauritius in the production of sugar, but since that time the produc- 

 tion for Mauritius has been much larger, and for some years nearly 

 double that of the British West Indies. The area used for sugar in 



