SUGAR PRODUCTION IN U. S. AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 29 



decreased to 7,234 tons in 1914. The exports decreased from 20,184 

 in 1904 to 20 tons in 1908 and increased slightly to 66 tons in 1913 

 and to 71,308 tons in 1914. The small quantity of sugar exported 

 since 1904 was due in a large measure to the agreements signed at 

 the Brussels Convention forbidding the importation of bounty-fed 

 sugar into the countries that became members of that convention. 

 The average annual consumption of sugar in Argentina during the 

 decade 1903-1912 was 182,466 tons, or 17.2 per cent more than the pro- 

 duction. The per capita consumption of raw sugar for the same 

 period was 64.1 pounds. 



BRAZIL. 



CANE SUGAR. 



The area upon which sugar cane is grown in Brazil lies chiefly 

 along the Atlantic coast, though cane is grown in nearly all of the 

 States. Three other industries — coffee, rubber, and cocoa — are 'of 

 much greater importance than sugar, but the output of sugar has 

 been equal to local demands, with some for export. The industry 

 has made less progress in the north, despite the natural advantages, 

 than in the south. Very little sugar is consumed in the northern 

 States, and the most of it produced there must be shipped south 

 either for home consumption or for export. Transportation to the 

 southern States is poor, the rates are high, and labor is scarce, all 

 of which tend to retard the development of the sugar industry in 

 the northern States, yet the northern States produce more than two- 

 thirds of the sugar. Pernambuco alone produces annually as much 

 as all the other States combined. 



The factories are of two kinds, " usina " and " engenho." The 

 usinas are the larger factories and have a capacity of crushing from 

 100 to 700 tons of cane per day of 24 hours. The large or mixed 

 engenho crushes from 50 to 100 tons of cane per day, while the small 

 one ranges from 5 to 50 tons. These factories produce only raw 

 sugar, part of which is refined, but a large portion is consumed 

 without being refined. A good deal of cane is consumed in the raw 

 state, and in the towns freshly expressed cane juice is sold as a 

 beverage. 



The cane is planted at the beginning of the rainy season and is 

 harvested from 12 to 18 months later in the southern States and 

 from 11 to 14 months in the northern States. From four to six crops 

 are cut from one planting. The yield of cane per acre varies from 

 15.61 to 44.61 tons, depending upon the character of the soil and sea- 

 son. The sugar extraction is low as compared with other cane-grow- 

 ing countries and ranges from 4 to 9 per cent of the weight of the 

 cane. 



