STJGAE PRODUCTION" IN U. S. AND FOREIGN" COUNTRIES. 49 



26 of the 37 factories. The total area of Italy under cultivation ag- 

 gregated 50,000,000 acres, of which less than three-tenths of 1 per cent 

 was utilized for the growing of sugar beets, yet the production of 

 sugar practically supplied the home demand in 1903 and subsequently. 

 The area devoted to beets in 1906 was 93,784 acres, which increased 

 to 152,709 acres in 1913. The production of beets increased from 

 1,128,118 tons in 1906 to 1,850,839 in 1910 and to 3,009,279 in 1913. 

 The yield of beets per acre has been equal to and in some years has 

 exceeded the larger and older beet-growing countries of Europe. 

 The yield of 12.03 tons per acre in 1906 was increased to 14.92 in 1910 

 and to 19.70 in 1913. Data for beets used for sugar are not available 

 prior to the campaign of 1906-7. The quantity used that year was 

 1,057,489 tons, which increased to 1,698,551 in 1910-11 and to 2,994,816 

 in 1913-14. The average annual production of beets for the five 

 years 1909-1913 was 1,982,634 tons, of which 93.4 per cent, or 1,852,097 

 tons, were used for making sugar. The annual production of sugar 

 during that period was 208,675 tons, or 11.27 per cent of the weight 

 of the beets. 



The beet-sugar factories increased from 34 in 1903-4 to 37 in 

 1913-14. The production of sugar has more than doubled during the 

 last decade, amounting to 144,248 tons in 1903-4 and to 336,823 in 

 1913-14. The average annual production of sugar during the decade 

 ending with 1912-13 was 149,009 tons, compared with 29,870 for the 

 preceding decade, an increase of approximately 400 per cent. The 

 production of sugar per acre of beets was increased from 2,500 pounds 

 in 1906-7 to 4,400 pounds in 1913-14. The production of sugar per 

 ton of beets used shows a much smaller increase, the production being 

 222 pounds in 1906-7 and 233 in 1912-13. The average length of the 

 sugar campaign was given as about 75 days. During the sugar cam- 

 paign the average production of sugar per factory was 3,665 tons in 

 1906-7, which increased to 9,103 tons in 1913-14. The exports of 

 sugar from Italy have been practically nil and the imports since 1900 

 have been small. The largest quantity imported during any one year 

 since 1900 was 26,166 tons in 1906, and the smallest quantity was 

 2,464 tons in 1903. The imports of sugar decreased from 89.259 tons 

 in 1893 to 7,723 tons in 1912. The average annual imports for the 

 decade ending with 1902 was 69,414 tons, as against 10,187 tons for 

 the decade ending with 1912. 



The per capita consumption of sugar in Italy as compared with 

 other countries is among the smallest of any of the civilized nations. 

 The official figures are shown only by five-year periods. Beginning 

 with 1891-1895 the per capita consumption was 5.2 pounds, 8.6 pounds 

 during 1906-1910, and 9.7 pounds during 1909-1913. The total con- 

 sumption of sugar has increased from 88,566 tons annually for the 



