SUGAR PRODUCTION IN U. S. AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 67 



in 1912. Statistics of sugar production are not available, but the 

 exports increased from 36,390 tons in 1899 to 60,274 in 1905, to 76,238 

 in 1912, and decreased to 65,172 in 1913. The imports of sugar for 

 this 15 -year period exceeded the exports and varied from 41,099 tons 

 in 1899 to 111,083 in 1913. During the last 10 years the rubber indus- 

 try has gradually taken the place of sugar manufacture. 



FIJI ISLANDS. 



CANE SUGAR. 



In the Fiji Islands the area of sugar cane and the quantity of sugar 

 produced during the last 20 years have increased more than 200 per 

 cent. The area in 1893-94 was 15,759 acres; 10 years later it had 

 increased to 33,304, and in another 10 years, or in 1913-14, the area 

 was 48,208 acres, or three times the area in 1893-94. The annual 

 area during the decade 1903-4 to 1912-13 was 42,850 acres, as against 

 21,196 for the preceding decade, an increase of 102.2 per cent. The 

 output of sugar shows an even greater increase than the area. In 

 1893-94 the sugar produced amounted to 17,236 tons, which increased 

 in 1903-4 to 52,011, and in 1913-14 to 110,441, or more than six times 

 the quantity produced in 1903-4. The annual production of sugar 

 for the decade ending with 1912-13 was 68,080 tons, as against 31,737 

 for the preceding decade, an increase of 114.5 per cent. The figures 

 used for sugar production prior to 1903-4 are exports, but as a very 

 small quantity of sugar is retained for home consumption the produc- 

 tion figures, if available, would show very little change in the per- 

 centage. 



AUSTRALIA. 



CANE SUGAR. 



The cane-sugar industr y of Australia is of comparatively recent de- 

 velopment. In 1870-71 the production was about 3,000 tons. In 

 1900-1901 it had increased to about 100,000 tons, and in 1910-11 the 

 production was more than 250,000 tons. The area devoted to the 

 growing of cane is a narrow strip along the eastern coast beginning 

 with the three northern counties of New South Wales and extending 

 almost to the extreme northern part of Queensland. About 1 per 

 cent of the land under cultivation is devoted to the growing of cane, 

 of which about 90 per cent is in Queensland. The total area under 

 all crops in 1903-04 was slightly more than 9,000,000 acres, which 

 increased gradually to more than 13,000,000 acres in 1912-13. The 

 total area under sugar cane increased from 131,698 acres in 1903-4 

 to 155,567 in 1912-13. As the sugar cane requires about 18 months to 

 mature, the total area under cane for any one year really includes 

 cane for two successive harvest seasons. The planting season begins 

 in February and ends in October, and the harvest season extends from 

 June to the following January. The area of cane used for sugar dur- 

 ing the period 1903-4 to 1912-13 varied from one-half to two-thirds 



