ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 41 



another plan by which the small planter or homesteader re- 

 ceives $4 a ton for his cane. This is just the cost of produc- 

 tion. In other words, the small planter works i8 months to 

 get back after a few months' additional delay what he ex- 

 pended in the production of his crop. The Porto Rico sugar 

 mills, on the other hand, pay the planter 60 to 75 cents out 

 of every dollar received for the sugar. The Porto Rico method 

 allows a square deal to the small planter. 



Similarly with pineapples, the actual agricultural profits are 

 not large as compared with mainland crops. In Hawaii, it 

 costs from $11 to $14 to produce a ton of pineapples, the aver- 

 age cost being perhaps $12. In 1914, the pineapple canneries 

 of Hawaii reduced the prices which they offered to the pine- 

 apple growers to $5 to $9 per ton. Previously the prices had 

 been about $18 per ton. At the latter figure there was a profit 

 of about $6 per ton to the grower. The average yield per acre 

 is about 6 tons of pineapples, giving a total acre profit of $36 

 for an 18 months' crop, or $24 per acre per year. The cost 

 of producing bananas may be set at about 30 cents a bunch. 

 The grower receives on an average about 40 cents a bunch, 

 which gives him an apparent profit of 10 cents per bunch. 

 The average yield of bananas is about 230 bunches per acre 

 per year, thus yielding a total acre profit of $23, but it is 

 unnecessary to elaborate statements of profits in connection 

 with other tropical crops. The figures in any case are valid 

 only for one locality and must be constantly revised on account 

 of the changes in market facilities, prices of labor, and other 

 factors. There are no huge profits from tropical agriculture 

 for the small grower. In fact, his profits can in no event be 

 larger than he can obtain from a smaller amount of effort in 

 cold climates. The one hope for the homesteader or farmer or 

 small grower in the Tropics is in the formation of cooperative 

 communities, such as are already giving great promise 

 in Porto Rico, in Cuba, and in Hawaii. While it is evi- 

 dent from the figures just given of profits from sugar cane 



