184 



SUGAR. 



Mazar factory was ordered in December 1870, and was all shipped 

 by the following November, and dui'ing the same time the Malatea 

 factory, as large as Bene Mazar, but which was not to be erected till a 

 season later, was constructed and completed, so that in the space of 

 nineteen months, machinery to the value of nearly 400,000/. was 

 designed, constructed, and shipped. The erections on the spot were 

 completed with great rapidity, especially when the obstructions of 

 climate and carriage are considered, and the difficulties about straw 

 to burn bricks and lime. In conclusion, I think that the large yield 

 of first sugar, the small percentage of molasses, the calculations as 

 to fuel, and the economy of first cost and working, justify the opinion 

 that the sulphurous acid process offers a reasonable prospect of 

 success to those who may employ it. It has been widely stated, 

 however, that the white sugar produced will lose colour materially 

 if kept in bulk. No evidence has, as yet, reached me on this point, 

 and I can therefore only state the opinion of many chemists, that 

 there does not seem to be any ground for the apprehension." 



The sugar industry of Egypt has made a great extension of late 

 years, which can best be judged of by the following statistics. In 

 1833 the production was only about 2510 tons. The exports have 

 since been as follows : 



Cwts. Cwt5. 



1853 29,276 1865 1,514 



1854 29,943 1866 1,090 



1855 24,056 ! 1867 54,982 



1856 14,237 ! 1868 145,212 



1857 24,999 1869 293.279 



1858 28,261 1870 283,828 



1859 23,517 1871 356,468 



1860 11,681 1872 456,851 



1861 14,184 1873 711,327 



1862 13,226 j 1874 886,914 



1863 7,657 1875 901,535 



1864 2,300 ! 



The small exports of 1863 to 1866 were due to the extension given 

 to cotton culture in preference to sugar, owing to the scarcity of that 

 staple. 



There is perhaps no other instance of a continuously rapid rise in 

 the production of a staple article of commerce, and which with the 

 annexed Soudan and other districts bids fair to go on advancing 

 in an equally rapid rate. To the seventeen sugar works previously 

 belonging to the Khedive five more have been added since 1872. The 

 annual production of these twenty-two works is about 14,625 tons. 

 The Khedive has 65,000 acres under sugar-cane, and private in- 

 dividuals 35,000. The production of canes is about 53,550 kilos, per 

 hectare (2J acres), and the yield of sugar is 8 or 9 per cent. About 

 two-thirds of the sugar produced is white and one-third red sugar. 



Zanzibar. — The soil of this island, our consul tells us, is eminently 

 adapted for the growth of sugar ; labour is cheap, ground rent very 

 low, and every condition exists for securing an ample return for 

 capital sunk in a sugar factory. Sugar to the value of 3000Z. was 

 shipped in 1864. 



Natal. — The varieties of cane grown here are the Bourbon, black 



