74 



x ear. 



Total Su- 

 gar Pro- 

 duction. 



Estate- 

 grown 

 Canes 



Cane Farmers. 



1 anes. 



xnce paid. 



Number and 

 Nationality. 



Ions. 



rp _ 



1 ons. 



Tons. 



Dols. 



E. 

 India' s 



W. 

 Indians. 



1895 



55,000 







35,000 









1896 



59,000 





75,000 





3,7 



44 



1897 



55,000 













1898 



58,000 





105,000 



203,000 



2,326 



3,824 



U99 



58,800 



426,000 



106,000 



219,000 



2,826 



3,870 



1900 



46,000 



364,000 



106,000 



228,000 



2,826 



3,591 



In the present year the quantity of funneia' canes ground has be^n 

 nearly 170,000 tons. 



Many of the cane farmers are small peasants ownmg or renting only 

 a few acres, which they and their families can cultivate without addi- 

 tional labour. They are generally dependent upon advances from the 

 manufacturer, and the weak point in the system, from their point of 

 view, is that owirg partly to geographical position, and partly to in- 

 debtedness, they have generally only one market to which they can 

 take their canes. A sliding scale, however, regulating the payment 

 for canes, is generally adopted by the parties, the pr : ce paid being 

 determined by that ruling in the London or New York market ut the 

 time of delivery. Movements, moreover, are on foot in two parts of 

 the Island, one in the North and one in the South, for the establish- 

 ment of small co-operative socif ties to supply the farmers with the re- 

 quisite advances. Of th^se one is proceeding on the well-known lines 

 of the Raifeisen Banks, the other will allow the division of profits. 

 Co-operation not only gives hope for greater stability to the sugar in- 

 dustry by making the labourer share profits or losses with the capita- 

 list, but it probably operates to cheapen labour, as Creole and In- 

 dian alike prefer growing canes in their own pi t to working as 

 labourers on the estates; and they are willing to sell the can r s at 

 a price that is below that which the estate can, at any rate with 

 free labour, produce them. It is interesting to record that since the 

 closing of St. Augustine, which it was feared would lead to much 

 local loss of employment and consequent distress, the land has been 

 readily let in small holdings to farmers, and it is possible that within 

 a few years as large an acreage will be under canes as was the case 

 when the estate was worked as a whole One drawback to cane farm- 

 ing must, however, be pointed out. The farmer is le c s alive than the 

 estate owner to the advantages to be derived from economic cultiva- 

 tion, the use of manure, the adoption of improvements, and the selec- 

 tion of canes. 



