SUGAR CULTURE. 



261 



If we form a table of product and expenditure 

 from these data, we find — ■ 



2,000 Boxes Sugar (white and brown), at $24,. . . . $48,000 



500 Pipes of Rum, at $25, 12,500 



$60,500 



The yearly expenses of the plantation are esti- 

 mated at $30,000 



The capital invested consists of 



» 



50 caballerias of land, at $2,500, $125,000 



300 Degroes, at $450, 135,000 



Buildings, mills, &c., 80,000 



Cattle, and general inventory, 130,000 



$470,000 



From this estimate, we find that if a plantation 

 capable of producing 2,000 boxes is established, the 

 capitalist would receive 6} per cent, interest, accord- 

 ing to the old Spanish method, and the present 

 prices of sugar. This return is not exorbitant for 

 an establishment that is not purely agricultural, and 

 whose expenditures are always the same, even though 

 the return should fall off one-third. We need not 

 be surprised, therefore, that the cultivation of rice 

 should be preferred in Cuba to that -of sugar, when 

 the price of the latter is so low as 4 or 5 cents a 

 pound. 



