268 



humbqldt's cuba. 



manufacture of sugar will always continue to be 

 what it now is, that is to say, the result of experi- 

 ments more or less satisfactory, but which are made 

 in the dark. 



In the lands that can be ^rigated, and those 

 where tuberous roots have been grown before 

 planting the cane, a caballeria of fertile land, 

 instead of yielding 1,500 arrobes of sugar, will 

 yield 3,000 or 4,000 arrobes, which is equal to 2,660 

 or 3,540 kilogrammes of white and brown sugar, to 

 the hectar. Taking it at 1,500 arrobes, and estimating 

 it at the price in Havana, of $24 a box. we find that 

 a hectar of land will produce in value, $15 40 in 

 sugar, and $5 76 in wheat, supposing an eight-fold 

 yield, and a price of $3 60 per 100 kilogrammes. I 

 have stated elsewhere, that in comparing these two 

 branches of agriculture, we must bear in mind that 

 sugar-planting requires a very large capital ; at 

 present, for example, in order to produce 2,000 

 boxes in a single establishment, $400,000 are 

 required. 



In the irrigated lands of Bengal, an acre yields, 

 according to Brockford and Roxburgh, 2,300 kilo- 

 grammes of raw sugar, which is equal to 5,700 kilo- 

 grammes to the hectar. This fertility being common 

 to a large breadth of land in India, we need not be 

 surprised at the low price of sugar there. The yield 



