68 BULLETIN 473, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
of the area under cane. The actual area of cane used was 65 per cent 
of the total area under cane. The cane is usually planted about once 
in four years. One planting produces one crop of plant cane and 
three crops of ratoon or stubble cane. The average annual yield of 
cane per acre was 18.55 tons for the 10 years 1903-4 to 1912-13, rang- 
ing from 22.36 tons in 1910-11 to 15.09 tons in 1912-13. The average 
yield for New South Wales was 25.57 tons, compared with 17.47 tons 
for Queensland. The total value of all farm crops in 1907-8 was 
$148,000,000, which increased to $223,000,000 in 1912-13. The value 
of the sugar cane was $8,393,000 and $4,353,000 for the same years. 
The sugar-cane crop yielded the farmer $54.17 per acre in 1907-8, 
but decreased gradually to less than one-half that amount, $24.84, in 
1912-13. 
The growers were paid for their cane in proportion to the sugar 
content, which varies considerably, thus causing a fluctuation in price 
of about $3 per ton, the lowest price being about $2 and the highest 
about $5. The average price received by the grower during the 
period 1907-8 to 1912-13 was slightly in excess of $3 per ton. 
The number of sugar mills decreased from 59 in 1903-4 to 50 in 
1912-13. These mills employed more than 4,500 people, of which 10 
were women in 1910-11, which was increased to 12 the following 
year and to 13 in 1912-13. The sugar output of these mills has grad- 
ually increased and ranged from 125,058 tons in 1903^ to 144,776 
in 1912-13, or an annual average for the 10 years of 193,150 tons. 
The quantity of cane required to produce 1 ton of raw sugar varied 
from 8 tons in the northern part of Queensland to 10 tons in the 
southern part, or an average sugar extraction of 10.5 to 11.5 per cent 
of the weight of the cane. The quantity of sugar produced per ton 
of cane varied from 210 to 230 pounds. In addition to the sugar 
produced there was an annual production of more than 6,000,000 
gallons of molasses. 
The sugar industry of Australia has been encouraged by a Gov- 
ernment bounty of 6 shillings per long ton ($1.30 per short ton) of 
cane or beets grown by white labor. The sugar produced by white 
labor exceeded that produced by colored labor for the first time in 
1906-7. In 1902-3 the sugar produced by colored labor was 68 per 
cent of the total, which decreased to 5 per cent in 1912-13. The pro- 
duction of sugar is insufficient to supply the home demand. The im- 
ports have averaged 54,638 tons during the period 1903-1913, while the 
exports averaged 576 tons during the same period. The sugar con- 
sumed during the 10 years 1903-1912 amounted to 238,097 tons, or a 
per capita consumption of 112 96 pounds. 
Data relating to sugar beets are available only for the years 
1910-11 to 1912-13. The beets were mostly grown in Victoria, but 
a small area in Tasmania was devoted to this crop. The area for the 
