938 
THE TROPIOJ^L AQRIOULTUmST. 
[June r, 1892. 
those refineries work, not from the sugarcane, but 
from coarso native sugar. 
'^InaUthestaUstica sent us, Mauritius and similar 
sugars axe described as refined, hut this is altogether 
misleading. There are no rctinories in Mauritius, 
where sugar is remelted, and the produce of the 
island is simply raw sugar properly made by modern 
processes. 
is such sugar that India ought to make, and 
the £3iupir0, with sutliciently unproved cultivation 
and machinery, might readily supply the world witli 
sugar, liefiniug le a secondary process, likely to 
altogether dio out, by alow degrees, as cane and beet 
manufacture becomes more prefect. The disappear- 
ance of refining in llongal, though hard upon indi- 
viduals, is really a sign that there is progress else- 
where, and progress which no country is better 
adapted than Bengal to share in. 
“ Tftat modern sugar can be well made in India is 
shown by Messrs. Minchin at Aska, Madras, and it 
is simply absurd (bat India should have first to 
export the labour to Mauritius, and then to re-import 
sugar from that distant island, which could be as 
well made, and certainly more cheaply, at homo. 
India is generally regarded as the home of the sugar- 
cane, and with its toeming population, its cliinato, 
and (in some districts) its plentiful water and coal 
supply, it should be a large exporter of fine sugar 
instep of an importer. , 
“ The manufacture of modern (or, as it is called 
vacuum pan; sugar, to bo profitable, must be on a 
large scale, because it involves costly maciiinery and 
chemical and mechanical supervision impossible for 
ryots, who probably do not extract one-tbird of the 
sugar that might bo extracted from their crops, and 
make that third in a shape that looks more like 
manure than sugar, and which appears to fetch in 
many parts of India as little as fis. per cwt. on the 
fmot, whereas Mauritius sugar in India must net 
double that to pay the grower. 
“Vacuum pan sugar making is, probably, only 
possible on a large scale in India through the central 
factory system, where the raw canes are bought by 
tile mill from the growers. A system siniliar to this 
already prevails in indigo and silk mills in Bengal. 
“ We do not knew whether tho Government of 
India would be able to start a few model factories in 
suitable districts, or whether they must ooiifiuo their 
attempts to develop sugar manufacture to the 
collection of information and figures like those in tho 
returns forwarded to us. In any case, the efforts of 
the Government in this direction for some years past 
cannot fall to be of great value.’’ 
This letter was sent by the Heerotary of State to 
tlie Government of India, and in reply to the points 
there raised, a series of letters were obtained from 
authorities of India. Tho Director of tho Depart- 
ment of Land Records and Agricuiture, Morth-Wost 
Provinces and Oudh, wrote : — 
“ The suggestions made by Messrs. Travers and 
Sons is that the Government of India might start a 
few model factories for tho preparation of sugar by 
modern processes in suitalfie districts. This appears 
to be the only point of practical import nee In tho 
memorandum. In my opinion the Government 
would bo ill-advised wore it to act on the suggestion. 
I base my opinion on the general grouTni that private 
enterprise in India is now sutt'icieiitly alter and well 
organised to undertake the business of sugar-reiining 
on a large scale, and with ample capital it there wore 
a reasonable prospect of success, lliat sugar-refining 
companies working on scientific principles, such as 
the Rosa Company and the Aska Factory, show no 
signs of multiplying in India is to my mind a clear 
proof that, under existing commercial conditions, the 
prospects of successful trade are small. Nor is tlio 
explanation why pro.spects arc not encouraging far to 
seek. Buropoan sugar refineries in India have two 
markets, and two only, open to theiii. They can 
nianufacturo for export to Europe, in which case they 
have to contend with the bounty-aided sugars of tho 
Continent, and are no more able iliaii the Mauritius 
factors to make a reasonable profit on tlieir capital 
m such a market. Or they can manufacture for 
local consumption in India, endeavouring to supplant 
sugars refined by native or crude Europan processes, 
and sugars imported from the Mauritius. Here they 
are met with tho great difficulty that the mass of the 
native population regards with dogged suspicion all 
machine-made sugar, holding it to be impure and 
contaminated with bones and blood. The market is 
thus a very small one, and the prices ruling in it are 
by no means improved by the quantities of similar 
sugar thrown in doapair upon it by Mauritius 
planters. Assmuing that the cost of producing a 
given amouDt of crystallised sugar vy modern 
S rocesses is about the same in India and in the 
lauritius (and from such information as I have at 
hand, I do not think a sugar refinery in India could 
manufacture cheaper than the Mauritius planter), 
what are probabilities of commercial success? They 
are bounded, it socuis to me, by the actual success 
attained by tho Mauritius planters, and as we are 
constantly told that sugar in Mauritius does not 
pay, scientific sugar-refining in India is not a hope- 
ful industry. The Rosa Factory in these provinces 
depends more on its rum than on its sugar, and I 
believe this is tho case with tho few other similar 
concerns existing in other provinces. 
“Tho memorandum refers in contemptuous terms 
to the quality of tho common sugars consumed by 
the Indian public. But they have an almost unli- 
mited and active market, which is at present closed 
to machine-made sugar; and even if superstitious 
prejudices could be overcome, there would still 
remain the question of national taste. Tho compost 
known as j/jo* has a peculiar flavour which is absent 
from iiiacbino-niade sugars, and the tastes of a n’lost 
conservative people will require to be changed 
before t e local markets of India really open to 
the European sugar manufacturer. 
“I admit all that the metnorandiim says as to the 
smallness of tlie yield ol sugar per acre in India, 
as to tho inferiority of tlie processes employed to 
extract the juice and make it into sugar, and as 
to the low quality of the so-called ‘refined sugars’ 
of India. But it is conceivable that these rude 
processes and this small outturn may yield a profit, 
while scientific processes and high cultivation result 
in a loss. Not only does the Mauritius system 
require a large initial capital expenditure, and a 
large annual outlav, but it also requires a highly 
paid supervising and controlling agency. I do not 
defend the imperfections of the Indian system, but 
I think it is economically explicable. 
“ There would be some difficulty in introducing 
the Maiu-itius system bodily into India, since a 
prominent feature of that system is that planting 
and manufacturing are concentrated in the same 
hands. But as the memorandum points out, a sugar 
reiinory might easily work in an Indian sugar- 
growing district ou the line familiar to indigo 
planters. It would buy cane at the proper season 
from cultivators of the uoighbourhood, and would 
restrict its interest in the actual production of tlio 
crop advances to growers. A largo sugar refinery, 
I may point out, would have to face two problems 
which are not easy to solve. The first is the question 
of carriage. Cane soon dries when cut, and cannot 
Ijo carried long distances, A sugar refinery has 
thus to depend for its raw material an a small area 
devoted almost exclusively to the production of 
sugar, and this is opposed to the habits and tra- 
ditions of the Indian agriculturst. Tho second 
difficulty is tiiat the machinery of the factory would 
stand idle for a groat part of the year, and occu- 
])ation would not he forthcoming for the hands, 
unless a subsidiary business, such as the manfacture 
of rum, is added to that of sugar refining. The 
market for rum in India is not large, and ia 
priibably sufliciontly supplied by existing concerns.” 
]VIr. M. Finucane, Director, Depatmonfc of Laud 
Records and Agriculture, Bengal, wrote: — 
“As regards tho question of improvements in 
luauufactiiro suggested by Messrs. Travers and Sonsi 
I would reuiark that it seems not unreasonable to 
suppose that such improvement ia \ ossible and it 
is not improbable that tho ostablishment of model 
