Development  of  the  Sugar  Industry,  j 
his  second  voyage,  in  1493,  carried  with  him  sugar  cane  from  the 
Canaries  to  San  Domingo.  The  cane  thrived  so  well  in  its  new 
surroundings  that  the  sugar  industry  spread  rapidly  to  Cuba,  Mex- 
ico, Brazil,  and  other  provinces  of  the  New  World.  In  Louisiana, 
several  unsuccessful  attempts  were  made  to  introduce  cane  culture, 
but  it  was  not  until  1794  (three  centuries  after  the  first  cane  was 
brought  over  by  Columbus)  that  the  industry  was  established  on  a 
paying  basis. 
The  processes  of  manufacture  in  the  beginning  were  very  primi- 
tive, and  yet  the  essential  stages  of  the  process  were  the  same  as 
now;  first  came  the  crushing  of  the  stalks  and  expression  of  the 
juice ;  second,  the  evaporation  of  this  juice ;  and  third,  the  crystal- 
lization and  separation  of  the  sugar.  In  all  three  of  these  stages 
the  improvements  during  the  last  one  hundred  years  have  been 
greater  than  in  all  previous  time,  the  great  reason  for  which  is  that 
it  is  only  about  one  hundred  years  ago  that  the  steam  engine  was 
introduced  into  sugar  manufacture. 
After  visiting  a  large  modern  sugar  factory  with  its  enormous 
steam-driven  machinery,  it  is  difficult  for  us  to  imagine  how  they 
secured  power,  previous  to  Watt's  invention.  In  windy  localities 
they  often  made  use  of  wind-mills,  and  this  source  of  power  is  still 
largely  utilized  in  Barbados.  Where  water  power  was  available  the 
crushing  of  the  cane  was  done  by  water  wheels.  Fig.  1  is  an  old 
illustration  of  sugar  manufacture,  as  it  was  carried  out  in  Sicily 
about  1570.   The  picture  shows  in  detail  all  the  processes  of  manu- 
Fig.  1. — Primitive  sugar  factory,  Sicily. 
