George Morrison Rolph

“ In refinery work, what is to be feared more than anything is the house becoming “sour.” Raw sugars and sugar liquors, and particularly the sweet waters, have a tendency to ferment, and fermentation, like fire, if not checked and brought under control before it gains much headway, soon pervades the entire establishment, affecting all the liquors and syrups, thus turning the sucrose or sugar into glucose, which cannot be recrystallized. ”

“ The plain truth is that all refined granulated cane sugar offered for sale in the markets of this country today is almost identical, irrespective of the manner in which it may be packed. The poorest quality of refined sugar made has, in all likelihood, a purity not lower than 99.5 per cent, while the highest grade cannot possibly exceed 99.9 per cent, a difference of only four-tenths of one per cent, hence it is evident that all refined sugars are practically pure, the fancy package simply meaning a fancy price. ”

“ The duty levied on imports by the United States cut their margins down to nothing, labor was scarce and the cost of obtaining it great, the rate of interest was from ten to twelve per cent, agents’ commissions for buying and selling ran from five to ten per cent; in short, many plantations were threatened with utter ruin, and so seriously discouraged did the business men become that the only gleam of hope for the salvation of the sugar industry seemed to be annexation. ”

“ A large proportion of the agricultural area is needed for crops of food to nourish the inhabitants. The land available for sugar cane is rented at an equitable figure and, as has been said, there is always an ample supply of cheap and readily obtainable labor. The aim of the Javan planter is to produce cane carrying a high sugar content and to get as great a yield as possible. To this end, unceasing attention is paid to cultivation, fertilizing and the general well-being of the crop; in other words, the soil is worked for all there is in it. ”

“ He occupies a position between the seller and buyer, and it is just as much his prime duty to see that in all transactions full justice is accorded to both as it is to sell the sugar.
Every refinery having its own broker in each consuming center, it follows that the competition for business among the brokers is very keen. When a broker obtains an order from a jobber or manufacturer, he telegraphs it to his principal. ”

“ In these low-lying areas the soil is extraordinarily fertile, and it is on such ground that the most generous crops are raised.
The soft, warm trade winds that blow from the northeast become laden with moisture as they sweep over the ocean; when they strike the cold mountain peaks the moisture condenses immediately into copious rains. The precipitation in some places reaches the astounding total of three hundred inches per annum. The rain water is conserved and, when needed, is carried to the various plantations by immense irrigation ditches. ”

“ Among sellers, competition is in direct proportion to the number engaged in any particular business. It therefore follows that as there are three hundred thousand retailers in the United States, and hundreds in each of all the large cities, the struggle to keep on their feet and continue their various enterprises must be severe. The number of failures occurring every year amply substantiates this assertion. Reckless and unscrupulous men engage in every business, and the competition thus forced on all others in their line is not only unfair, but positively dishonest. ”

“ For instance, in the grocery line one will buy nothing but teas and coffees, another canned goods, another sugar, and so on. These men as a rule have devoted years of study to the particular commodity which they are delegated to buy. They are shrewd, keenly alert and always ready to take advantage of market fluctuations in their favor. The margin of profit between the buying and selling price of any commodity is usually so small that the acumen of the buyer is an important factor in the final results. ”

“ Like sugar cane, beets are subject to plant diseases of various kinds, as well as to injury by insect pests, and great care has to be exercised to ward off these dangers.
Probably no other crop exhausts the soil so rapidly as beets, and, if they are planted for many years in succession, they deteriorate year by year. On the other hand, if crops are rotated so that beets are grown in the same ground every third year, peas, beans or grain being raised the other two years, it is a remarkable fact that all of these crops will improve each year. ”

“ Any individual can break a price or introduce new and expensive experiments in selling terms, which must be followed with equally attractive terms by the other sellers, thus resulting in great loss to all. It is no satisfaction that such men finally fail and go out of business, for the losses sustained in the interim can never be recovered.
Another grave difficulty with which the retailer has to contend is the fact that the average individual to whom he delivers his wares is apt to be rather callous when pay-day comes around. ”

“ Java’s sugar plantations are situated in the eastern and central part of the island. The surface of much of the western end is broken and mountainous, lacking uninterrupted stretches of level land suitable for agriculture, and presenting obstacles to transportation. The great drawback, however, even in the vast plain of Krawang, is climatic. As has been said, the ideal climate for sugar cane is one that combines abundant rain during the period of growth with an uninterrupted dry season to ripen the cane and admit of its being readily harvested and transported to the mill. ”

“ In 1900 Congress passed a law known as the Foraker act, which provided that no corporation should be allowed to acquire more than 500 acres of land in Porto Rico and that no stockholder in any agricultural company operating there should be permitted to hold shares in any other corporation of the kind. The object of the law was, of course, to prevent capitalists from buying up great tracts of land for the cultivation of sugar on a large scale to the detriment of the native land owner. ”

“ Much time and expense are saved by not being obliged to replant. On the other hand, the yield from plant cane is, as a rule, greater than even from first ratoons, and with each successive ratoon crop the total amount of sugar produced per hectare of land is decidedly diminished. This is partially due to the shorter time in which the cane is allowed to ripen. Owing to excessive rains prevalent in this country, canes must be cut every year, and the practice so common in Hawaii of allowing ratoons to ripen for eighteen months or more, is here out of the question. ”

“ Conversely, if too low a price is offered, the farmer will be driven to raise other crops, and, as the factory cannot purchase cane outside of its own district, lack of material will prevent it from running at full capacity, which means a heavy loss. So there is an excellent reason for maintaining the price of cane at a point which enables the grower to make a profit. Another potent factor, too, is that the price must receive the approval of the government. It is significant that the factories built between 1907 and 1911 have all been put up without government aid. ”

“ It is clear to the intelligent observer that in these times of intensely keen competition, the manufacturer will, sooner or later, inevitably be driven to seek a considerable percentage of his profits in the utilization of by-products that now go to waste or bring but little return. The men to solve the manufacturing problems of the future will be chemical engineers. Broadly speaking, comparatively little has been done in this field in the United States, and its possibilities are incalculable. ”

“ A few factories make white sugar for [275] direct consumption, but the great part of the output consists of raw centrifugal sugar, which is subsequently refined. Most of Argentina’s refined sugar is produced by the Refineria Argentina of Rosario.
Argentina’s sugar industry could not live without a protective tariff, on account of the high cost of production, which even in the best factories is about 41⁄3 cents gold per pound. There is no chance to build up an export business now, so, unless conditions change, the production must adjust itself to take care of the consumption and no more. ”

“ The purity of the juice has an important bearing on the subsequent manufacture of the sugar. It is difficult and costly to extract sugar from low-purity juices, and the loss of sugar in the process is very high. The reverse is naturally true if the juices have a high purity. The purity of the juice in the beet is materially affected during the growing period by climatic conditions, rainfall, irrigation, fertilization, state of soil and cultivation. Great care and attention must be given the beet to insure high purity and heavy content of sugar. ”

“ A refiner of cane sugar buys his raw product in the open market and must pay for all his operating and administration expenses and obtain his profit from the margin between the buying price of raw and the selling price of refined sugar. The cost of refining is not constant, as it varies with the fluctuating values of fuel, containers, labor, and particularly the cost of raw sugar. ”

“ Factories that had been closed were put in operation again and new enterprises were undertaken. Up to the year 1880 the manufacture of cane sugar had been conducted in a slipshod manner. The planters were lavishly extravagant and spent their incomes as they made them, giving no thought to putting aside funds for extensions and betterments. Hard times taught them a severe lesson, by which they profited, and with admirable courage they bent all their energies to the improvement of methods of cultivation and cutting down the cost of production. ”

“ American control in the Philippines promises much for the future of the sugar industry of these islands, for when it is remembered that for many years, in spite of the handicap of crude, uneconomic methods, export duties at home and import duties abroad, sugar was made and sold at a profit in the markets of the world, it is not unreasonable to look for a considerable stimulus to be given to production by advanced scientific management and free admission of the commodity to the markets of the United States. ”

“ For instance, in Morelos, where about sixty per cent of Mexico’s crop is produced, the estates are owned by non-resident families and, as a rule, managed by Spaniards. Labor is cheap and abundant, the cane is rich in juice and the sugar content is high, but the extraction in the small, crude mills is poor, the recovery of sugar, as a rule, not exceeding six per cent of the weight of the cane. There are a few large factories in Mexico where the methods and results should be more closely in accordance with modern practice. ”

“ The value of the beet to a factory depends on the amount and purity of the sugar content. Factories as a rule decline to purchase beets containing less than twelve per cent of sucrose, as it is unprofitable to handle them. In order to induce the farmer to devote particular care and attention to the culture of his fields and thus increase the sugar content, the factories pay a premium for beets containing over fifteen per cent of sugar. The premium is usually twenty-five cents per ton of beets for each additional one per cent of sugar. ”

“ The growers of sugar cane in Mauritius have adjusted themselves to the new conditions. They have reduced plantation and manufacturing costs, and scientific methods have enabled them to grow cane profitably on land which could not possibly have been cultivated in the old way without severe loss. Crude processes have given way to the modern sugar factory with its up-to-date roller mills, clarifiers, triple effects, vacuum pans and centrifugal machines, and the chemical engineer has changed the dark mixture of crystals and molasses into an almost pure white granulated sugar. ”

“ The European planter confines his operations to sugar cane, and the other products are raised by the native farmer exclusively by his own efforts and on his own account.
The terms under which plantation land is held in Java differ widely from those that govern in other cane-growing countries. Between 1830 and 1879, when the compulsory cultural plan was in effect, the government determined what lands were to be planted in cane. It compelled the natives to cultivate and harvest the crop, but allowed them compensation for their labor and the use of their fields. ”

“ Where the land is furnished by the plantation, the farmer is paid from four to five per cent of the weight of the cane in sugar. He is given a house free of rent and an acre or two of garden land as well. All material, labor or stores supplied to him are debited to him to be accounted for when final settlement is effected.
Planting cane in Cuba is a simple matter. In preparing virgin forest land for seed, no ploughing whatever is done; the trees and shrubs are cut down and allowed to dry, the valuable timber is carried away, and the remainder is burned. ”

“ In some parts of the country, people have been educated to use a coarse-grained sugar; in other sections, they are accustomed to sugar of a fine grain. For example, on the Pacific coast, the demand is for the fine-grained article; the consumers of the Mississippi river valley like a fairly large grain; while the Atlantic coast trade calls for a still coarser product. There is a difference, too, as to containers. In the East the preference is for the barrel package, while the Western buyer wants his sugar put up in bags. ”

“ It is interesting to note that while the cane is growing and in an unripe state, there is no discernible sucrose or pure sugar in it. As the ripening process goes on, the content of the cane juice is changed by the action of the sun’s rays, and the amount of sucrose as determined by polariscopic test shows when the time for harvesting is at hand. Nature’s operation in thus changing glucose or invert sugar into sucrose or pure sugar cannot be accomplished by any human means. ”

“ Transportation facilities are far from good and the manufacturers have to make up the shortage in the supply of cane by using rab and gur. If the latter should contain an excessive amount of glucose or be caramelized, it does not lose its value as an article for direct consumption; on the other hand, either of these conditions unfit it for the purposes of refining, and as there is but a slight difference in price between gur and the white sugar into which it is made, the disadvantage to the refiner is readily apparent. ”

“ The plantation lands are level or slightly sloping, so that cultivating machinery may be used to good advantage. Grinding can be carried on without interruption throughout the year, which means economical factory capacity and an even distribution of labor. The cost of labor, too, is reasonable, and great quantities of fertilizers lie close at hand. In short, Peru enjoys many advantages, and if her planters and refiners keep pace with scientific development, she will take a prominent place among the cane-sugar countries of the world. ”

“ Sales managers of the sugar-refining companies of the United States command high salaries, for the success of the business depends to no small extent upon their ability and judgment. Their knowledge of human nature must be broad and sound and it is tested to the utmost in their selection of assistants and brokers, for representatives always reflect the ideals, principles and methods of the parent authority. ”

“ Insect pests and plant diseases are generally brought into a country through planters sending to other cane-raising countries for new varieties of cane for seeding purposes that they think may produce more sugar than their own. Great trouble and heavy loss have been occasioned in this way and, as a consequence, the United States government has established a strict quarantine, allowing plant life to be landed only after rigid examination and when it is clear that no danger exists. ”

“ Every mill has an extensive laboratory where skilled chemists are constantly engaged in sampling and analyzing cane, raw juices, syrups, sugars and molasses. In fact the chemical work is a most important feature in the raw-sugar house, beet-sugar factory or refinery. The superintendent should be an expert chemist, as the proper recovery of the sugar from the cane and beet juices is wholly dependent upon the technical control of manufacturing processes. ”

“ The raising of sugar cane is not carried on by large interests, but is divided among a vast number of small farmers, so that it is doubly difficult to secure dependable data concerning the yield and manufacture.
Third: By no means all of the cane that is grown goes to the sugar mills to be ground. Much of it is chewed or eaten in the stalk, and the manufacturing process itself is, in most instances, very primitive. So it is clear that even where the acreage planted to cane is accurately known, it would be a difficult matter to determine the result in sugar. ”

“ As a result, planting, growing and manufacturing methods have been vastly improved, chemical control of factories has been introduced and economic scientific methods govern every department of the work. By these means, supported by the addition of fresh capital, the sugar industry of Java was not only saved from extinction, but was lifted into a very prominent world’s place, and for years past Java has furnished an example of remarkable efficiency and low cost of production. ”

“ All agricultural centers are subject to crises more or less serious in character, and, as has just been shown, Mauritius is no exception to the rule. Depressions resulting from crop shortages, however, should not be confounded with the general troubles that have seriously menaced the cane-sugar industry during the last half century, almost all of which are attributable to the competition of the beet. ”

“ Sunshine of long duration but not of great intensity is the most important factor in the successful cultivation of sugar beets. The nearer the equator is approached, the poorer [104] the beets become in sucrose because of the shorter days and the greater heat of the sun. Beets have never been raised with success in the hot interior valleys, as the hot days followed by warm, dry nights sap the vitality of the plant. In the elevated Rocky mountain region of Colorado and Utah, where the temperature is high during the daytime but where the nights are cool, the quality of the beet is excellent. ”

“ While the scientists of the country are absorbed in the task of producing through cross-culture new species of cane that will give a heavier yield per acre with a higher sugar content and greater purity, the agriculturists are opening up extensive fresh tracts of rice and cane land. New irrigation projects play an important part in this development and everything points to a steady growth of the industry. ”

“ Labor is plentiful and cheap, so that cultivation is done carefully and in a thorough manner. The naturally rich soil is treated with fertilizers of various kinds, and planting is done every year as a rule, although ratoon crops are often raised on the uplands. Formerly Bourbon cane was grown exclusively, but owing to the falling off in the yield, it was discontinued and the varieties now in favor are White Transparent and seedling canes raised locally. The crops suffer from time to time through hurricanes and droughts, as well as from the common run of cane diseases. ”

“ In 1906 the area under cultivation in Jamaica was 750,000 acres and of this only 26,000 were devoted to cane. Sugar planting has been in a stagnant condition for years and only a limited number of the estates that still carry on the industry are making money. Many have stopped growing cane entirely and have turned to bananas, cocoanuts, coffee or cattle raising. In certain districts there is plenty of fertile alluvial land, ample water and cheap labor, but proper cultivation is lacking, so that the results are far from what they should be. ”

“ The manufacturers are dependent upon the small farmers for their raw material, and the price paid for the cane is determined by a very complex agreement, which nevertheless seems to be entirely satisfactory to both buyer and seller.
The outlook for the sugar industry in Guadeloupe and Martinique is far from bright. There is labor in abundance, but the natives are averse to working steadily, and consequently are unreliable. There are great possibilities for improvement, but little can be expected under the circumstances that prevail at the present time. ”

“ Each plantation has on its own lands plots of ground on which different methods of culture are tried and on which various kinds of fertilizer are used. Experiments are also made to determine the exact amount of water needed for irrigation. Particular attention is paid to seed cane, and a number of types of it are planted in order to obtain seed that will produce stalks that grow rapidly, yield a large tonnage per acre, contain a maximum amount of sugar, and have a high resistant power against disease and insect pests. ”

“ If the polarization should show exactly ninety-six degrees, the price to be paid for the sugar and the market quotation will be identical.
In most sugar-producing countries the government imposes an import tax on all foreign sugars, in order to obtain revenue to defray governmental expenses and to protect the domestic industry, if any, against competition with other countries in which cost of materials and labor may be lower. Commodities produced in a country naturally add to its development and wealth, and this explains the fostering of the sugar industry by various governments. ”

“ The water tenders follow up the ploughs and the furrows are filled with water, which is gradually absorbed by the old cane roots left in the ground. In time new sprouts spring up from buds on the old stalks of the cane and another growth begins. The second crop is called “first ratoons” and, when cultivated for a single year only, it is designated “short ratoons.” As a rule it does not yield as much sugar as plant cane, but the saving in seed, in the preparation of the fields and in other labor frequently makes up for the reduced amount of sugar. ”

“ The hilly character of the island and the comparatively limited transportation facilities do not admit of cane being grown in the interior. All of the modern plantations are near the coast, where sugar can be easily transported to steamers. In the north cane may be raised without irrigation, but in the south, where the greater part of the crop is produced, irrigation is necessary. About 400,000 acres of the surface of Porto Rico are under cultivation and half of this area is devoted to sugar. The cane grows chiefly on the rich alluvial lowlands along the coast. ”

“ Little care is exercised in the selection of seed cane and disinfection is never practiced. Planting is done in September and October, when the rainy season sets in. Irrigation from rivers and streams is the rule; fertilizers are seldom used, and no preventive measures are adopted to combat diseases of the cane. The yield of cane per acre in poor soil is from nine to fifteen tons, in average soil from eleven to seventeen tons, while on the best lands it is eighteen tons. ”