Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-11-24
suGAR LOuIsIANA.

At a moment when the deficit in the Gu
ban sugar crop is confirmed by decreas
of exports from that large island of 2OO,OOI
tons, it win be found proper to discovc
from what countries may be drawn a sub
stitute for the deficits which, considering
the social and political state Of affairs eS
isting In the island, may be of more frequent
occurrence there;
First among such countries may be named
Louisiana, as we shall for the present pass
in silence Egypt, about emerging as prom
inent sugar colony. Louisiana is estimated
to produce this year upwards of 100000 tons
of sugar, and its capacity of production no
body can call in doubt, inasmuch as previ-
GUS to the war of secession it attained emf
hence in this branch of agriculture, not
1 withstanding certain drawbacks attaching to
sugar culture there of geographical and
climatic nature.
1t would seem that cane sugar cultivation
| calls for an essentially tropical climate, and
/ it is astonishing therefore that the plant
should have adapted itself to Louisiana,
where during the winter time the tempera-
ture descends to the freezing point, unpro-
tected as the country is against northers by
an intervening branch to the sea. The
spectacle of cane field covered with hoar
| frost, sleet and snow is singular one in
deed, and yet in Lower Louisiana this is
frequently the case on the banks of the great
river and its lagunes, where nearly all the
sugar plantations are to be found.
The sugar cane consequently only thrives
there during eight months of the year, and
| on being cut has not attained maturity, nor
does it ever come up in richness and purity
! to the cane of the Antilles, with which from
an industrial point of view it could other
wise compete.
In 1750 the sugar cane was introduced
into Louisiana from the Spanish Antilles,
and its cultivation thenceforward carried on,
| the first Louisiana sugar being sent to France
! in 1854. After this colony had been coded
| to Spain, sugar planting declined there, and
| fell into disuse some time. The cane, it is
| true, continued to be planted, but only to
| be boiled down into molasses, as the west
! ern farmers in America extract it
| from sorgho. II was not till 1876
| that a planter, residing near New
| Orleans, took up the decayed industry;
and resolved to make Muscovado sugar.
Daring as the attempt seemed to be it
| proved successful, to the no small astonish-
ment of the surrounding planters. Musco-
vado sugar was made by him, and the ne
! elected or partly abandoned industry was
resuscitated, and spread rapidly. louisa
ma was then colonized by an energetic and
! intellectual race of French immigrants and
| Creoles, and under their efforts powerful
recuperation of industry took place, and
| before the war $4,000 hhdS of sugar were
reached as a maximum production (40O,
| 100000 pounds) which it is hoped viii be
| eventually exceeded in the future.
There were at the time 1900 sugar
! houses, and of plantations there were alto
gether 1000, some of the smaller houses
| grinding in company on the principle of
united manufacture, the net proceeds being
distributed pro rata Of cane furnished.
Were the same method introduced and
more generally advocated, we have no
! doubt but that the result would be impOr-
tant, as has recently been shown at Quad
alOupe and Martinique. We even 60 so far
as to conjecture that the regeneration of
sugar culture would be such and so rapid
in Louisiana as to raise the produC-
ton to a million hOgsheads at no distaut
| day, equal to l, 100,000,000 pounds of SUI
gar. Such are the agricultural resources at
the disposal of the Louisiana planter. I'm
fortunately the labor question here arises
as an obstacle, and it would seem that there
is as yet an insufficiency in this respect, not
withstanding repeated endeayors to attract
the immigration of Cinnamon and Euro
peans. Labor from the West is again spO-
ken of as intended to be resorted to. Some
planters have made their entire crop last
year with help from that quarter.
The Renaissance LOuiSidHdiSe expatiates
as follows upon the subject of labor supply:
Now that the time draws near when
| our great sugar-planting interest claims its
full quota Of labor, the immigration ques-
ton turns up in practical shape, much as
| it has of late been discussed. What has
been done in the way of immigratet help?
| What new forces have been marshalled to
! do the grinding? Public opinion insists
! on knowing what has been done officially
| and privately to recruit such forces? The
! sugar crop is highly promising quantity
and quality alike would seem to exceed ex-
| peCtationS, even the most eXtravagant. A
| prOdigal and generous nature has specially
| favored this branch Of agriculture hitherto.
! Whence are we to get the hands
| that shall reap the harvest and help
! to secure labor and capital thus far bestowed
| on our cane fields? What are the precau-
| tions taken against the canes rOtting in the
! ground, or against repeated strikes at the
most critical period of crop time? Our
| grand public interests are intimately bound
| up with these private ones. The cOmmu-
| nifty in general, the commissioners, bankers
| and merchants should look into this i'm
| pOrtant matter. All classes of society are
| linked alike in the solution of these ques-
tons, for political rogueryGmpOverishes the
! country to such an extent that we must all
! look TO our agricultural resources to furnish
Us the bread we eat. On the soil and its
products centre our industry, commerce,
| capital, and ali that lends charm to our ex-
| istenCe.'
1t is easy to perceive from these sentences
that sugar culture in Louisiana has become
precarious from the point Of view of labor
/ supply, since as full a compliment of negroes
as used to be at its disposal before the war
! cannot anywhere be relied upon. Chinese
| immigration would not do the work, as the
| kind Of coolies thus procured, Withdrawn
! from the dregs Of a California population,
| would be ill-suited for agricultural pursuits
| by its habits; and of European immigration
| generally insufficient, there has been abso-
lutely none this year. We are thus carried
| back to Western help. This help
seems little better adapted, inasmuch
| as it greatly consists of Germans
| and Irishmen, who have doubtful prospect
| Of surviving a Louisiana sun and miasma
| combined, and we do not think that they
! will make up for the shortcomings of any
| colOred or Chinese labor now in the cane
| fields. An experiment of the kind has been
attempted, and awaits solution a plantation
| has been divided among the races, and the
! cane is to be paid for by weight delivered in
! the sugarhouse. This is the great problem
of the division of labor; but, in order to In
sure its success, It would be essential that
the black population could rise to the level
of the agricultural middle classes. Outside
Of these classes and the material and moral
status which they create, there are but mo-
| nOpoly or feudalism left.
! We do not by any means pretend, how
ever, to offer gratUitOus advice to a country
at such distance from u.s. now merged as
it is in the powerful Republic of which it
forms a part. Should it be vouchsafed as
worthless to contribute within our sphere
Of action towards the regeneration of Lou
isiana sugar culture, we should suggest a
different method Of setting about it. We
| should try to solve the industrial question
first and the agricultural one afterwards,
which it seems to us absOrbs attention alto
gether too much. We should be inclined to
recommend the Curtailment in num-
| bers of sugar houses in actual