National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1873-01-24
The Sandwich ISLANDS.

The 5000 whites in the Sandwich
Islands, says Mark Twain, handle all
tho money aud carry on all the commerce
and agriculture and superintond the
religion Americans are largely in tho
ma jority. These whites are sugar
planters, merchants, whale-ship officers,
aud missionaries. The missionaries Arc
sorry the most Of the other whites are
there, and these latter are sorry the
missionaries don't migrate. The most
OF the belt OF sloping land that borders
the sea and risos toward the bases Of
the mountains, is rich and fertile.
| There are only 200, 600 acres Of this pro-
ductive soil. but only think OF its Ca
pabilities In Louisiane, 20O, 900 acres
of sugar land would only yield 90, 900
tons OF sugar per annum, and possibly
not SO much but in the Sandwich
Islands you could got at least 400, 600
tons out OF it. This is q good, strong
statement, but il is true, nevertheless.
Two and half tons to the acre is
common yield in the islands, three and
half tons is by no means unusual
five tons is frequent and / oan name
the man who took fifty tons of sugar
from seven acres of ground, one season.
This cane was on the mountain-side,
1000 feet above sea level, and it took it
three years to mature. Address your
inquiries TO Capt. Mckee, Island of
Maui, $. |. Few plantations are stuck
up in the air like that, and so twelve
months is ample time for the maturing
of cane down there. And would like
to call attention to two or three exceed
ingly noteworthy facts. For instance,
there you do not hurry up and cut your
cane whom il blossoms, but you Just let
it alone and cut it when you choose
no harm will come of it. And you do
not have to keep an army Of hands to
plant IN the planting season, grind in
the grinding season, and rush in fran
ticaiy and cut down the crop when
frost threatens. Not at all. There is
no hurry. You run large plantation
with but few hands, because you plant
pretty much when you please and you
cUt your cane and grind it when it suits
your convenience. There is no frost,
and the longer the cane stands the bet
ter it grows. Sometimes-sf sften, in fact |
part Of your gang are planting field,
anosher part are cutting the crop from
an adjoining field, and the rest are
grinding at the mill. You only plant
once in three years, and you take off |
two ratoon crops without replanting.
You may keep on taking off ratoon crops |
about as long as you please, indeed
every year the bulk Of the cane will be
but the juice will grow regu-
larry, denser, and richer, and so you
are all right. | know of one lazy man
who took of sixteen ratoon crops with
out rcplanting
What fortunes those planters made
during onr war, when sugar went up
into the twenties ! 1t had cost them
about ten or eleven cents pound, de-
livored in San Francisco, and all charges
ppid. Now if any one desires to know
why these planters would probably like
to be under our flag, the answer is sim
Pile We make them pay us duty of
four cents n pound on refined sugars at
present brokerage, freights, and hand
ing two or three times), costs three
,euts more; rearing the cane, and max
ng the sugar, is an item Of five cents
II cents pound, or within
cent of it, anyhow. And to-day re-
ined sugar is only worth about II!
'ents wholesale in our markets. Profit
mono worth mentioning But if we
we're to annex the islands and do away
With that crushing duty OF four cents a
'ound, some Of those heavy planters
'ho can hardly keep their heads above
'ater now, would clear $50, 900 year
nd upward. Two such years would
ay for their plantations, and all their
took aud machinery.