The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-10-10
TEST MONY On TdE SUGi R
PRODUCING COUNTRIES.
Interview wi,A X, {. Lei-se,

| There arrived IN THIS city on sep
| TENDER 25th, by the steamship Gee
anic from Japan, Mr.. G.. c. Leisse,
representative OF the welIknOwn firm
of Messrs. John Fowler & Co., Ltd,
Leeds and London, England.
Mr.. Leisse is en- route to the States,
! Mexico and the West Indies, in which
countries he will continue 10 inspect
the modes OF operation and production
Of cane sugar. He has been absent
from England for some two years,
during which period be has visited
great many sugar cane producing
| countries.
The following authentic infOrma-
ton, as given By this experienced
gentleman and traveller, will be of in
terest to the people Of these Islands
| generally and those connected with
and interested liz the production of
| cane sugar particularly.
Starting from Marseilles, Mr.. Leisse
| first visited Egypt, which country,
although il may surprise some people,
| is large producer of sugar cane. This
| business is mostly in the hands Of the
government, and was started by the
eX-Khedive IsmaiI Pasha, about the
years 1866 81, when nearly all the
machinery in use was imported from
! France. This machinery has since
been considerably improved, so that
| the manufacture of sugar is carried
out pretty much on the same princi-
| pie and with the same results as it is
| in countries that possess more modern
plants.
Most of the land in Egypt Is cult
waited by means of FOwler's latest
steam plows and the soil, being allu-
vial, enables the implements to be
driven to a great depth without any
danger of mishaps to the machinery.
| The system of railways is perfect, and
all plantations along the Nile are con-
nected by private mainland. In fact,
everything in connection with these
| estates was constructed regardless of
expense by the old Egyptian ruler,
the mill buildings having been erected
| out of the substantial materials taken
from the Paris Exhibition of 1867.
There are one or two private re-
| fineries in the Egyptian country, and
most of the sugar produced finds a
market in Europe. The system of
irrigation, as everyone knows, is very
complete in the land of Pharaohs.
| The periodical overflow of the Nile
1
growing of the cane.
1t may be of interest to remark at
this point that Egypt is one of the
very few countries, outside OF the
| tropics, where sugarcane can be pro-
duced at profit. This is accounted
for by the heat derived from the close
proximity of the immense sandy
desert of sahara.
After six weeks stay in Egypt, Mr..
/ 4 ATs,.r s.SF inc 10
/ Zanzibar and Madagascar, which lat
ter country, although it grows but
| little sugar at this time, could, with
the aid of capital and enterprise, be
converted into place in which cane
| could be grown to an advantage.
Mauritius ranks amongst the oldest
| sugar producing lands or countries in
the world. AS a consequence of this.
the soil is rather Impoverished, and
| the planters there have to resort to
the use of fertilizers. The formation
of the island is volcanic, and, accord
! ing to Mr.. Leisse. not unlike to that
of these islands. The climate also is
similar to that of the Hawaiian
archipelago. In fact, there is an
air of simiIitude concerning q great
many things existing here, such as
the construction of the houses, the
flora, etc. The best cane is grown
upon the uplands, where the rain
supply can always be depended on;
while the lowlands, owing to the
climatic changes, do not now receive
the necessary quantity of rain, which
! is accounted for in the main by the
destruction of the timber growth on
| the hi Is. AS it is, the plantations
being located on the plateaus, the
cane requires from eighteen to twenty
four months, according to altitude, to
ripen. Although A1auritius and the
Sandwich Islands are not unlike, the
mode of cultiva ion of cane is alto
gether different.
Until a few years pillow of any
kind had never been tried in Mauri-
titus, cultivation being entirely ac-
cOmplished by hand with the hoe;
but few years ago some enterprising
planters began to import very strong
plOws, and gave them trial on their
estates. In several eases this mode
of tillage had to be abandoned alto
gether on account Of the enormous
bowlder~, stones and surface rocks
that Were met with. III other cases
the plows proved II great success, al
though from eight to twelve yoke of
| oxen were necessary to pull them.
Mr.. LeisSe found that steam Flows
could be used to advantage, provided
the planters agreed to remove all the
powders, etc, which could he accom-
plished 10y means of a special eXtirpa-
tor. Unfortunately such operation
would have required a great deal of
time, and Mauritian planters could
not afford to spare their land for any
| length of time TO do this work, be-
cause they have but small fields at
their disposal. AS soon as one seasons
crop is gathered, planting takes place
between the old rows. Labor is cheap;
British India coolies are paid siXpence
q day, with rations of rice and dry
fish. The laborers are housed and re-
ceive free medical attendance. The
natives called Creoles in the island
will not work on the plantations.
The annual production of sugar in
Mauritius is about 40, 900 tons. The
sister island - Reunion - produces
40 OO0 tons.
The Malay peninsula was next
visited by Mr.. Leisse. He found
there a number of planters, mostly
from Demarara, who We're striving to
compete with other sugar producing
countries. The labor is the same as
in Mauritius and receives about the
same remuneration. The fields are
irrigated by system of canals, and
the cane is carried to the mills on
punts.