The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-08-07
THE SUGAR MAKING QUESTION.
The Way II Presents Itself in
Louisiana.


the people of Savannah put their money
into a refinery upon an eX-parte hearing
| in great economic issue, as Judge Til
man has only suggested syrup. produced
| by our crude me hods. as the material for
a refinery to manipulate, while I insist
that neither Judge Tillman or yourself,
| speaking for him, can limit the range that
the discussion can and should take to en-
| tighten the people of Savannah upon the
sugar industry from the production Of the
cane to the granulation of the juice, that
they may be thoroughly advised before
| they take any step in this important mat
| ter.
Though I have had no time to confer with
Judge Tillman about limitations to the
range the discussion shall take in the eco
nomic problem he win present to the peo-
| pie Of Savannah on Wednesday next, l
| am quite confident he would be glad to
| have the discussion take the widest iati-
| tude exhausting the matter from every
! point of view, both in relation 70 the pro-
! Queer ana to the refiner and at every in
termediate stage. There is nothing to
be concealed; the utmost scrutiny is in
vited. In confirmation Of the wisdom and
Thickness of my communication in your
|
! Knapp Lake Charles, La, on The Pro-
duction of Sugar IN Louisiana" on the
prairie lands of that state:
This may be said of cane:
]. Ii is among he safest of farm crops.
>. Ii furnishes employment nearly the
| whole year.
8. 1t yields the largest income per acre.
The average yield of cane per acre,
where properly cultivated and fertilzed,
is seldom less than twenty tons, and of
stUbbie cane Second year, fifteen tons, or
thirty-live tons for two years, which, at
present prices would be worth $40. We es-
innate cost OF
Seed cane, per acre .....................$1 6 %
Preparation Of land per acre ........ ? co
| Planting, per acre Observation-Disclosures. 90
| Cultivation, per acre .................. S 90
| Fertilizers. per acre INSTRUMENTATION. o.
| Harvesting, per acre NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 10 %
1otal ...''.......,... ...................S44 W
THE above are liberal estimates and
should be reduced considerably. The sec
| ond year the total cost would be $22 as
seed cane, preparation, and planting would
be omitted. The total cost for two years
would be $66, leaving profit of $74 per acre
! for two years, or $37 per year This esti-
| mate is based upon hiring the work done
under careful supervision one man
| could easily superintend 100 or 90 acres.
/ ouOuiQ cane ldil considerably DtIOW ~ per
ton it would still be a profitable crop. It
| is estimated that cane can be probably
| produced at $3.50 per ton by small farmers
| who do their own work and are out of
debt. Cane cultivated is so well adapted
to the farm that il would become general
| in all the Gulf states were it not for the
| serious problems connected with the eX
| traction OF the juice and manufacture of
| sugar. The old-time plantation mill with
| fifty or sixty per cent. extraction and open
! kettle boiling could not compete in the
| markets of the world with Germany and
| Cuba. To do this it was necessary for the
| planters of Louisiana to establish the cen
! tral factory, with its ponderous and eX-
! pensive machinery and its complete rail-
| way system; $2500O0 is necessary 10 the
building and equipment of a first-class cen
trail factory. Such a sum is out of the
| reach of the average planter; hence he has
been trying to get along with half or quar-
| ter equipment, or if the factory was Sc
r, cured it took several years before adjoin-
| ing planters could change to cane farming
and furnish fun supply for the factory.
| Few industries in the United States, how
ever, have made more rapid advancement
! i'm the last ten years than the manufacture
of sugar 1t has now been reduced to a
complete science The results are exact
and very satisfactory. The factory OF
the future must turn out at least 200 pounds
of mercantile sugar per ton of cane. The
labor and fuel must be a minimum. The
success of the large central factory is as
sured in Louisiana, paying the planter a
liberal sum for his cane and netting a most
satisfactory per cent. on the capital in
vested.
AS soon as the old semi-feudal planta
tons are broken up and the small, thrifty
farmer produces the cane, sending il e
the central factory or manufacturing 4
| nod h.Nl n.
whole sugar industry will be buoyant To
summarize, it may be stated the Old meth
DDS of producing cane and manufacturing
sugar used in the period of slavery, wher
labor was scarcely considered, prevailed
generally in Louisiana till within the pas
ten years In the past ten years there ha!
, been an earnest effort TO introduce thu
most approved modern machinery in tn,
factory and better the methods of prOduc
ton on the plantation. In the next fv,
years, by the inevitable force of events
we may see many of the old plantation
! broken up into small farms and most o
the sugar cane of louisiana produced by
! independent farmers. selling the cam
either to the large central factory or man
, ufacturing 1t upon the home pace witt
. the same labor that produced il. WheI
I this shall be accomplished there VIII b.
an era of prosperity in Louisiana neve
+ before Witnessed in a purely agriculture
community, for there IS no other genera
farm crop which will produce annually $15
! per acre, spot cash. and this without othe
4 expense than labor-where the manufac
. ture is at home.
r -Four thousand pounds of sugar per acr
20 is not unusual from weI-cultivaled tract
- of cane. The average farmer can realiz
p thirty tons per acre from land in cane
Il it be prepared and handled with care II
q can manufacture it with improved SINAI
5 machinery and obtain a gross income o
? $3.50 10 800 per acre. Thus without detri
e ment to his general farming, the owner O
= 160 acres could plant twenty acres of can
t and obtain an income of $1,000 to $1,000
e The planters of cane in Georgia an
/. Florida must initiate the planters in Louis
e lana if they would make a success of il
n Old, expensive methods must be disca I'd
q ed and modern, practical methods base
Y upon sound scientific deduction suppSan
n them, and our planters in growing can
n TO market their surplus of it's products
= and they must do il in sharp competitio
n / with every sugar pVOlugtpp ppuptrt- ~ -,