The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1899-02-22
Growing Sugar.

ing cane and in making sugar are pos
Sible in Florida. The writer is &C
Quainted somewhat with the condi-
tons prevailing at the sugar works at
Baton Rouge. The bulk of the cane is
grown on the lowlands of the Missis-
sippi river valley and brought by rail
many miles and delivered at about Sc
to S. per ton at the mill according to
the price of sugar in the New Orleans
market at time of delivery of the cane.
Instead of a radius of two miles, in
which the cane is grown it is nearer
Is or 20. The Illinois Central railway
encourages the sugar plant ny eX-
tremely low rates both for the trans
pOrtatiOn of cane and the sugar and
molasses.
The mill is a modern diffusion pro-
cess MILD and a costly one and the
usual expensive disposal of the bagasse
is by an ingenious arrangement of
blowing it into the Mississippi river
The diffusion process extracts an in
creased per cent of saccharine matter
almost equal to a fair profit on a large
capital over the former crude methods.
1t was some four or five years be-
fore the mill began to pay dividends,
but is now, under the most economical
management of Frank J. Webb, giving
good returns to the stock holders. The
cane grown on the high pine lands is
richer in saccharine matter but is sold
at the same price as lOwland cane,
while the expense of fertilizers is
probably double.
TO make cane growing and sugar
making a success in Florida would ne
ceSSitate a large plant of the most
modern design, located in a fairly fer
tile region accessible to railways that
would not require all the profits for
the transportation of the cane a dis
lance of 20 or 80 miles, or less, and a
reasonable assurance that thirty thou
sand tons of cane Or more could be re-
lied upon, while the most Skillful man
agement of manufacture would be re-
quired, judgment in selling when the
product was at it's highest price, and
sufficient capital to hold against the
manipulation of the sugar trust to
squeeze the manufacturer that was
compelled to sell to meet his Obliga
tons. Any other conditions in Flor
ida or anywhere else where the land
will not produce cane without fertiii
cess if not failure.
WI 81 W1OlC Cuc SONCLI-
ment has protected the sugar planter
and manufacturer by high tariff or
a bounty nearly sufficient to make the
cane and sugar under favorable cir
cumStances, but no perceptible in
crease in the per cent of home made
sugar has resulted. The people are
paying some forty million dollars a
year in sugar tariffs to protect a home
production of some twelve million dol
lars. 1t is high time for the planters
and manufacturers of Louisiana and
Florida to show their ability to make
sufficient sugar for home consumption.
If it is not in their power to do 1T the
burden of forty to fifty million dollars
should be taken from the people by re-
mOval of the tariff.
Nearly all protected articles except
sugar are produced in such quantities
as to supply the home, ana partially
the foreign demand. We are in favor
of protection; protection that shall
nurture a home industry until compe
titiOn shall supply at least the home
demand and at practically the cost of
the imported article. If government
protection after some 40 years on one
of the prime necessities of life results
in only a production of - to Is per
cent of the home demand while it
places a burden of 40 million dollars
on the consumers, there is presump-
tive evidence that sugar making in the
United States cannot be made gener-
ally profitable even with nearly a hun
dred per cent tariff on raw sugar.
The American agriculturist and
! 1sr.As9