The Hawaiian gazette., 1901-11-15


l. ent of the Stillman Min Company
of Boston and New York, on
- their sugar mills In Cuba. who
has been in the Hawaiian Islands
for the past few weeks. sailed yes
terday in the Alameda for the mainland,
and will proceed thence directly to Ha-
vana. During his visit here he looked
after the opening up of the McBryde
mill on Kauai He will report that the
mill is satisfactory In every respect and
that it is equal to extracting 9i6 per
cent of the sugar in the cane which
passes through 1t. Mr.. Coombs, before
going aboard the Alameda yesterday,
said that the McBryde mill is one of the
best which the firm has turned out, and
he is also satisfied that the cane pro-
duced on the plantation is of u very high
character, and will probably yiAld a
product of about 10000 tons a present.
In the production of sugar in Cuba.
Mr.. Coombs has had an experience of
| ten years. From the knowledge he has
gained of the existing, political relations
/ between Cuba and the United States he
| is of the opinion that the sugar produc-
ers here need have no fear of the free
entry of Cuban sugar for the next ten
years at least. 1t is his opinion that the
annexation of islands by the United
States has ceased, and that there is lit
tie danger of Cuban sugar coming into
the United States free of duty.
American capital his been pouring in
to Cuba to be invested in the sugar plan
tations since the conclusion of the war
with Spain, and doubtless there will be
good financial results" said Mr.. Coombs
II do not anticipate that the cane sugar
planters in Hawaii, Louisiana, the Phil
ippines or Texas need have any fear that
they will be menaced from this direction
e., 1.
fight in congress this coming session, in.
augurated by the men who have invest
ed their money in Cuba, and naturally
there will be considerable influenc,
brought to bear upon congress to allow
Cuban sugar to come In free of duty
under the same conditions that Hawaii
an sugar came In under the reciprocit!
treaty. There will be decided stant
against such legislation by the beet su
gar supporters.
, THE beet sugar interests of the Unit
ed States depend largely on keeping Gu
ban sugar off the free list. If the bee
sugar growers find that they are in dan
ger of being the losers from Cuban su
gar coming in free, and l speak OF th
only as a conjecture. they would at one,
turn their attention to the raising o
other crops which would be as produc
, tive and not nearly 50 expensive. Th
fluential backing In congress. and l un
derstand also that Secretary Wilson i
a strong advocate of the beet sugar in
dustry. He being member of the cabi
net, will undoubtedly have something Z
!. say in the premises.
LAS to conditions in Cuba? Well, tn
planters still have recourse to yer!
, crude methods in the cultivation of cane
They are almost as primitive in this re
spect as they were hundred years ago
. pointed stick is sufficient to turn owe
; the soil. An enterprising agent of tn
, Fowler Plow Company went to Cub;
last year to introduce their steam plows
} He was more enterprising than cautious
for in his endeavor to show just how
much his plow could accomplish he dul
50 deep that he spoiled the ground OIL
the plantations on which he was givin,
his exhibition, with the result that tn,
planters gave him a wide berth and re
turned to their primitive methods.
by their methods the Cuban planter
make a saving of about two-ffths in tn,
amount of labor employed in Hawaii
They do not strip the cane. the trash Il
not burned over the ground, and they al
low the stubble to grow for five or 81,
years. This prevents the weeds from
coming up before the young cane shoot
up but at the same time 1t invites tn,
borers and fungus have attacked tn
Cuban cane and caused heavy loss. Thu
far no attempts whatever have beei
made to fight either pest.
mo irrigation is carried on there. Th
: cane is of the 12-months growth, and
> presume the next crop Will amount 4
; about $50 900 tons. The labor employed I
; mostly Cuban and native black. Despit
the tremendous acreage covered in tn
= raising of sugar, the results are very un
! satisfactory. With proper tlling, prope
! plowing and stripping. burning of tras
and treatment of the soil from scien
tihc standpoint, the crops on Cub
= should be much larger. and the percent
age of juice extracted from the cane cor
respondingly greater. Three tons pc
;; acre is considered pretty good under tn
i present conditions"
Mr.. Coombs looked after the erectio
of Il 15O-ton mill at Cato Cruz, locate
: near Manzanillo. in the southern part o
? the island, and near the seashore. Thi
? mill is about the same as that at Eleel,
-, and will commencing operating in 1896
: Most of the old plantation owners |
. Cuba still retain their properties. a
u though they have been bolstered u
, largely by American capital. The latte
- Is not only being put into old properties
= but new plantations are being planne,
: The old plantations, however. have III
preference. as they can be made owe
readily. The expert spends about 81
months of each year In Cuba, lookin
after the various mills erected by n
company.
VInI y,NT Att .rI- nr rpnr-