The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1905-01-20
A PAYING INDUSTRY
What Has Been Done and What Nay be
Accomplished in the Brownsville
Section in Sugar Making.

in Hidalgo county. THE HERALI
man learns that grinding has beer
finished, for the season. Mr.
Closner had about 200 acres il
cane this year, but owing to sons
Of it being overlooked, only about
$50 acres Of good cane were cut.
From this Mr.. Closner made 400,
900 pounds of white sugar, and
will work over his seconds some
time in the near future. Nearly
all of the output has been disposed
of at this place and in other nearby
localities, at prices in the neighbor-
hood of 4 cents per pound. An in
teresting fact, and one which shows
the admirable adaptability of the
Lower Rio Grande for cane cul-
ture, is that on the San Juan plan
tation Mr.. Closner cut some cane
from eight year old stubble, which
was simply magnificent in proper
tons. the stalks being very large
and the extraction immense. Mr..
Closner has new and improved
machinery and his success and the
continued success of others in SUI
gar making here is conclusive proof
that this entire section will in
large measure enter into and be-
come a great factor as a sugar pro-
ducer of the future. In addition
to the large acreage already in
cane, Mr.. Closner is preparing to
put in an additional one hundred
acres, about forty of which are
planted, which will make
this one of the largest sugar farms
in the south. The Brulay planta-
ton has also finished grinding, and
has turned out a fine Yield of SUI
gar, which compares very favor
ably with the best Louisiana pro-
duct. Besides the two plantations
there are other parties con-
templating entering this promising
field, and the prediction is made
that the Brownsville country will
become the future sugar making
section of the south with only
Cuba as a possible rival.
The facts as set forth in the fore
going, as we'll as the results of the
observations of Mr.. Palfrey, whose
experience as a planter
IN Louisiana are of especial value
on the subject, prove this to be so.
The wonderful advantages of this
section for sugar growing attracted
he attention of Sergeant 1. NJ.
Cline, who was chief signal officer
Of Texas, and who in his report to |
he government on The Climatic |
Conditions of Texas" published in
1892, referred to the subject as fol-
ows:
The sugar cane industry is one
Of the most promising fields for
development in the state. In South |
Texas alone, including the Lower /
Rio Grande valley, there are over |
900, 600 acres on which sugar
,ane can be successfully grown. |
An average of $4,000 acres has
been cultivated in this product the
past three years; of this an average
IF $50 acres has been in the lower
Rio Grande valley. The average
yield for the state has been about
our barrels per acre, while that for
he southern portion of the state
lveraged six barrels, and that
yrown in the Rio Grande averaged
light barrels per acre. So much
or the productiveness of the soil of
his valley when planted in cane"
Further subStantiation of these
.laims is seen at the Rio Grande
ugar plantation eight miles below
brownsville, where sugar has been
grown with the greatest success
or over twenty years. The sugar
made on this plantation has been
pronounced by government ex-
,erts to be equal to the very
highest grade made in Louisiana.
n the year 1892, this plantation