, 1908-09-05
CANE FARMING IN TRINIDAD.

Elsewhere in this issue We publish the
Trinidad Agricultural Society's Annual Re-
port on the sugar crop and cane farming re-
turns for the year 19O7-Oe, for which we
are much indebted to Mr.. Edgar T,ipp, the
able secretary of that organization. Unror.
~tunately fer the good people of Trinidad, it
will be noticed that the crop for the year
just closed is but about 40 900 long tous, W.
against about so, 564 tons for the year be-
fore and as against $4,000 tons the year pre-
vious to that. It would seem that Trinidad
has suffered AS did Cuba from the prevailing
droughts and hence the short crop, or else
some particular advantage affected tho crop
OF the year ending in 1906, which gave them
the 63, 600 tons.
Considering the year just ended it will be
seen from the reports of t3ta. sugar made
and the report of the tons of sugar made
from the state canes, that the home grown
canes produced three-fourths Of the sugar
crop and the cane farmers produced the rest.
The whole cane crop was about $40, 900 long
tons OF cane, one fourth of which would be
10000 tons, and the tenants cane is re-
ported at 1879 900 to.s.
Another interesting feature of this report
Is The statement, as. shown, that the farmers
included 1922 East Indians and 5,619 Wost
Indians. There are therefore, 1l,lO0 cane
growers to produce 140, 900 tons of cane.
or M average of 1917 tons of cane for each
cane farmer. From a cane planters point Of
view, these very small contributions would
seem to show an intrinsic weakness ia cane
farming in TriuiGa1. The average p.oduc-
ton OF the cane farmers is 10 small TINT it is
manifest that they must make their livelihood
III some o her way. An immense amount Of
mn - rOyo,1 L.. ,n,l f,.- -
and also in Cuba, but a cane farmer, who
produces but 10 to 20 tons of cane IS nBt le-
garded az Il fac or in the sugar. indus 'ty,
but merely an incident, and yet We fad thnt
in Trinidad, even in this humble WAY, one
fourth of their sugar il male from cane
produced by these people. Perhaps we
can hardly blame some of the old cOnserva-
tives of Trinidad for feeling that q diversion
OF labor into the cane tanning industry
meant msre'y that much loss of labor to the
sugar cane industry. If we should natno a
common unit for the work of q man and n
boy who expected to make their living out
of sugar cane, we should name an area OF
land of at least twenty acres, three-fpurths
of which should be in sugar cane and, with
indifferent Gu ~tivation, this should produce
an average of at least 15 tons per acre, so
that the farmer and his boy should produce
over 200 tons of cane, besides a fair supply
of corn and provision crops. These Trinidad
cane farmers don't seem to do that, and we
are led to wonder why they go into the
sugar cane industry if they produce SO
small a quantity per farmer.
1t is stated that the average paid to the
farmers for their cane amounts to $2.15 per
ton. We have understood heretofore that
this price would be for canes cut by tho
farmer and dumped on the ground at the
factory.
It will be noticed that the famous Usine
st. Madeleine comes out conspiciously as
the largest sugar producer, with 13.30S tons
Mr.. Bert de Lamarre's Tacarigua factory,
where they are successfully making bagass
paper, gives a record Of 2,4O9 long tous OF
sugar. Palmiste, belonging to Mr.. Norman
Lamont, is entered blank all along the line.
but as the name is not yet dropped from the
list OF sugar factories, we may be led to hope
that there will be a resumption there one OF
these days, if not in sugar manufacture, at
least in cane culture with the sale Of the
cane to tho other factories. - LoUisi0n0
- nnfse A1I07Isk