The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-03-11
OPPORTUNITY
AS SUGAR BELT
FLoRIDRs STATE CHEMIST SAYS
OUR SOIL is BEST SUITED FoR
cANE-cRoP is EASILY MADE
EXPERT AYERS THAT CAREFUL
WORK AND MODEM METHODS
WOULD RoUT BEET GROWING
FROM THE INDUSTRY.

The production of sugar cane as a
money crop, is attracting the attention
of many. to whom the following ar
/ ticle, written for the Chicago Exami
ner, viii prove interesting:
| Florida is not generally considered
as a sugar growing state, but in the
! opinion of Prof. r. E. Rose, state
chemist there are few places that offer
greater advantages for this purpose.
When progressive up to date methods
are adopted throughout the sugar belt,
Prof. Rose believes the best sugar in
dustry will be forced into the back
ground. In a discussion of present
conditions in Florida he said:
The culture of sugar cane and the
manufacture of raw sugar, or sirup,
in Florida dates from the earlier set
Element. The plant was introduced by
the Jesuit fathers and was cultivated
largely on the East Coast, near st.
Augustine and New Smyrna, by the
earliest Spanish settlers. the cane hav-
| ing been introduced from the West
Indies, where it was cultivated on II
commercial scale as early as 1913.
1.-THE remains of sugar factories and
mense scale are still found at New
Smyrna in the Turnbull hammock. a
drainage system that was established
by the sugar and indigo planters more
than two hundred years ago is still in
use. There is no good reason for doubt
| ing that Florida was the first part of
the United States where sugar was
cultivated and manufactured on large
scale.
'I regret to say that the same prlm
tive methods used in those ancient
days still prevail and that a modern
economical sugar factory does not ex-
! list in the state today. To this fact,
and the lack of modern apparatus I
attribute the present condition of the
industry. No effort has been made to
improve the wasteful two-roller horse
mill, with wooden frame, and the old
! Jamaica kettle set in q clay furnace,
the mill extracting not to exceed 80
per cent of the juice. and sometimes
less, while the kettle, juice trough and
skim barrel account for a loss of 20
per cent more of the small amount Sc
cured by the mill. I am convinced by
a study of a number of strip plants in
the state that, on an average, not more
| than 40 per cent of the sugar contents
of the cane is secured, and that so
per cent is wasted after producing the
cane and hauling it to the mill. The
methods generally pursued in Florida
are as primitive today as those in
Mexico and South America. There are
a few up 20 date strip plants, but they
are not numerous.
| I'm no other agricultural and manu-
featuring enterprise has the farmer
and manufacturer failed to take adj
vantages of Improvements in methods
and machinery. / can attribute this
only TO the generally accepted belief
that cane growing and strip making,
| even under the present crude and
wasteful method, is considered q most
profitable business, I have talked with
hundreds of farmers in all parts OF
the state, from Pensacola to Key West,
and have yet to meet one who was not
| positive in saying that he derived more
cash, with less labor per acre, from
his cane patch than from any other
crop.
THE only reason why 1T is possible
to make best sugar Prof1tably is that
none but the most modern apparatus
is used. making 1t possible to extra ct
all of the sugar from the beet at the
least possible cost. 1t is well known
that the beet is inferior to tropical
cane in average sugar content and
also that it contains a larger percent
age of impurities.
'"The American people are the great
est consumers of sugar in the world.
Sugar is the only agricultural products
that the United States imports. OF
all other crops that can be grown
within our borders we expect enor-
nous quantities.
I'VE believe Florida's climate to be
superior to that of any other state for
sugar growing. Our rainy season is
during the growing months, when most
needed. A wet fall or. winter is an ex-
| ception. A dry fall and winter insure
the ripeness of the cane and a quicl.
harvest, while a wet fall and winter
retard the ripening and entail heavy
expense for harvest. A killing frost
seldom occurs in Florida before Janu-
airy, while in South Florida killing
frosts are of rare occurrence. In tropI-
| cal Florida, south of the twenty
seventh parallel, there has never been
a frost that would kill orange or sugar
cane.
Much interest is being shown in
beet culture and in the manufa cture
OF sugar in the west. Were 1t general
ly known that larger amounts of sugar
can be made in Florida at a mucli
| smaller cost per acre, with but little
skill required in caring for the grow
ing cane with far less capital required
for machinery than is the case with
beets. I am confident vast sums would
be invested in the business in this
state. Several big central mills ought
to be established. I advocate the cen
trail mill plan and the purchase of
cane from the farmers as the most
economical and e6ective-
That sugar cane win in the near
future replace the best as the most
economical source OF sugar have no
doubt. I am convinced that only the
apathy of the cane grower, his neglect
of scientific and economical methods,
as contrasted with the economical and
aggressive methods of the beet grow
er who has the help of his government