The Donaldsonville chief., 1914-01-17
(EC0NOMY IN SUGAR PTA
J DUcTION.
Saving Must be Effected in Cost of
Growing Cane and Manufacturing
Sugar if Industry is to Survive
Views of Successful Planter.


The following paper by Hon.
Leonce NJ. Soniat, of Iberville parish,
was read before the monthly meet
ing of the Louisiana Sugar Planters
Association at the Audubon Park Ex-
pertinent Station On Thursday Of last
week:
'''I am asked to write on the econ
omies to be practised in the raising
of cane and manufacturing Of sugar;
but I feel like the preacher who told
his congregation; DO as I say, but
not as I do
There are many points on which
the sugar planter cannot economic.
We cannot cut the price Of field Ia
bor especially considering the nigh
cost of living. Every item which
we use has increased in price: mules,
feed, fertilizer, eooperage, sacks,
fuel, oils, etc, and taxes have in
creased greatly. Only by a radical
change in our methods can we re-
duce the cost of producing cane, OF
manufacturing sugar, of selling our
products, and above all of increasing
our returns.
LAS to cultivation, would suggest
gasoline or kerosene driven ploWs
and cultivators and cane, cutting
machines; planting our best lands in
cane and the others in cow peas and
other feed products; put peas two
years in land and thus increase the
humus, and cut down or eliminate
the fertilizer bill. In this connection
it might be well to substitute to some
extent soy beans for cow peas, es-
pecially when peas are soWed among
cane. Soy beans are less liable to
damage by rain and will produce
their own seed, which peas rarely do
in lower Louisiana. II put with corn
they might when ripe be moved and
threshed, the seed gathered, and
corn stalks and bean stems be used
for roughage. Divide the fields in
to halves instead Of thirds as now, and
with improved cultivation full sup
ply of feed could be raised and the
land rested from cane two years in
stead of one, and very probably the
yield would be increased and thus
one-half of field in cane would bring
nearly as much cane as two-thirds
does now, at reduced cost of cul-
tivation. Raising more feeds we
could raise hogs and cattle, using
cane tops as vSAlable adjunct to
other feeds. A
Harvesting of 1e will, it is
hoped, be done @ortly by cane
cutting machines, which could proba.
bly, be made to lsasAthe cane in one
wagon and the in another to
be cut into silag ilos would pre-
serve for mules, and cattle a
good supply of feed which otherwise
goes to waste.
EFF corn was produced in sufficient
quantity we might return to the
methods of our fathers; grind our
corn into grits, meal and bran, and
cut off the big expense of buying
them from the west, and thus we
would save the freight to mill, the
cooperage, freight from the mill, the
profit of the mill and the middleman
through whose hands they pass
Corn in shucks shoul be crushed for
the stock and final molasses added
to it. Dr. Stubbs assured us that
pound for pound, molasses is equal
| to corn. Corn bought costs Ia to l @
cents per pound, and blackstrap only
brings us " cent
"As to the manufacture, the SIM
plest way to economic would ap-
| parently be to concentrate the work
| in as few factories as possible, bring
| ing cane of the neighborhood to su-
garhouse by narrow gauge planta-
ton railroads, or by wagons, saving
the freight over public railroad. The
use of the wagons might be greatly
extended by building gravel roads
and using traction engines that
could pull a train Of wagons, which
would be brought out to main roads
/ by mules, and here / can say that
/ in Iberville parish we build gravel
roads at a cost of not over $1,000
per mile; maintenance being almost
nothing. This is the more important
as the price of ties will soon be pro-
hibitive for plantation tramWays.
tIn order to secure cane for the
| factories, living prices must be paid
to cane growers, and that can only be
| done by getting the best possible
returns from the cane, and in this
connection I will say that believe the
only just and proper way to buy
cane is on the sucrose test, taking
a basis of say II sucrose and de-
Quoting for each degree below, and
adding for each degree above.
''As to manufacture, We must all
realize that the Louisiana sugar in.
dustry will unquestionably perish un
der free trade in sugar, unless the
above named economies in cultiva
ton are practiced and full advantage
is taken of the great value Of the
by-product from Louisiana sugar cane
(molasses).
/ Maximum, instead Of minimum
valus Is for the products of sugar
/ hou as must be realized.
/ Il Good grades of sugar must bt
mae and sold direct to consumers
tn G taking advantage of the 3-4 Il
/ / dent per pound incidental protectiGl
@sAnffed by the self-interest o
of imported sugar (thei IS
refined over raw.
Molasses and syrups on
Ys Tty must be made and sold
consumers in bulk and in
larger amount Of high gradeVss
duct, thus increasing the total S
z@ lived per. ton Of cane.
sBlackstrap must be ma