Evening journal., 1915-07-26
Growing SUGAR CANE
AN ancient INDUSTRY
Mention of Product in Rec
OrdS Long Antedating
Christian Era

Growing sugar cane is an industry 60
old that Il antedates the Christian era
10y many centuries. according 10 an ar
ticle by Edward Alhcs in the May mum
Der OF the monthly bulletin Of Pam
American Union
Scientists admit they do moi know
Just whore the sugar cane originated"
Mr.. Alhcs writes 'for nowhere has it
been a cultivated product for many cen
turtles, and the first mention TO be found
in written records is in the sacred books
Of the Hindus, 4 have crowned thee
with shooting sugar cane, So that thou
shalt not be averse TO me, was written
many centuries before the Christian era.
IN the train of Alexander the Great
during his Asiatic conquests were some
ohseryant persons who made notes Of
what they saw when not too busy kill.
ing oit the inhabitants. and in these
written documents according to later
writers who fell heir to them, is told
the story of "a reed growing in India
which produces honey without bees
Thus sugar cane WAS evidently well
known in that country before 800 B. c.
First In India.
LAS to the manufactured product of
the cane, the first kind of sugar Of
which mention Is made was a concan-
trated cane juice called CUR in India
Cgud' in SanskriD. and this seems to
have been known as a food from pre-
historic times. That its manufacture
was a well-established industry in
India in the Seventh Century is at
tested by the old Chinese encyclo-
pedia. the Pen-tsao-kang-mu, which
states that the Emperor T'ai-tsung,
who reigned from 627 to $50 A. D..
sent some of his people to Behar to
learn the art of .sugar-making. The
manufacture OF sugar even in the
early centuries OF the Christian era
was not restricted TO the mere ovapo-
ration of the juice of the cane TO dry
ness, for the Arabs and Egyptians
had soon learned how TO purify raw
sugar by recrystallization, and Incl
dentally how TO make a great variety
OF sweetmeats or candy out of the
product"
The author tells of the introduction
OF the cane into Sicily by the Arabs
in 703. whence it was taken to Africa.
to Spain and all along the coast of
the Mediterranean sea. as well as to
the islands and borders of the In
dian ocean The Crusaders found
extensive sugar-cane plantations In
Tripoli, Mesopotamia, Syria, Antioch
and Cyprus. and by the Fourteenth
Century the cane was being cultivated
in every part of the known world
where soil and climate we're pro-
pitious.
South American Product.
II came 10 South America by be-
ing introduced into Brazil by the
Portuguese, who brought IL FROM
Madeira, and thence II spread to near
~ all the other countries of that
continent. Columbus is said to have
brought II to the Island Of Santo
Domingo. whence Il spread 10 Mexico
and Cuba II was introduced into
the other islands of the West Indies
as soon as they came under Euro
pean domination. The first sugar
cane came TO Louisiana by being sent
to the Jesuits from Santo Domingo
in t751. some English authorities Civ
ing the date at 1897.
Although practically all of the coun-
tries Of the Pan-American Union cul-
tivate the cane. Cuba is the greatest
producer of cane sugar not only in
the Western Hemisphere but i'm the
world. The total production of the
Western Hemisphere for the 1914
season amounted TO 4.919.S14 tons. of
which Cuba produced 2.597.732 tons, or
nearly SO per cent. The total cane
sugar production of the world was
9.773.34S tons. and deducting the O.
262.600 tons produced by India and To-
cally consumed II is seen that Cuba
produces nearly IS per cent Of the
cane sugar that is available in the
markets of the world.
The United States Is the greatest
sugar-consuming country of the world.
In 1918 IFS total consumption amount
ed 10 3.743. i39 tons-including cane,
beet and maple This is a per capita
consumption of S5.4 pounds per an
mum. Much of this is consumed in the
form Of candy. over $500, 100000 being
spent for that sweet commodity in the
United States every year. New York
Is the largest candy-consuming center
in the world. and TO supply that city
alone It would take five trains of fifty
cars, each loaded TO the limit with
candy. every week in the year if il had
to be shipped in on railroad.