The Hawaiian gazette., 1918-01-11
PHILIPPINE CROP
WILDE big,
BREAKiNGiR ECORDS
Early Estimates Place Output At
3 Four Hundred thousand Tons
and improvements Go Ahead
Despite Handbags

Despite Handicaps
MANILA, Philippine Islands, Nov.
ember 3-The cane crop of this year in
! the Philippines has made most ex-
eellent growth notwithstanding the fact
that il received a slight excess of rain
during the early part, Of the season in
several of the sugar districts. 1t Ia
somewhat early TO predict with any
degree of accuracy the yield for this
season, since late typhoons and ravages
by loeusts often cause q decided differ
ence even so near the harvest period.
should favorable conditions prevail the
sugar production may be expected to
amount to between 10000 and 400,-
600 ordinary tons, which Is slightly
above normal. st..E ...s. .
Cane In Good Condition VI. n. =
During the months Of July, August
and September, the heart Of the rainy
season, there were very few severe
storms in the sugar districts, and con-
sequently the cane stands much more
nearly erect than Is usual at this sea.
son. There was a normal amount Of
rain in July and the fore part Of Au-
gust, but since that time until October
an unusually dry spell prevailed. In
normal years the ground is usually 80
wet that il is impossible to do any
! blowing. This year, as contrast,
| the work OF blowing has been conduct
ed almost constantly on the various
plantations and mnch land has already
been prepared for planting. s.5
One thing of interest, in, connection
with the cane crop Is the fact that the
ration cane is better than usual. This
may be attributed partly to the fact
that through the efforts Of the Bureau
| of Agriculture demonstration stations,
attention was given to the ratoon
crop from the time the previous crop
was harvested until the cane was laid
by. The system Of leaving the trash
over the ground in the form of n.
heavy mulch instead Of burning il Of
as usual has caused an increased
\ growth during the dry season. j.
Little Sugar Movement 49,. -
The sugar market has been dull for
some time, due largely to the lack of
Sufficient ocean transportation TO
America. While there 10 still q great
deal Of sugar in the various ware.
houses, there have been few buyers
willing to offer more than q nominal!
price, since there Is but limited mum
Der of vessels making this trip and the,
freight rates are subject to great flue
| tuations. F.a.1 . ~ - . ..,-5sr5 H..
The, supply Of low grades of sugar
used locally is nearly exhausted. These
sugars have brought very low price
rs compared with the market price of
good sugars. II ~ %E
During the last quarter there have
been exported 73,140 tons of crude
sugar, while so tons of refined sugar
have been imported during the same
period. ~ .'r ''. &FE
There is at present large supply of
alcohol on hand and very few ship
ments of any but the highest grades
have been made for export. Due TO
the high freight rates prevailing, IL
has been found impracticable to ship
| this product at profit for any great
distance and its use locally as . sub.
| stitnte. for gasoline has but recently
come into effect.
| A great deal Of difficulty has been
experienced in securing the necessary
sugar bags for the coming crop. Al
| though there are various vegetable
fbers produced in abundance here, none
of this material is manufactured into
bags.
] Because of the extensive crop be-
I fore the large Calamba sugar factory,
| it has been found necessary to in.
crease the boiling house equipment by
the addition Of another quadruple
effect of the same diameter as the
original. This factory is now capable
of handling approximately 1000 tons of
cane per day, though the average grind
win no doubt be slightly lower. The
crop this year shows every indication
of being even larger than that of last
year. The previous crop surpassed all
expectations, with a total output of
/ over 10000 tons of sugar. 4.
/ Several muscovado factorieA have
lately been converted into centrifugal
factories by the addition Of vacuum
eyaporators, erystallizers, and centrif-
ugals, These have invariably given
better results than the open.kettle fac
tories, as the centrifugal sugarwhich
they manufacture meets with q ready
market and commands a good price.
One of the latest factories to be thus
reconstructed Is located in the province
of Pampanga, near Dinalupihan, and Is
the second factory Of its type in that
| province, - wv.
Proposed Government Centrals
| The project Of building government
sugar centrals has been temporarily
abandoned due TO the extremely abnoT-
NAL conditions prevailing at present. A
plan was devised for successfully fnan.
cling this work, but it was found to be
extremely difficult, not TO say impos-
sible, to purchase and transport the
heavy machinery when there are scarce.
ly enough steamers to bring necessary
| commodities TO the islands. There Is
no loss Of interest on the part Of the
government or Of the sugar planters,
and as soon as normal conditions again
prevail this project will be pushed with
renewed activity. In addition to the
government projects there are projects
for numerous Factories 10 be built by
various private corporations. The sn.
gar section Of the bureau of agricnl.
ture has rendered valuable assistance
to these promoters by carrying on spe-