The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-11-10

prepared by the National Geoerap hic So
cIety. Washington, d. c.
Cuba, which Immediately following
the World war climbed to heights Of
prosperity seldom attained by any
other small country, has passed now
= into the valley Of hard times; and the
reason in both cases was the same
sugar For though The islands annual
tobacco harvest is very valuable and
though it has many other potential.
if undeveloped. resources. it is hardly
OveremphaSiZing the importance Of
sugar production to say that Cuba is
One-crOp country When European
and Eastern sugar was! unobtainable
prices scared skyward hnd Cuba not
only caSned in heavily on her usual
production but feverishly increased
her cane acreage and sugar mills. Now
that sugar from the eastern hemiS-
phere is reaching the world markets
while Europe has little buying p,STer
sugar prices have fallen TO low levels
and Cuba is finding her war-nrreased
crop drug on the market. Financial
gloom has followed upon the heels of
a most hectic prosperity, "as the night
the day.
Swgar-cane is grown by three classes
Of planters in Cuba. Perhaps the
major part of the crop is grown by
share farmers. or "colOnoS,' as they
are called. The owners of the sugar
mills furnish them with a given num-
her Of acres Of land to plant and give
tflem an agreed share Of the sugar
they produce.
~; They Made Money Rapidly.
The next class is composed of the
lhntl-ownng farmers, who grow their
Own cane and have II ground on
shares, after the fashion of the rural
grist mill The remainder of the cane
is grown by the owners of til" mill>
themselves. At some centrals the
"ahminiS; ration" cane. as that grown
under central" management is known,
amounts to only 4 per cent of tho
total; at others 1t amounts to 90 per
cent.
Even the share farmer at pre-war
prices, made money. According to
Scuba Before the World" the official
handbook Of the republic at the Pan
ama-Pacific exposition, when sugar
was selling at 2.62 cents a pound. his
share of the sugar brought him. on
the basis of twelve sacks to the acre,
y a return of from SAG to $ol per acre.
When one remembers that the selling
price Of sugar in 1920 was from four
to six times as high as before the war,
the size Of the per-acre income at the
high tide of prices is apparent.
Boom in Sugar Lands.
A great deal of the cane land pro-
duces much more sugar to the acre
formed the basis of the calculations
cited from Cuba Before the World
According to figures furnished by the
Cuban department Of agriculture, much
land produces % bags to the acre.
This, at Is cents a pound, brings a
gross tpturn of more than $1,000 an
acre.
These conditions brought about an
unprecedented boom In sugar lands.
One sugar estate, which was bought
about 1917 for $3OOO,O0O, sold in Jan
uary 1920 for S9,5OO,OOO. Another
which was valued at about $6,OOO,OOO
4 few years before. changed hands at
S15,OOOOOO.
Numerous new "centrals" were built,
all capitalized on the basis Of earn
fngs during the early months Of 1920.
Thousands Of American capitalists in
vested in these flourishing enterprises.
How Cuia's receipts from sugar ex-
banded is shown by the fact that the
1915 crop brought n total return OF
less than $2OO,O0O,OOO, while two-thirds
of the 1920 crop (one-third remains
unsold) brought S4O0OOO,OOO.
Production Cheaper There.
Cuba has the advantage of every
country in producing sugar cheaply.
Most countries have to plant every
two years and some of them every
season, but the average In Cuba Is
once in from Z to II years.
In most parts Of the island the
harvesting season Is six months long
from December to June; but IN
some sections the harvest lasts frora