The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1921-10-06
In a Cuban Sugar Mil.

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety. Warrington 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 1t has many other potential,
IL undevelOped, resources, 1t Is hardly
overemphasizing the importance Of
sugar production to say that Cuba is
a one-crOp country. When European
and Eastern sugar was unobtainable
prices scared skyward and Cuba not
only cashed 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 power,
sugar prices have fallen to low levels
and Cuba Is finding her war-increased
crop a drug on the market. Financial
gloom has followed upon the heels Of
a most hectic prosperity, "as the night,
the day"
Sugar-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 q given num-
Der Of acres of land to plant and give
them an agreed share Of the sugar
they produce.
They Made Money Rapidly.
The next class Is composed Of the
land-owning farmers, who grow their
own cane and have ii ground or
shares, after the fashion of the rural
grist mill. The remainder Of the cane
Is grown by the owners of the mills
themselves. At some centrals the
administration" cane, as that grown
under central" management is known,
amounts to only per cent Of the
total; at others II amounts to 80 per
cent.
Even the share farmer, at pre-war
scuba Before the World" the official
handbook OF the republic at the Pan
ama-Pacifc 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,
a return of from $40 to S51 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
than the modest twelve bags that
formed the basis Of the calculations
cited from scuba Before the World"
According to figures furnished by the
Cuban department Of agriculture, much
land produces % bags to the acre.
This, at Is cents pound, brings a
gross rstun 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 $3,OOO,OOO, sold In jan
uary 1920 for s9,5O0,OOO. Another
which was valued at about $6,OO0,OOO
a few years before. changed hands at
$15,OOO,OOO
Numerous new "centrals" were built,
all capitalized on the basis of earn
ings during the early months Of 1920.
Thousands of American capitalists In
vested In these hourishing enterprises.
How Cubas receipts from sugar ex-
banded is shown by the fact that the
1915 crop brought total return OF
less than $500, 200, while two-thirds
OF the 1920 crop (one-third remains
unsold) brought O0,O0O,000.
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 7 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 from