The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom by P. L. Simmonds

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+----------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
|BEET ROOT SUGAR.| 1849. | 1850. | 1851. | 1852. |
+----------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| | Tons. | Tons. | Tons. |Estmd. Tons.|
| France | 38,000 | 61,000 | 75,000 | 60,000 |
| Belgium | 5,000 | 6,000 | 8,000 | 9,000 |
| Zollverein | 33,000 | 38,000 | 49,000 | 50,000 |
| Russia | 13,000 | 14,000 | 15,000 | 16,000 |
| Austria | 6,500 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 18,000 |
+----------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| | 95,500 | 129,000 | 162,000 | 153,000 |
| Cane Sugar | 919,182 | 952,200 | 977,547 | 1,044,542 |
+----------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Total | 1,014,682 | 1,081,200 | 1,139,547 | 1,197,542 |
+----------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+

The price of sugar has, however, fallen considerably, and like many
other things--corn, and cotton, and tea--has been lower for a long
period than ever was known before.

Average price per London Gazette.
Year ending July 5, British West India. Mauritius.
1842 37s. 0d. -----
1843 34s. 7d. 33s. 10d.
1844 34s. 9d. 34s. 7d.
1845 31s. 3d. 30s. 3d.
1846 35s. 3d. 34s. 2d.
1847 32s. 11d. 32s. 1d.
1848 24s. 3d. 23s. 3d.
1849 24s. 4d. 24s. 0d.
1850 25s. 3d. 28s. 8d.
1851 27s. 3d. 26s. 9d.
Half-year ending Jan. 5,
1852 27s. 3d. 26s. 9d.

Thus, it is equally clear that the fall in the price has been very
considerable since 1845, and that in 1849 and 1850 the price of sugar
was about 10s. per cwt., or nearly one-third less than in 1838. The
planters complain of the fall of price; and the only question in
dispute is whether the fall has been occasioned by the reduction of
the duties. Now the reduction of duties subsequent to 1846 and to
1851, was, on brown Muscovado sugar, from 13s. to 10s., or 3s.; and on
foreign, from 21s. 7d. to 16s. 4d., or 5s. 3d. At the same time there
was a very large increase of consumption, and the price, as of almost
all articles, would not have been reduced to the full extent of the
reduction of the duties, and certainly not reduced in a much greater
degree, had there not been other causes at work to reduce the price.
Between 1846 and 1851 freight from the Mauritius fell from L4 1s. 8d.
to L2 13s. 9d., or 35 per cent.; and that reduction of price was not
made from the planter. In the interval, too, great improvements were
made in the manufacture of sugar; and in proportion as the article was
produced cheaper, it could be sold cheaper, without any loss to him.

I shall now take a separate review of the capabilities and progress of
the leading sugar producing countries.

_Production in the United States_.--Sugar cultivation, in the United
States, is a subject of increasing interest. The demand is rapidly
advancing. Its production in the State of Louisiana, to which it is
there principally confined, is a source of much wealth. In 1840, the
number of slaves employed in sugar culture was 148,890, and the
product, 119,947 hhds. of 1,000 lbs. each; besides 600,000 gallons of
molasses. Last year, the crop exceeded 240,000 hhds., worth 12,000,000
of dollars. The capital now employed, is 75,000,000 of dollars. The
protection afforded by the American tariff, has greatly increased the
production of sugar in the United States. From 1816 to 1850, this
increase was from 15,000 hhds. to 250,000 hhds.

In 1843, the State of Louisiana had 700 plantations, 525 in
operation, producing about 90,000 hhds. In 1844, the number of
hogsheads was 191,324, and of pounds, 204,913,000; but this was
exclusive of the molasses, rated at 9,000,000 gallons. In 1845 there
were in Louisiana 2,077 sugar plantations, in 25 parishes; 1,240 sugar
houses, 630 steam power, 610 working horse power; and the yield of
sugar was 186,650 hhds., or 207,337,000 lbs.

The introduction of the sugar cane into Florida, Texas, California,
and Louisiana, probably dates back to their earliest settlement by the
Spaniards or French. It was not cultivated in the latter, however, as
a staple product before the year 1751, when it was introduced, with
several negroes, by the Jesuits, from St. Domingo. They commenced a
small plantation on the banks of the Mississippi, just above the old
city of New Orleans. The year following, others, cultivated the plant
and made some rude attempts at the manufacture of sugar. In 1758, M.
Dubreuil established a sugar estate on a large scale, and erected the
first sugar mill in Louisiana, in what is now the lower part of New
Orleans. His success was followed by other plantations, and in the
year 1765 there was sugar enough manufactured for home consumption;
and in 1770, sugar had become one of the staple products of the
colony. Soon after the revolution a large number of enterprising
adventurers emigrated from the United States to Lower Louisiana,
where, among other objects of industry, they engaged in the
cultivation of cane, and by the year 1803 there were no less than
eighty-one sugar estates on the Delta alone. Since that period, while
the production of cane sugar has been annually increasing at the
south, the manufacture of maple sugar has been extending in the north
and west.

Hitherto, the amount of sugar and molasses consumed in the United
States has exceeded the quantities produced--consequently there has
been no direct occasion for their exportation. In the year 1815 it was
estimated that the sugar made on the banks of the Mississippi amounted
to 10,000,000 lbs.

According to the census of 1840, the amount of cane and maple sugar
produced in the United States was 155,100,089 lbs., of which
119,947,720 lbs. were raised in Louisiana. By the census of 1850, the
cane sugar made in the United States was 247,581,000 lbs., besides
12,700,606 gallons of molasses; maple sugar, 34,249,886 lbs., showing
an increase, in ten years, of 126,730,077 lbs.

The culture and manufacture of sugar from the cane, with the exception
of a small quantity produced in Texas, centres in the State of
Louisiana--where the cane is now cultivated and worked into sugar in
twenty-four parishes. The extent of sugar lands available in those
parishes is sufficient to supply the whole consumption of the United
States. Sugar cultivation was carried on in Louisiana to a small
extent before its cession to the United States. In 1818 the crop had
reached 25,000 hogsheads. In 1834-35 it was 110,000 hogsheads, and in
1844-45 204,913 hogsheads. Each hogshead averaging 1,000 lbs. net,
and yielding from 45 to 50 gallons of molasses.

The number of sugar estates in operation in 1830, was 600. The manual
power employed on these plantations, was 36,091 slaves, 282
steam-engines, and 406 horse power. The capital invested being
estimated at 50 million dollars. In 1844 the estates had increased to
762, employing 50,670 slaves, 468 steam-engines, 354 horse power.

The sugar-cane is now cultivated on both branches of the Mississippi
from 57 miles below New Orleans to nearly 190 miles above. The whole
number of sugar houses in the State is 1,536, of which 865 employ
steam, and the rest horse power.

The crop of 1849-50 was 247,923 hhds. of 1,000 lbs., which, at an
average of 31/2 cents., amounted to nearly 91/2 million dollars. The
quantity of molasses produced was more than 12 million gallons, worth,
at 20 cents the gallon, about 2,400,000 dollars, giving a total value
of close upon 12 million dollars, or an average to each of the 1,455
working sugar houses of 8,148 dollars.

The overflow of the Mississippi and Red Rivers in 1850, shortened the
crop near 20,000 hhds., and was felt in subsequent years. Since 1846,
not less than 355 sugar mills and engines have been erected in this
State. The sugar crop of 1851-52 was 236,547 hhds., produced by 1,474
sugar houses, 914 of which were worked by steam, and the rest by
horse-power. Texas raises about 8,000 to 10,000 hhds. of sugar, and
Florida and Georgia smaller quantities.

In the year ending December, 1851, there were taken for consumption in
the United States about 132,832 tons of cane sugar, of which 120,599
were foreign imported. The quantity consumed in 1850 was 104,071 tons,
of which 65,089 was foreign.

_Production in Cuba_.--The average yearly production of sugar in Cuba
has been, in the five years from 1846 to 1850, 18,690,560 arrobas,
equal to 467,261,500 lbs., or 292,031 hhds. of 1,600 lbs. weight. The
crop of 1851 was estimated at twenty-one and a-half million arrobas,
equal to about 335,937 West India hhds. Thus, the increase from 1836
to 1841, has been as 29 per cent.; from 1841 to 1846, as 25 per cent.;
and from 1846 to 1851, as 45 per cent. A portion of sugar is also
smuggled out, to evade the export duty, and by some this is set down
as high as a fourth of the foregoing amounts.

In the three years ending 1841, the exports of the whole island were
2,227,624 boxes; in the three years ending 1844, 2,716,319 boxes; in
the three years ending with 1847, 2,805,530 boxes.

Between 1839 and 1847, the exports had risen from 500,000 to 1,000,000
boxes. The following table exhibits the quantity shipped from the
leading port of Havana, to different countries:--

Countries. Sugar boxes of about 400 lbs. each.
1850. 1851.
Spain 81,267 101,762
United States 146,672 199,204
England 25,697 46,615
Cowes and a market 221,385 270,010
The Baltic 45,085 81,866
Hamburgh and Bremen 29,271 33,165
Holland 23,242 26,828
Belgium 62,849 29,814
France 44,947 46,517
Trieste and Venice 38,627 14,832
Italy 2,856 5,243
Other places 13,888 16,601
------- -------
Boxes 743,249 872,457

Our West India possessions have, owing to the want of a good supply of
labor and available capital to introduce various scientific
improvements, somewhat retrograded in the production of sugar; which,
from the low price ruling the past year or two, has not been found a
remunerative staple.

The two large islands of Jamaica and Cuba, may be fairly compared as
to their production of sugar. From 1804 to 1808, Jamaica exported, on
the average, annually 135,331 hhds., and from 1844 to 1848, it had
decreased to 41,872 hhds. The exports from the single port of Havana,
which in the first named period were 165,690 boxes, rose during the
latter period to 635,185 boxes; so that the shipments of sugar from
Jamaica, which were in 1804 to 1808 double those of Havana--in the
period from 1844 to 1848, were five times less!

Cuba will be able to withstand the crisis of the low price of sugars,
better than the emancipated British Colonies, for the following
reasons:--

1. It will find, in its present prosperity, a power of resistance that
no longer exists in the British sugar-growing colonies.

2. Because it enjoys in the Spanish markets a protection for at least
16,955 tons of its sugar, or about eight-tenths of its total
exportation.

3. Because it has secured a very strong position in the markets of the
United States; and both from its proximity to, and its commercial
relations with that country, as also from the better quality of its
sugar, will command the sale of at least 33,500 tons, or about 16 per
cent. of its total production.

4. Because in 1854, after the duties shall have been equalized, it
will be enabled to undersell the British article in its own market.

5. Because, not being an exclusively sugar-growing colony, as are
almost all British West India Islands, it may suffer from the present
depressed condition of the sugar market, but cannot be entirely
ruined, owing to its having commanding resources, and many other
valuable staples,--coffee, copper, cotton, &c.

6. Because, by improving its agriculture and introducing useful
machinery, railroads, &c., for which it has large available capital,
it can produce sugar at a diminished cost.

7. And lastly, because the proprietors have _continuous_ labour at
command, until slavery be abolished--of which there seems no present
prospect. The slave population numbers about 350,000, and the free
coloured population, about 90,000.

The consumption of sugar, during 1847, very singularly tallied with
the production of the British Colonies that year--being exactly
289,000 tons; but as 50,000 tons of foreign sugar were consumed, an
accumulation of British plantation sugar necessarily remained on hand.

The production of the French colonies was 100,000 tons, of which
France received nine-tenths.

In 1836, Jamaica made 1,136,554 cwt. of sugar. In 1840, its produce
had fallen off to 545,600 cwt.; but in the same years, Porto Rico had
increased its sugar crop, from 498,000 cwt., to 1,000,000 cwt. In
1837, Cuba made 9,060,058 arrobas of sugar, equal to 132,765 hhds.; in
1841, it had increased to 139,000 hhds. The largest crop grown in the
West Indies, since 1838, was that of 1847, which amounted to 159,600
tons.

The annexed returns of the sugar crops of Barbados and Jamaica, for a
series of years may, be interesting:--

SUGAR CROPS OF THE ISLAND OF BARBADOS, FROM 1827 TO 1846 AND 1851.

1827 18,109 hhds.
1828 28,533 "
1829 23,486 "
1830 26,360 "
1831 28,174 "
1832 19,761 "
1833 28,099 "
1834 28,710 "
1835 25,371 "
1836 26,358 "
1837 31,670 "
1838 33,058 "
1839 28,213 "
1840 13,589 "
1841 17,801 "
1842 21,607 "
1843 24,587 "
1844 23,147 "
1845 24,767 "
1846 21,936 "
1851 48,000 "

SUGAR CROPS OF THE ISLAND OF JAMAICA, FROM 1790 TO 1851.

1790 91,131 "
1791 91,020 "
1792 ... "
1793 82,136 "
1794 97,124 "
1795 95,372 "
1796 96,460 "
1797 85,109 "
1798 95,858 "
1799 110,646 "
1800 105,584 "
1801 139,036 "
1802 140,113 "
1803 115,496 "
1804 112,163 "
1805 150,352 "
1806 146,601 "
1807 135,203 "
1808 132,333 "
1809 114,630 "
1810 112,208 "
1811 138,292 "
1812 113,173 "
1813 109,158 "
1814 104,558 "
1815 127,209 "
1816 100,382 "
1817 123,766 "
1818 121,758 "
1819 116,382 "
1820 122,922 "
1821 119,560 "
1822 94,515 "
1823 101,271 "
1824 106,009 "
1825 72,090 "
1826 106,712 "
1827 87,399 "
1828 101,575 "
1829 97,893 "
1830 100,205 "
1831 94,381 "
1832 98,686 "
1833 85,161 "
1834 84,756 "
1835 77,970 "
1836 67,094 "
1837 61,505 "
1838 69,613 "
1839 49,243 "
1840 33,066 "
1841 34,491 "
1842 50,295 "
1843 44,169 "
1844 34,444 "
1845 47,926 "
1851 41,678 "

The average of the five years ending 1851, being the first five of
Free trade, shows an annual export from Jamaica of 41,678 hhds.

The quantity of unrefined sugar imported from the British West Indies
and Guiana in a series of years since the emancipation, is shown by
the following abstract:--

Cwts. Cwts.
Sugar. Molasses.
1831 4,103,800 323,306
1832 3,773,456 553,663
1833 3,646,205 686,794
1834 3,843,976 650,366
1835 3,524,209 507,495
1836 3,601,791 526,535
1837 3,306,775 575,657
1838 3,520,676 638,007
1839 2,824,372 474,307
1840 2,214,764 424,141
1841 2,148,218 430,221
1842 2,508,725 471,759
1843 2,509,701 605,632
1844 2,451,063 579,458
1845 2,853,995 491,083
1846 2,147,347 477,623
1847 3,199,814 531,171
1848 2,794,987 385,484
1849 2,839,888 605,487
1850 2,586,429 470,187

_Mauritius_.--In the year 1813 the exports of sugar from this island
were but 549,465 lbs., and increasing gradually to 128,476,547 lbs. in
1849, or two-hundred fold in thirty-six years.

The equalisation of the duties in 1825, and the admission of Mauritius
sugars into England on the same footing as those from the West Indies,
had the effect of stimulating the sugar trade of Mauritius, and
advancing it to its present remarkable success. Notwithstanding its
immense crops, scarcely more than three-fifths of the island is yet
under cultivation; but it has the advantage of a cheap and abundant
supply of labor, and much improved machinery has been introduced. The
planters first commenced introducing Coolies in 1835, and were for
some time restricted to the single port of Calcutta for their supply.

The recent advices from Mauritius furnish some interesting information
regarding the progress making in the sugar production of that colony.
In reference to the cultivation of the cane, it is stated that by the
introduction of guano upon several estates in the interior, the
production has been very largely increased; but as the value and
economy of manure has not been hitherto sufficiently estimated, its
introduction has not been so general as could be desired. The
importance of free labor to the cultivation of the estates, has now
become fully appreciated by the planters; it being found that an equal
amount of work can be obtained by this means from a less number of
hands, and that at lower rates of wages than were current in previous
years, the average of which is shown in the following table:--

+--------+-----------------+------------------+--------------+
| | Number of | Aggregate | Average |
| Years. | Coolies | amount of wages |wages per head|
| | employed. | paid per week. | per week. |
+--------+-----------------+------------------+--------------+
| | | L | s. d. |
| 1846 | 47,733 | 33,484 | 14 0 |
| 1847 | 48,314 | 35,338 | 14 9 |
| 1848 | 41,777 | 26,627 | 12 9 |
| 1849 | 45,384 | 27,625 | 12 2 |
| 1850 | 47,912 | 31,664 | 12 3 |
| 1851 | 42,275 | 27,832 | 12 2 |
+--------+-----------------+------------------+--------------+

In 1826, to make from 25 to 30,000,000 lbs. of sugar, it required
30,000 laborers (slaves); at the present time, with less than 45,000
(from which number fully 5,000 must be deducted as absent from work
from various causes), 135,000,000 lbs. are produced, or about five
times the quantity under slavery. The coolies are found to be an
intelligent race, who have become inured to the work required, and by
whose labor this small island can produce the fifth part of the
consumption of the United Kingdom, and that with only about 70,000
acres under cane cultivation. About 10,000 male immigrants, introduced
since 1843, are not now working under engagement, but are following
other occupations, and thus become permanent consumers. Some cultivate
land on a small scale, on their own account, but very few plant canes,
as it requires from eighteen to twenty months before they obtain any
return for their labor; but the most important fact established by
this and other official statements is, that only a small number of
immigrants leave the colony at the expiration of their industrial
residence. In the manufacture of sugar from the cane, considerable
improvement has been effected by the introduction of new methods of
boiling and grinding. The vacuum pan and the system of Wetsell are all
tending to economise the cost of production, and to save that loss
which for years amounted, in grinding alone, to nearly one-third of
the juice of the cane. The planters begin to find that they can
increase the value of their sugar 30 to 40 per cent. by these
improvements, and that their future prosperity depends upon carrying
them out. Unfortunately, however, here, as in many other of our
colonies, a very large number of planters do not yet appreciate the
advantages to be obtained by the adoption of improved machinery and
manufacture, or by improved cultivation, and still struggle on under
the old system of waste and negligence, which can only result in the
ruin and destruction of their property.

In 1827, the number of sugar estates in operation in Mauritius, were
49 worked by water power, 50 by cattle or horses, and 22 by
steam--total 111; in 1836, this number had increased to 186, viz.--64
moved by water power, 10 by horse, and 112 by steam. In 1839, the
number was 211, of which 138 were worked by steam power--70,292 acres
were then under cultivation with sugar. There are now about 490 sugar
estates, whereof only 231 have mills--42 are worked by water power,
the rest by steam.

The annual Mauritius crops, as exported, for the last ten years, have
been as follows. The shipments frequently extend beyond a year, hence
a discrepancy sometimes between the year's crop and the year's
export:--

Tons,
1842-43 24,400
1843-44 28,600
1844-45 37,600
1845-46 49,100
1846-47 64,100
1847-48 59,021
1848-49 50,782
1849-50 51,811
1850-51 55,000
1851-52 65,080

Besides its exports to Great Britain, Mauritius ships large
quantities of sugar to the Cape of Good Hope and Australia.

Its local consumption is moreover set down at about 2,500 tons.

The progressive increase in its exports is marked by the following
return of imports into Great Britain from the island:--

Cwt.
1826 93,723
1827 186,782
1828 204,344
1829 361,325
1830 297,958
1831 485,710
1832 517,553
1833 521,904
1834 516,077
1835 553,891
1836 558,237
1837 497,302
1838 537,455
1839 604,671
1840 690,294
1841 545,356
1842 716,009
1843 696,652
1844 545,415
1845 716,173
1846 845,197
1847 1,193,571
1848 886,184
1849 893,524
1850 1,003,296
1851 999,337

_East Indies_.--Sugar is a very old and extensive cultivation in
India. It would probably be within the mark, to estimate the annual
produce of the country at a million of tons. An official return shows
that the quantity of sugar carried on one road of the interior, for
provincial consumption, is about equal to the whole quantity shipped
from Calcutta--some 50,000 or 60,000 tons.

India is fast becoming a great sugar producing country, although its
produce and processes of manufacture are rude and imperfect. The
Coolies who return from time to time to the Indian ports, bring with
them much acquired knowledge and experience from the Mauritius.

In 1825, the import of sugar from the East Indies was but 146,000
cwt., and it fluctuated greatly in succeeding years, being
occasionally as low as 76,600 cwt. In 1837 the quantity imported was
just double what it was in 1827. In 1841, it had reached as high as
1,239,738 cwt., and subsequently kept steady for a few years at
1,100,000 cwt.--and for the last four years has averaged 1,400,000
cwt.

_Java_.--Attention has been withdrawn, in a great measure, from sugar
cultivation in Java, owing to coffee being found a more remunerative
staple. The following figures serve to show the extent of its exports
of sugar:--

Cwt.
1826 23,565
1827 38,357
1828 31,301
1829 91,227
1830 129,300
1831 144,077
1832 292,705
1833 151,128
1834 443,911
1835 523,162
1836 607,336
1837 820,063
1838 873,056
1839 999,895
1840 1,231,135
1841 1,252,041
1842 1,105,856
1843 1,162,211
1844 1,260,790
1845 1,812,500
1848 1,798,612
1850 1,797,874
1851 1,987,957
1852 2,090,845