The present and future prospects of the cane sugar and other agricultural industries inTrinidadAuthor(s): O'Connor, James L.Source: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Collection, (1886)Published by: The University of Manchester, The John Rylands University LibraryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/60232548 .

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1 o c- p D i

vREG 29 NOV

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FOR CIRCULATION BY DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL BOARLS.

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STTGkAJR.

The subjoined interesting and instructive Paper on the present and future prospects of the Cane Sugar and other Agricultural Industries in Trinidad by Mr. James L. O'Connor, Warden of Naparima, is published and circulated for general information.

WILLIAM ROBINSON

21st October, 18S6.

THE PRESENT AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OP THE CANE SUGAR AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES IN TRINIDAD.

The great struggle which for many years past has been going on between the Beet and Cane Sugar Industries, and which has recently not only reduced to an alarming extent the Public Revenue, but now even threatens to sweep away an industry to which the Colony owes the high position it has attained among the British Possessions in this part of the world, is my excuse for submitting this paper to your consideration. But I must in the first place crave the indulgence of the Planting Body if my criticisms should appear to them to be rather severe. No one can doubt the fact that if their position has become so critical it is due neither to a want of intelligence nor energy on their part, but in a great measure to circumstances beyond their control, which however may be so altered as to operate favourably in restoring their prosperity.

2. It is hardly necessary to enter here into the various causes which have brought about the great depression in the Sugar market, but I shall endeavour to show how it should be met, and what chances there are of competing successfully with an adversary which can hardly become more formidable than it is at present, owing to the fact that the great intellects engaged in promoting its success appear to have almost reached the limits of scientific researches bearing on its production, and it is indeed fortunate that such is not the case with the Cane Sugar industry, otherwise there would be no alternative than its entire abandonment.

8. In glancing over the history of the past what do we find?—that although the producers of Beet Sugar have been progressing with gigantic strides towards the attainment of a rapid decrease in the cost of production, we have been moving onwards, it is true, towards the same end, but only at what may not be inaptly termed a snail's pace.

4. The following figures will I think fully bear out my statement and show at the same time the extraordinary results brought about by the introduction in the Beet industry

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of the Diffusion sytem, which it cannot be doubted will produce still greater results when adopted in connection with the manufacture of Cane Sugar :—

Tons Beet Production Per

centage Tons

Sugar per 100 tons

Tons Beet required

Tons Sugar per

acre. Germany. per of Sugar. Usines for Remarks. •

acre. Tons. with Diffusion. Beet. 1 ton.

Sugar.

Crop 1871.. 8-1 186,441 16-7 8-28 12-07 0.67 1872... 10-2 262,551 19-5 8-26 12-11 0-84 1873... 10-9 291,041 23-7 8-25 12-12 0-90 1874... 8-3 256,412 34-0 9-30 10-75 0-77 1875... 11-3 358,048 47-3 8-60 11-62 0-97 187G... 10-1 289,422 60-0 8-15 12-27 0-82 1877... 11-0 378,009 68-0 9-24 10-82 1-02 1878... 11-6 426,155 80-O 9-21 10-86 1-07 1879... 10-1 409,415 88-7 8-52 11-74 0-86 1880... 13-1 555,915 90-3 8-79 11-37 1-15 1881... 11-8 644,775 94-0 9-56 10-46 1-32 1882... 13-8 848,124 94-0 9-55 10-47 1-35 100 ̂ ? cent, more 1883... 11-9 986,402 95-5 10-54 9-49 1-25 Sugar per acre 1884... 13-3 1,154.417 96-0 than in '71 and 1885... 12-1 825,000 97-0 '72. 1886... 900,000 97-5

Aurtria, 1886—Diffusion, 212 Usines—equal to merely 95 o/o, other process, 11. Prance, 1886- About 75 o/o of all Usines work with Diffusion.

5. The difficulties by which the Cane Sugar producer is at present hampered and which threaten him with ruin do not appear to be insurmountable, neither are the measures to be adopted in order to revive the industry on a more solid basis, impracticable, but the difficulty to be apprehended will probably be found iu the hesitation and unreasonable objections that may be raised by the timorous as to the remedial agencies to be adopted.

6. In the first place, the subject of a proper supply of labour is of paramount importance, and the sacrifices to be made to render such labour remunerative must not be overlooked.

7. In by-gone years during a period of great depression caused by the low prices of Sugar and the scarcity of labour the expediency of encouraging by every reasonable means a resident peasantry on the Sugar Estates was attended with very satisfactory results and was seldom overlooked. Many inducements were held out to the labourer to reside on the estate on which his services were required. He was generally provided with suitable house accommodation and sometimes free medical attendance, and some land was allotted to him. to cultivate provisions. He was even allowed when found to be very steady and industrious to rear stock. It can readily be imagined that such privileges were a great inducement to many to establish themselves and their families permanently on the estates and cost the proprietors very little. Time has shown whether the gradual withdrawal of these privileges was a wise measure. They were no doubt discontinued in order to extend cultivation, which it would have been more prudent to restrict, and increase by superior- tillage the return from the land. Some of the labourers became settlers on Crown Lands, while the greater number removed to the neighbouring villages, where inducements to lead an intemperate and idle life led to an increase of pauperism and crime. As the price of food increased by the discontinuance to cultivate ground provisions, and owing jDrobably to the improved state of the Sugar market, the labourers' pretensions to higher wages naturally increased, and the practice of paying higher wages to non-resident labourers became general, but has recently and very properly been discontinued as being most impolitic.

8. Whatever sacrifices it may be deemed necessary to make with the view of encouraging a large resident peasantry on the Sugar Estates, it cannot be doubted that the benefits which would arise from such sacrifices would amply compensate the planter, and there is reason to believe that while some of our Creole labourers might be induced to become- resident labourers, thousands of labourers now in the neighbouring Islands, where the distress among them seems to be increasing daily, would be glad to avail themselves of an offer to settle here if a liberal scheme were devised satisfying the immigrants that their condition would be improved by making Trinidad their home.

9. The introduction also of a system of tenant farmers wherever practicable would help very much towards improving the condition of the labouring classes, while it would prove equally beneficial to the proprietors of Sugar Estates. But in order to insure success such schemes as suggested must be well matured, for it is no easy matter to conciliate interests which, although apparently conflicting, are nevertheless identical; and when it is considered that the welfare of two classes, the employer and the employed, are involved, a policy which will tend to produce mutual concessions and inspire mutual confidence cannot be too strongly advocated.

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10. In considering the question of remunerative labour it is very important not to lose sight of the fact that it cannot be obtained with the prevailing low prices of Sugar in the absenee of cheap food for the people, and it can hardly be doubted that the suggestions just made, if carried out, will tend much towards reducing the price of food.

11. A good supply of labour alone however will not suffice to restore the prosperity of the Sugar Cane planter, although it will help him on considerably. The sharp competition that now prevails necessitates thorough reforms in the modes of culture, while the manufacturing appliances must comprise the latest improvements, and it is to be hoped that the present depression will be viewed with a keen appreciation of what has been done in older countries towards reducing the cost of production.

12. The agricultural resources of the Colony are great, yet comparatively little indeed yk~ is done towards improving them. It is a fact that while the best British soils now bear

four times the crops they bore a few centuries ago, and this is due to improved tillage, our soils have been considerably deteriorated by defective tillage, but not exhausted as supposed by some planters, for referring to this subject Messrs. Wall and Sawkins in their very able report of the geology of Trinidad, page 117. state that " the term exhausted has been " employed as usual in the Colony, but it is highly objectionable, as soils which have been " worked fifty years may be more productive and more remunerative, if properly operated, " than others which are only just brought under cultivation."

13. It is also a fact that manures are imported yearly from different countries at no small expense and applied to our cane fields, while no attention is paid to their preparation on a large scale from local resources, which are allowed to waste; and here again let me quote from the same report the following observation and advice, which will bear out my statement, and it is to be hoped prove interesting to those who may read the paper :—" It " has been customary to attempt to ward off exhaustion by the application of expensive " imported manures. The following suggestions for supplying the essential substances " more cheaply, and equally, perhaps more efficiently, may be useful, especially since the " deposits of guano are described as rapidly diminishing in consequence of the enormous " quantities which are annually carried away. Phosphoric acid and phosphate of lime, by ' the introduction of crushed bones, or if collected in the Colony to be crushed before " application, mixed with sulphuric acid and allowed to digest some time, this latter process "frees the former acid and renders it available for the plant. Carbonate of potash and "

sulphate of ammonia in small quantities would afford the necessary alkalies. These '• substances with the application of lime already referred to would supply the mineral '•'matter of the cane."

14. " The principle of extending the area under cane to the utmost limits and pTodueing " the last hogshead possible seems to be far too exclusively pursued, and the question " of reduced cost of production to be effected by superior systems of cultivation and " manufacture almost entirely neglected, and yet the latter is not only the most promising •' course of procedure to secure the Colony from disaster in the case of further competition

^tf " with cheaper grown produce, but it may be predicted would initiate an entirely new era "in its industrial history."

15. Although Messrs. Wall and Sawkins wrote the above extracts twenty-six years ago they are still applicable to the present state of agriculture in the Colony, and although more attention is now paid to improved modes of culture and some improvements have been effected in manufacturing aj>pliances, j'et the results as to the cost of production show that much remains to be done. The importance of a cheap supply of fuel, a heavy item of expenditure in the manufacture of Sugar, and one which will be considerably increased by the adoption of the Diffusion system, appears as a rule to be disregarded so far at least as the procuring of it from local resources is involved. Large shipments of coals and patent fuel come across the ocean yearly, a distance of some four thousand miles, while it is well known that important carbonaceous deposits exist in different parts of the island, and one not further than a mile from this town, on the Vista Bella Estate, at about half a mile from the Government Railway. No serious action has ever been taken towards developing the resources of such mineral fuels. On the other hand, thousands of uncultivated acres that could be made to produce at an inconsiderable outlay an abundant supply of bamboos for fuel are neglected. There are other products necessary to the maintenance of the Cane Sugar industry which it is the practice to import from other countries, such as oats and oil meal, and for which there might very well be substituted Indian corn and corn meal, products which hy the exercise of a little extra trouble could be supplied by the planter himself at a comparatively small expenditure. But as there are sometimes certain interests at jar with those of the planter, which unfortunately have to be satisfied to his detriment, this circumstance has probably operated towards the neglect of the minor industries in •connection with the cane cultivation.

.4 ]6. The production of a crop of about 1,300 tons of Sugar means an expenditure for oats and oil meal alone for the stock of some $10,000, and although a moderate outlay would suffice to produce from the estate lands the necessary amount of grain and meaL

leaving a large profit to the proprietor, yet the experiment has not been made, and we are satisfied to continue in the old groove and fear to free ourselves from old prejudices.

17. The heavy losses hitherto sustained by the use of antiquated and defective

machinery and appliances can no longer be tolerated if those interested in the Cane Sugar

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industry expect to compete successfully with the producers of Beet Sugar. The age in which we live does not admit of any hesitation which under present circumstances would be fatal to the former industry.

18. The return of Beet per acre in Germany is about 12 tons, which yield about 1 and §• ton of Sugar of a quality very inferior to our vacuum pan, and the total cost varies from £8 to £11 per ton.

19. With the best machinery here now in use (the average number of tons of canes per acre being about 20) the yield of Vacuum Pan Sugar per acre may be computed at about 1 and ̂ ton. But by improving the modes of culture and thereby increasing the yield from 20 to 26 tons of canes per acre, and even over, and by substituting the Diffusion process with all the recent improvements for our mills and copper walls, an increase to 3 tons of superior Vacuum Pan Sugar per acre may fairly be anticipated with the result of a diminution in the actual cost of production of at least 25 per cent., while effecting a considerable improvement in quality. And let me ask, under such circumstances can any one now doubt that a new era of prosperity is opening for the Cane Sugar producer if he can only manage to secure the necessary capital to take advantage of the great scientific improvements in machinery and manufacturing appliances of recent years, which prove beyond a doubt that no plant can yield Sugar at as great a profit as the Sugar Cane, for the Diffusion system is now an accomplished fact. The defects which at one time existed have vanished before the scientific researches of those who from the very beginning predicted for it a bright future. The cane-slicing machines have now been brought to great perfection, and everything else connected with the process.

20. Referring to this subject, the following extract from an article of Mr. Edmond Riffard, an eminent authority on such matters, will bear out my statement as to the relative value of the Cane and Beet:—" En presence de ces faites la sucrerie indigence " betteraviere a le droit de envier l'industrie coloniale. Nous n'approuvons pas d'avantage " les recriminations dc ces derniers car ils sont les maitres de la situation si tant est que " lour volonte1 de suivre le progres soit bien arreteV'

21. As a native of the Colony, and as one who has always taken the liveliest interest in its prosperity, I cannot refrain from referring here to the recent formation by His Excellency Sir William Robinson of District Agricultural Boards. The great interest which His Excellency continues to take in their success is a pledge of his earnestness to develop every branch of our agricultural resources and secure for the country that measure of prosj>erity which it is beginning to lack, and which as a rule is enjoyed in agricultural communities with similar institutions.

22. The liberal policy of the present Government towards agricultural industries in general is such as to justify the belief in the revival on a sound and permanent basis of the Cane Sugar industry, while products which are now included among " Minor Industries" will in a few years hence form no insignificant part of our exports.

23. The policy of the mother country is so much opposed to protection that it is unreasonable to expect any relief which would involve the neee^ih iir a change of that policy. But adversity which is a severe is also at times a useAil teacher, und if I maybe allowed to predict the future from the past history of the country it is not unreasonable to expect that the great Sugar crisis by which all classes of the community are affected will in due time give way to a more prosperous state of things, which will be brought about by a more general observance of the relations of science to agriculture, and by the prompt and decisive action of those capitalists who have already such large investments in the Colony: for if results based on scientific principles are to be depended upon, no one can any longer doubt that (to use the words of Mr. Edmond Riffard quoted above) the Cane Sugar producers are now masters of the situation.

24. So far as we are concerned the question seams to re&olve itself to this, that considering the special advantages of situation, climate, soil. &c. ic. possessed by Trinidad, if the necessary capital to permit of the introduction of more scientific methods of culture and at the same time the most approved modem appliances be brought to bear on the Cane Sugar as has been the case with the Beet Sugar industry, the result must be a complete victory for the former. And under present circumstances it niay be asked what are the agricultural industries that offer to capitalists a safer investment than that of the Cane Sugar in this Colony and in some of the neighbouring Colonies enjoying the same advantages of climate, stability of the Government, and absence from popular commotion.

25. Possibly the struggle that has been going on between the two great industries for many years on very unequal terms may have somewhat reduced the chances in favour of carrying on the Cane Sugar industry successfully by private enterprise. But the remedy in such cases seems to be a simple one. viz., the formation of joint stock companies. The immunity from losses so far as human foresight can be relied upon, and the large dividends such companies would enjoy, cannot I think be doubted in the presence of such facts as have been T trust satisfactorily proved in this paper.

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JAMES L. O'CONXOB.

San Fernando, October, 1886.

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