Louisiana Crop.-The yield of domestic cane sugar during the crop year 1910-1911 was disappointing, considering the early expectations, killing frosts reducing materially the final outcome. Such, however, is usually the case in southern Louisiana and Texas which are practically the only states where climatic conditions are at all favorable for the growth of sugar cane. Although the industry has been located in Louisiana for a full hundred years, the progress has been comparatively slow, readily indicating the disadvantages under which the planter labors, this being in sharp contrast to the favorable situation in Cuba and the West Indies. A hot sun and seasonably heavy rainfall are necessary in bringing the cane to maturity after which a spell of dry cool weather greatly facilitates the ripening process. The growth of the cane may be ever so luxuriant and yet over night a heavy frost can cause irreparable damage to the crop. Planters in such cases wind-row their cane but even then a sudden change of weather may cause their efforts to be in vain. It is claimed therefore that protection is an absolute necessity to the Louisiana producer because of these natural handicaps for if too sharp a reduction were made in the duty on sugar he would be forced into raising corn, cotton or other agricultural staples. Annual plantings of cane are necessary in Louisiana which to a considerable extent increases the cost of production, whereas in Cuba the plants produce abundantly for as long a period as fifteen years. The Louisiana crop of recent years has averaged about 300,000 tons though in exceptionally poor seasons like 1906-1907 it fell as low as 221,000 tons. The campaign, it may be interesting to note, usually begins about the middle of October and active grinding operations bring the crop movement practically to a close by the middle of January though some scattered receipts remain to be distributed during the spring months. As has been before noted in these reports, the marketing and consumption of the Louisiana crop is not confined to a single calendar year so that in the compilation of statistics it is more convenient to assume that the entire yield has been distributed within the calendar year following the inception of the crop movement. In other words, the 1910-1911 crop is considered as having been consumed during the year 1911. The receipts in the New Orleans market commenced to arrive about the middle of October and the movement up to the end of the year was fairly heavy, amounting to 201,414 tons as compared with 192,276 tons for the same time during the previous year and 197,577 tons in 1909. The crop, however, was smaller than in the previous year for according to the best estimates the yield in Louisiana aggregated approximately 300,000

tons. Adding to this amount the yield of Texas, which is still comparatively a small factor in the domestic cane production, being figured at some 11,000 tons and we have a total of 311,000 tons or a decrease of 24,000 as compared with 1909-1910.

The following table exhibits the yield of the Southern States for the past twenty years:

The present crop, that of 1911-1912, promises fully as poorly, though early prospects seemed to justify planters in expecting a yield of 350.000 tons judging from the splendid growth and other favorable conditions noted during the summer months. The movement of the crop was early, but unfortunately a severe killing frost in November followed by another in December brought down the indicated yield to 300.000 tons for Louisiana and only 8,000 for Texas. High prices for sugar naturally tended to stimulate early grinding so that planters contracted ahead with the refiners and hastened their product to market. The receipts at New Orleans from September 1, 1911 to April 11. 1912 reached a total of 231,247 tons which compares with 227,901 tons for the similar period of the previous year.

Molasses Sugar.-There has been a decrease in the production of this sugar during the past year and the total can be estimated at approximately 8,900 tons. Although at one time the reboiling of molasses was conducted on quite a large scale in this country, the Cuban factories as a result of improved machinery now secure a larger percentage of sugar to the detriment of the quality of the by-products. While one or two small concerns in Philadelphia and New York have reboiled Cuban blackstrap molasses the great bulk of the production of molasses sugar comes from an independent Philadelphia refiner, this being needless to say of a very low test.

Maple Sugar.-There was a large crop during the year 1911 the total being estimated at 8,000 tons or an increase of 2,000 as compared with 1910. The weather was favorable during the spring months both for the flow of sap and boiling operations.

Domestic Beets.-Another heavy increase in the crop of domestic beet sugar can be reported for the twelve months of 1911, this being in line with the steady progress of the industry of recent years. In fact it was the largest on record, this being chiefly due to the increased acreage, for weather conditions were generally favorable though the sugar content was smaller than in 1910. Had it not been for the unfavorable situation during the latter part of the campaign in Michigan, the total would have been even larger. California still leads the list with an output of 146,357 tons, Michigan being second with 117,790 tons and Colorado third with 111,703 tons. The total acreage planted was 531,139 acres as compared with 429,014 in 1910. The factories received 4.208,421 tons of beets as compared with 3,434,187 in 1909. The average yield of sugar per acre of beets sown was 1.011 tons as compared with 1.061 tons in 1910-11, .977 in 1909-10, .89 tons in 1908-09 and 1.07 tons in 1907-08.

Of the factories, California operates ten, Michigan seventeen, Colorado fourteen, Utah six, Wisconsin four, Ohio and Idaho three each, Nebraska two, with one each in the states of Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Montana, Kansas, Arizona, Oregon and Nevada.

The following table gives a comparison of the beet sugar production by states for the past four years in tons:

As showing the rapid growth of the beet sugar industry during the past sixteen years, the following table, giving comparisons of the production in tons, should prove interesting:

Exports. There were no exports of domestic raw sugar the shipments of foreign cane being 4,672 tons part of which went to Canada. Owing to the scarcity of sugar here during the the summer months, the exports of domestic refined fell off sharply to 32,401,260 pounds or the equivalent of 14,465 tons which compares with 152,264,041 pounds equal to 67,975 tons in 1910, and 81,717,124 pounds, or 36,480 tons in 1909.

Consumption. The consumption of sugar in this country increases steadily despite the temporary setbacks resulting from business depression, even the very high prices reached during the year under review not preventing a further gain. The population of the United States is growing rapidly and sugar being one of the cheapest articles of diet is bound to find a steady expansion in its distribution.

The total estimated consumption for the the year 1911 is 3,425,991 tons a gain of 88,343 tons or 2.64 per cent. as compared with the year 1910. In the latter year, the comparative aggregate was 3,337,648 tons, which was a gain of 3.265 per cent. The per capita consumption of the country, it may be interesting to note, is figured at 81.6 pounds the United States ranking next to Great Britain and Ireland which consume 91.68 pounds.

The total consumption of sugar in the United States in tons for the past ten years follows:

The relative per capita consumption in this and European countries for the last ten years is as follows:

The following table shows the distribution of sugar at the Port of New York in tons for the past ten years:

Prices. The price of raw and refined sugar during the first six months of the year, though showing the usual advancing tendency, gave no indication of the sensational movement which was to follow. As a result, business was on a stable basis, the distributors and manufacturers buying refined for their requirements in a conservative way. The elimination of the guarantee against decline in price had a tendency to restrict speculative purchases.

Refiners pursued their usual policy of holding back in purchases of raw sugar but their hand was forced by European speculators, whose competition naturally stiffened the ideas of Cuban planters. Opening the year at 3.86 cents, centrifugals 96° test reacted to 3.42 cents and subsequently recovered during May and June. In July, the European drought with the attendent wild speculation abroad started an upward movement which reached its climax only when 5.965 cents was touched in September. Subsequently, prices eased off under the influence of the movement of domestic beets and the cane crop, closing the year at 4.65 cents. The average price for centrifugals during the year was 4.453 cents as compared with 4.188 cents in 1910 and for Muscovado 3.953 cents as against 3,688 cents in 1910.

Refined naturally sympathized with raw sugar, starting the month of January at 4.70 cents advancing slowly to 5 cents in June and then rapidly climbing to 6.75 cents in October for the larger interests, the great scarcity in fact, leading one independent refiner to quote as high as 7.50 cents. Later, the market reacted so that granulated closed the year at 5.75 cents. The average price of refined was 6.26 cents for cut loaf as compared with 5.86 cents in 1910 and for granulated 5.46 cents as against 5.04 cents in the same year.

The average price for fair refining or 89° test Cuba Muscovado for the past decade compares as follows:

Refined sugar showed the following yearly average for granulated during the last ten years: