| Plant cane | 2.5 | tons |
| First ratoons | 2.0 | ” |
| Second ratoons | 1.75 | ” |
| Third ratoons | 1.50 | ” |
| Fourth ratoons | 1.25 | ” |
When the yield drops as low as eight-tenths of a ton of sugar per acre, replanting is necessary, and allowing for the reduced yield of first and second ratoons, it may be reckoned that one-half of the production is from plant cane and the other half from ratoon crops.
The length of time during which the cane is allowed to remain in the ground varies from nine to fourteen months and will probably average between eleven and twelve.[47]
The labor problem is present in the Philippines as in all cane-sugar countries. The natives are willing enough to work, but shrink at the idea of leaving their homes to take employment at any considerable distance away.
Apart from the three modern factories previously mentioned, sugar-making facilities are greatly behind the times, although there are a few minor exceptions. Over one thousand small mills were in operation in the islands in 1907 and of these 528 were driven by steam, 470 by carabao (water oxen) or natives, and 77 by water power. The carabao mills, however, are rapidly disappearing. The capacity of most of these small mills is from 50 to 60 tons of cane per day, and, as the cane is only crushed once, there is a considerable loss in recovery. A little lime is added to the juice to clarify it and it is then boiled to grain in a series of five or six open pans. The general arrangement is shown by the accompanying sketch, which is taken from Herbert S. Walker’s “Sugar Industry in the Island of Negros.”
The drawing shows two sets of pans, each set being built over a separate furnace. The number 5 pan, into which the juice from the crusher flows, is connected to both sets. The furnaces are fed directly under number 1 pan, where the final boiling is done and where the greatest heat is required. The two furnaces converge when they reach the boiler, which may be fired separately, so that grinding and boiling may, if necessary, be done independently of each other. As the juice leaves the crusher through an open wooden trough, particles of cane and other matter are removed by straining through a cloth or a close-meshed wire screen. It runs into the receiving pan—number 5—and is heated to between 160 and 175 degrees Fahrenheit, which brings certain impurities to the surface in the form of froth. This is skimmed off and thrown into the scum tank; the juice is then ladled by hand as required into the smaller pans (number 4) where lime is added for clarification. Violent agitation takes place in pans numbers 3 and 2, and as fast as scum forms it is skimmed off. The clarified juices are then concentrated in pans number 2 and number 1, after which the massecuite is put into wooden trays and stirred with a spade until it granulates. It is then ready to be taken to market.
NATIVE SUGAR FACTORY, PAMPANGA PROVINCE, PHILIPPINES
