The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom / Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c.

by P. L. Simmonds

or £12 per acre. To this must be added the rent of land, say 10s. per acre, with right of grazing cattle, for two years, when the first crop will come in, would bring the expense to £13 per acre. The cane yielding say only three tons of sugar per acre, of which the planter would, most likely, have to give the manufacturer one-third, he will receive forty tons of sugar, costing him £6 10s. per ton, and worth on the spot, according to advices received from England and the Cape, £15 per ton, at the lowest estimate, or £600.

The greatest expense, you will perceive, is the article of tops for planting; but this ought not to discourage persons. The plants which I imported from the Mauritius some years ago, cost me, on account of many of them not vegetating, at the rate of £30 per acre. Parties who begin planting now have the great advantage that they can get plants, every one of which, if properly treated, will grow, at one-sixth of that price.

How many crops cane will give on good soil in Natal, I am of course unable to state, as the oldest cane I have got has been cut only three times—the last yield (second ratoons) was much finer than the preceding ones, and by adopting the improved manner of cane cultivation, viz., returning all but the cane juice to the soil, I am confident that replanting will be found quite unnecessary; the expenses for the second and following years will therefore be very trifling.

Comparative Statement of the ruling Prices at Natal and the Mauritius of Land, Live Stock, Implements, Labor, and other requirements connected with the cultivation of the Sugar Cane.

MAURITIUS				NATAL
	£	s.	d.		£	s.	d.
LAND, per acre, £3 10s. to	20	0	0	LAND, per acre, 10s. to	1	0	0
RENT OF LAND. It is not customary to let land at the Mauritius, except on the system of an equal division of the produce.				RENT OF LAND, 6d. to	0	5	0
MANURE. Guano, commonly used in its dry state, also other manures or composts, per ton, £6 to	7	0	0	CATTLE MANURE in abundance, according to distance, per load, 1s. to (None required on virgin soil for the first three years of cultivation.)	0	2	6
LIVE STOCK. Mules, 5 of which are required to each load of 3,000 to 4,000 lbs., £30 each.	150	0	0	Oxen, of which 12 are required to each load, £3 each	36	0	0
Keep of Mules each, per annum	7	0	0	Keep of oxen, on pasturage.	free.
LABOR. Drivers, each, per month	1	0	0	Colored driver, each per month,	0	15	0
Coolies, including keep, each	1	0	0	Kafir leader, ditto	0	10	0
White labor, each	4	0	0	White labor, each per month, £3 10s. to	4	0	0
FUEL. Cane trash or wood				Cane trash or wood
MILL POWER. Steam or water				The same
IMPLEMENTS. All agricultural labor is performed by the hand-hoe, very expensive in its nature.				All agricultural labor is performed with the plough, harrows, and scarifier, with oxen so much less expensive than the hand labor at the Mauritius.
PRODUCE of the Cane. Average from 1 to 4 tons.				From 2 to 3 tons
CANE. Periodical renewal of the cane, according to the quality of the soil, every 3 to 10 years				Not yet ascertained, and depending on the soil
PROVISIONS, &c. Beef, per lb. 6d. to	0	0	8	PROVISIONS, &c. Beef, per lb., 1½d. to	0	0	2½
Bread, per loaf	0	0	6	Bread, per loaf	0	0	6
Butter, per lb., 1s. 3d. to	0	1	6	Butter, per lb., 6d. to	0	0	9
Rice, the food of the Coolies, per bag of 150 lbs., 12s. 6d. to	0	15	0	Indian corn, (maize per 180 lbs. 5s.) per 150 lbs.	0	4	2
Oats, per bag, of 100 lbs. 12s. 6d. to	0	15	0	Oats, per 104 lbs., 10s. to	1	0	0
Bran, ditto, 100 lbs. 12s. to	0	13	9	Bran, not used.
Beans, ditto, 100 lbs. 22s. 6d. to	1	5	0	Beans, per 180 lbs., 13s. to 20s.. or per 100 lbs. 7s. 2d. to	0	11	0
Coal, per ton, 40s. to	2	10	0	The same
CHARGE OF MANUFACTURE. The manufacturer reaps and carries to the mill the canes of the grower, but the latter provides his own bagging, and carts away his half of the sugar, the other half being the remuneration of the manufacturer				The Mauritius principle may be adopted in this colony, with such modifications as may be called for by local exigencies.

Analysis of the foregoing Statement, showing the total comparative outlay for sundries connected with the cultivation of Sugar at Natal and Mauritius, computed at the lowest ruling prices.

	MAURITIUS			NATAL			Difference in favor of Natal
Land, 100 acres	70s.-350	0	0	10s.-50	0	0	300	0	0
Manure, Guano 10 loads	£6-60	0	0
Cattle Manure, 10 loads				1s.-0	10	0
Live Stock, 10 mules.	£30-300	0	0	£15.-150	0	0	150	0	0
Live Stock, 10 oxen	£12-120	0	0	£3.-30	0	0	90	0	0
Two drivers per mouth	£1-2	0	0	1	5	0	0	15	0
Coolies, 10 with keep	10	0	0				2	10	0
Kafirs, 10 ditto				15s.-7	10	0
White men, 10	£4-40	0	0	£4-40	0	0
Beef, 100 lbs.	at 6d.-2	10	0	1½d.-0	12	6	1	17	6
Bread, 100 loaves	6d.-2	10	0	6d.-2	10	0
Butter,100 lbs.	1s.3d.-6	5	0	6d.-2	10	0	3	15	0
Rice, 100 lbs., food for Coolies,	0	8	4				0	6	7
Indian Corn, 100 lbs., food for Kafirs				0	2	9
Oats	0	12	6	0	10	0	0	2	6
Beans, 100 lbs.	1	2	6	0	10	0	0	12	6
Coals	2	0	0	2	0	0
	£897	8	4	£288	0	3	£554	18	1

The immense saving obtained by ploughing, &c., over the Mauritius hand labor with the hoe, is not shown in the above figures.

Table showing the cost of producing Muscovado sugar, and the quantity produced or available in the several countries mentioned, as made up from the evidence given before the Committee on Sugar and Coffee Plantations; by T. Wilson.

COUNTRY.	Average cost of production under slavery or compulsory labor.	Average available produce under slavery or compulsory labor, for the supply of Europe and the United States,	Average available produce during the last three years of freedom, for the supply of Europe and the United States.	Cost of producing one cwt. of sugar at present date, exclusive of interest on capital, etc.	Excess of cost of free labour over slave or compulsory labor, per cwt., taking the average cost of the latter at 11s. per cwt.	Excess of cost of free over SLAVE TRADE labor, taking the cost in Brazil at 7s. 6d. per cwt. making the average of slave trade labor 8s. per cwt.	Increase of cost in the British plantations since emancipation.
British Plantations.	s. d.	Tons.	Tons.	s d.	s. d.	s. d.	s. d.
Antigua	7 6	7,767	8,963	16 6	5 6	8 6	9 0
Barbados	6 0	17,174	16,378	15 6	4 6	7 6	9 6
Grenada	11 0	9,634	3,779	17 6	6 6	6	6 6
St. Kitts	5 0	4,382	5,558	19 0	8 0	11 0	14 0
St. Vincent	5 6	10,056	6,636	19 6	8 6	11 6	14 0
Tobago	5 6	5,321	2,514	19 6	8 6	11 6	14 0
St. Lucia, etc.	5 6	9,600	8,650	19 6	8 6	11 6	14 0
Jamaica	10 0	68,626	30,807	22 6	11 6	14 6	12 6
Guiana	6 8	44,178	24,817	25 10	14 10	17 10	19 2
Trinidad [A]	3 0	15,428	16,539	20 10	9 10	12 10	17 10
Mauritius	..	35,000	50,000	20 0	9 0	12 0	..
Bengal	..	..	62,000	23 0	12 0	15 0	..
Madras	..	..	7,000	20 0	9 0	12 0	..
Foreign Free Labor Country.
Europe (Beet-root) [B]	..	..	100,000	24 4	13 4	16 4	..
Foreign Slave, or Compulsory Labor Countries.
Java [C]	15 0	88,000	..	15 0	Slave or compulsory labor	..	..
French Colonies	15 0	90,000	..	15 0		..	..
Cuba (Muscovado)	8 0	220,000	..	8 0		..	..
Porto Rico	8 6	40,000	..	8 6		..	..
Louisiana	12 6	100,000	..	12 6		..	..
Brazils [D]	11 11	90,000	..	11 11		..	..