Sugar Cane Fields In Puerto Rico, Sugar Cane Plantation House Puerto Rico Buildings Landmarks Stock Image 498182458

Today hacienda mercedita no longer grows sugarcane and its lands are instead used for growing mangoes grasses landscape plants and palms coconut palms bananas and seeds.

Jungkook bts wallpaper gif. United states puerto rico rio piedras. 1942 harvesting sugar cane in a burned field vicinity of guanica puerto rico. Guanica guanica puerto rico united states 1942.

But satisfying americas appetite for higher quality sugar and lots of it could not happen without new machinery. Sugar cane saccharum officinarum is a vibrant plant in the grass family with straight and cylindrical stalks with knots at intervals. In the 1860s cano de las nasus sold a hundred hogsheads each year.

While some of these were sold in puerto rico as the century wore on the island exported more of its sugar to refiners in the united states and europe. From then until the spring of 2000 when coloso closed after its last harvest sugar cane was the most important cash crop of the island of puerto rico. During the late 19th and 20th centuries the sugar cane industry came to dominate puerto ricos economy both under the colonial rule of spain and under the united states.

In puerto rico by 1934 there were approximately forty three sugar mills operating under a sugar quota of 909445 tons. In the essay centrales azucareras en puerto rico the unlisted author states that the first sugar cane plantation for mass production was established by don fernando el catolico in the hato de los reyes known today as hato rey. Hacienda mercedita was a 300 acre sugarcane plantation in ponce puerto rico founded in 1861 by juan serralles colon.

The plant is originally from india and arrived on the island from santo domingo in 1515. The hacienda was the administrative center of the large sugarcane mill called central mercedita as well as that of its cane sugar refinery plant which packaged the snow white brand sugar at its. Slavery followed by cheap unorganized labor was the driving force behind all production.

After slavery sugar plantations used a variety of forms of labour including workers imported from colonial india and southern china working as indentured servants on european owned plantations see coolie. Coffee tobacco and sugar cane were the primary income crops from the time the island was settled until well into the 20th century. Sugar cane land vicinity of rio piedras puerto rico.

Burning the sugar cane gets rid of the dense leaves and makes cutting the unharmed stalks easier. Guanica guanica puerto rico united states 1942. 1942 sugar cane worker in the rich field vicinity of guanica puerto rico.

In puerto rico as in other tropical regions the stalk grows for 12 to 18 months and is harvested generally between january and may. After sovereignty was transferred to the us in 1898 the industry grew with the impetus of the sugar interests from the mainland.