Note 52 — Part II History of the Industry (continued 2)

Extremely high prices are paid only in districts where the number of sugar mills is unusually large and the competition for cane consequently very keen. For example, if a central needed 200,000 tons of cane in order to grind at full capacity during the season, and if its own cane and that which it had already purchased amounted to 175,000 tons, it might pay an excessive price for the remaining 25,000 tons. There is, however, no such thing as uniformity in the contracts made with colonos, except that the price is based on weight and not on sugar content.