As early as 1795 the United States have been importing sugar from the Philippine Islands; for that year 132 long tons were imported. Up to the middle of the nineteenth century, however, the production of sugar-cane in the Philippines was confined largely to the provinces of Luzon near Manila. But shortly after the Crimean war the demand for sugar in Europe increased, and interest in the industry was greatly stimulated in the Islands. This resulted in the extension of the industry into the Visayan Islands, Occidental Negros becoming the largest cane producing section of the Archipelago, and so continues until the present day. As late as 1914 most of the sugar produced in the Islands was muscovado. It was not until the establishment of modern sugar centrals that centrifugal sugar was produced. The production of sugar became so stimulated as a result, and in 1922, as many as 455,404,427 kilos were produced. There are now 28 sugar centrals in the Islands as against one in 1910, and several are in process of construction. The following table shows the growth of the sugar industry from 1913 to 1922: ------+------------+------------+------------ Year | Area under | Production | Total value |cultivation | of sugar | of sugar | | | products ------+------------+------------+------------ | Acres | Short tons | | | | 1913 | 435,188 | 345,080 | $12,849,000 1914 | 418,676 | 408,343 | 14,314,000 1915 | 427,710 | 421,196 | 16,606,000 1916 | 444,189 | 412,278 | 17,068,000 1917 | 459,436 | 425,270 | 19,352,500 1918 | 507,818 | 474,750 | 20,579,500 1919 | 494,692 | 453,350 | 37,231,400 1920 | 487,783 | 466,917 | 79,648,600 1921 | 596,363 | 589,443 | 48,189,500 1922 | 595,066 | 533,194 | 29,974,125 ------+------------+------------+------------ The quantity and value of the exportation of this product is shown below: