Page 11 - AHATA

A15
LOCAL Tuesday 12 November 2019

The Aloe industry of Aruba Episode XLIII

Continued from Page 14
The better grades in particular went to London, realizing as much as
60 shillings per hundred pounds. In the London of before the First World
War the aloe from all the three islands was priced a little higher than
that from the Cape: 31 to 36 shillings for the island grades, 29 to 32 shil-
lings for the Cape ones.
As a source of income at any rate the aloe was important enough for
the parish-priest of Sabaneta to keep a field as 1916 “in favor of the
Church”.
Like all other industries aloe-growing was affected by the coming of the
oil-industry. Not until 1950 was aloe-planting on a large scale resumed.
In 1947 the Aruba aloe products company was inaugurated, mean-
while in the previous century the use of aloe was common among the
inhabitants but without applying any previous process not until about
1890 did they begin to extract its aloin in order to work it up to laxatives,
etc. Aruba always shipped plain aloe-juice, which had to be thinned
elsewhere so as to obtain aloin. The Aruba Aloe Products Company
now purchases this juice to work it up at factory in 1949. This aloin is
shipped direct from Aruba to the United States, export to England.
Under the supervision of an expert, the American Irving D. Cantor,
about six men are at work in this industry, whose foundation cost half
a million guilders. It goes without saying that the factory only works full
time in the period from July to January, but since already in March
the first sap is bought, this newest industry on our island represents an
important asset. However, the growth of the marketing of aloe was
threatened by the rights of protection in other countries and by the
circumstance that young people are not inclined to seek employment
in it and prefer another type of work. In 1951 its production amounted
to approximately 15,000 pounds, representing around 30 percent of
world production.q 4- Aloe Art by recycled plastic by Etnia Nativa