The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-02-29
FOR THE YEAR IsG1.


trass.saB r.ss,'e eo~ssaeI.L sDvEarIsHHl
In our last issue We published the annual OH
eial statistics OF the Collector General exhibiting
the inward and outward commerce OF the King
dom. These furnish the only authentic data ON
the subject, and are reliable, as the utmost
care il taken to obtain the minutest details and
eassify them under the various heads.
Although the past year has been eminently
favorable ~ our agricultural interests generally
so fnr ns weather, rains, &c, are concerned,
there does not appear to have been that expansion
in the sugar interest, which anticipated early
in 1867. Several things have tended to bring
about this result. The chief cause was the fail
ure Of Me-srs. e. W. Brooks ( Co., OF San Fran
sico.s which carried with it, after some months
delay, the firm Of Walker, Allen Il Co., OF this
city. With these frms, seven or eight Of our
largest plantations became involved, and though
every effort was made To avoid an interruption in
their operations, all OF them had To be sold at
public auction, which tended TO check the culti-
vation Of cane and manufacture Of sugar on them,
while one has remained wholly closed for nearly
. year past. Coupled with this drawback, was
the low price OF sugar during the first half Of the
tbs plantations. These two causes have tended
% make the crop of sugar for 1867 at least three
millions less than it would have been had they
not occurred.
At present. all the plantations appear to be in
. healthy and prosperous condition, with the
exception Of the Iahaina Mill, which remains
elosed Nearly all the planters have il in their
pDwer to increase the product OF their mills,
whenever the incentives for such increase suf-
cent. But since the movement to establish n
Reciprocity Treaty with the United States, and
owing 10 the uncertainty to the result of that
mesurr, thers has been n disposition rather to
crtail expenses and postpone any plans Of en-
hryement till the result II known. should the
treaty prove q success and become ratified, it,
effect will Immediately be felt on every plantation
in the group, and it will increase the present
suglr product fifty per cent. during the first
twelve months after is goes into operation
Besides this effect, which 10 will have on the
old plantations, it will increase the number en-
gnged in this business, and lead to the establish
ing Of smaller mills md plantations, which will
add To the general product only after two three
years. There many localities ON each Of the
islands Of this group, where two or three hundred
acres OF good cane land can be had sufficient TO
enable enterprising farmers Of industry and tact,
possessed Of n few thousand dollars, % manufae-
tgre n handre,l tons annually, without the heavy
outl.,y and capital required for kr-r estates.
shouIdno drawbacks bemet, tic yiei'iior 1865 will
be from twenty to twenty-five millions Of pounds.
Rice Cultivation
Second only 90 sugar, IL the rice business,
which II steadily ginning. and which, with the
hel, of D. xwhf.h
will be relieved Of the present duty OF "A cents
pound. cannot fail to expand rapidly. Any per-
son acquainted with the native method Of eulti-
vating their national food, the taro root, will ut
once perceive how perfectly natural to Hawaiiansit
isto engage in rice culture, which u grown in the
same beds, and calls Tor precisely the same mode
Of cultivation. As the rice requires bat four or
five months to mature while the tarO takes twelve
to fifteen and ~ the rice meets n ready cash sale
ON delivery. whils taro fuetuates much in value,
and IL mt times difficult to dispose of, the advan-
tges are altogether in favor OF eultivating the
former, which will soon become favorite food
with natives.
The Collector General reports export Of
about one million pounds Of paddy AMI rice.
Besides this the local consumption u considerable
probably not less than five hundred thousand
pounds. Thi- would make the total crop for
ls67 about one add n million pounds, valued
at $4,000. There will be n stendy increase in
the production Of this article and the quantity pro-
duced in 1863 will not be less than two millions
ct pounds, one-third of which will be required
tor home consumption. Both foreigners and
natives are planning TO engage largely in the cul-
tvation Of rice, and should the labor be OBJ
ainable, the amount produced four years hence,
will not be lesa than i've millions annually.
The principal piaces where rice il grown Mt
present are, Panaluu and IIaula ON this Island,
hanalei, Waimea and Iianapepe on Kauai
zach of these extensive md fertile valleys can
Produce million of pounds, without inter-
iering materially with the taro. Other exten-
"ve valleys throughout the group furnish equally
good hel'L for rice culture.
Among the finest rice mills the Islands IL
that OF Nr. Luther Severance at Punaluu, ON
Oahu where by the aid OF water power, he
threahss the grain with a common wheat thresher,
hslls and polishes is, all in well arranged
and compact building. Near by il n -torehouss,
capable OF holding hundred tons Of rico,
wh're the grim is packed in bags of ono hundred