The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-05-02

I.IN ITO N'"" i.'' HI'N wv
amount III ihi. fr Nh. VIB alvats le u
proportion to ilia amount ai ac.ommo.
dltion that ouf resources viii have fo
nHef
ir tbe lasi twenty to8n at least
sugar hus been oIf mnln source of
wealth While fortune were t1 he
made boz growing .ura came. few people
Thought of anything olse. ln my
opinion 30 bias beon good thing in
some ways. that sugar has fallen boz
price. without actually throw ing al the
/ plantations into bankruptcy. Tor had BE-
been otherwise we would never have
/ brauchod out into other agricultural
pursuits Coffee plantations, fields Of
/ pines, and small patches OF tea plants
have doomed up out Of the Wilderness.
aud the prospect is that many other iu-
/ dustries may turn mp.
/ My object in taking up this subject is.
not to advance any opinion ON matter
! / know little or nothing about. but to
/ try and demonstrate 10 the public az
/ large the difference between the city
/ farmer and the country farmer
The country farmer takes a trip To-
Honolulu go find out why 1t is that all
the potatoes he sends down. only bring
him three-iourths Of a cent, and that
when he runs short, his own potatoes
come back 10 bim at three cents 70
pound. lie meets friend who begins
/ to tald sansivera 81 him.
MY dear fellow, why don't you put
] in eight or stem acres of sansiyeru.
easiest thing to grow in the world; no
/ labor whatever; 500 a ton in London,
etc, etc. The country farmer is dumb
! founded. Eight or ten acres ! lie re-
members that he has only Jap to help
/ him; that he must milk his half dozen
cows in the morning, cut sorghum for
the horses, feed the pigs, cut wood re-.
pair fences, hoe corn, dig potatoes, go
/ to market, shoe horses, etc, etc, and
/ here's a man who talks to him of Just
putting in eight and ten acres of san
sivera, mere triAe, you know. Quick
returns; only four or five years-great
Scott
1t is quite likely that the city farmer
knows a. much OF the area OF an acre rs
he does OF farming. He may mean well
but he is an IDIOT to think that the poor
man can 90 into agricultural pursuits
that give no returns before four or five
years.
Let the poor man, the farmer born,
by his industry and energy put on the
market such produce that will stop once
and for all the importation Of California
produce, such as potatoes, onions, celery,
cauliGower etc. Let ms export our sur
plus to the States during their winter
months We have the advantage over
them IN climate, but they have the adj
vantage oyer rs in brains. The Amer
lean farmers are men of intelligence,
experience and push. whilst the Ha-
waiian farmers are children Of the
Celestial Empire that know little or
nothing OF the pursuits they follow.
Agriculture will not boom up in this
country before someone Leads the way
and surely it is not the poor man 10
lead. Let the capitalist do that.
] could tell some curious instances Of
farming knowledge exhibited by the
city farmer. X planted an acre or 50 of
potatoes in Waimea, and then went off
10 Kona, where he stayed four or five
months. He returned expecting TO find
his potatoes ready to bag. This is the
city farmer, and the above is IA fact.
The verdict, therefore, is that Waimea
is not suited for potatoes.
The Hamakua people have sansivera
now on the brain. Well and good.
Where one is going TO succeed one hun
bred will fail, simply because they have
not the means to carry out 10 the end
all the needs OF this enterprise. For my
part | will content myself to compete
with the California market in the pro-
duction of perishablc produce-and IN
the quality, not quantity. BY following
this example many who are, like my
self, farmers OF limited means will be
able TO make both ends meet. The
prospect of the Nicaragua canal becom-
ing some day an established fact ought
in my mind, to act as stimulus for the
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