The San Francisco call., 1896-10-12
AROUND THE CORRIDORS.

General Ben Butterworth insulted me jus
| now," said his oid-friend P. B. Armstrong yes
! terday as he began a careful inspection
OF his own signature on the register
at the Palace Hotel. ':Now, by golly,
I don't see anything the matter with
that writing. do you? Well, got here only q
few minutes ago and wrote my name on card
and sent it right up TO Butterworth, and he
sends down word that he can't read the name
That reminds me of the story they used to tell
in Washington on Bill Travers, the we'll
known story-teller Bill was darned hcmely
that the fellows in his club had presented
him with q cane that he was always
to keep and carry until he met homelier man
than himself. Bill used to stutter. He showed
up at the club one day without the cane and
every one asked for an explanation. IL
wa-was wa-walking dow-down town. he
began, and by-by Gor-George IL met my
my son Bill fa-face to fa-face, and II ga
gave hi-him the cane
Gall I can say Is that if people think that
signature OF mine is illegible they ought to
see the hand writing of my son Clarence"
Mr.. Armstrong is a large fruit-grower of
Acampo and his son Clarence is graduate of
the Berkeley Military School of New York and
was football coach last year of the Woodbridge
school, but is now interested with his father
in an extensive fruit shipping business. Lodi
five carloads of grapes day and that is half
the export OF the whole State for the present
season. 1--WE have" remarked the elder Arm
strong, "the grape and peach crop of the State
this year about Lodi and Acampo and believe
that I have the largest almond crop in the
State"
"The Hawaiian Islands have all kinds OF
insect pests" said G. M. Heintz yesterday, the
proprietor of the Rural Californian. ''There
are numerous varieties of scalebugs that are
unknown yet to California. have just re-
turned from the islands, / went down there
especially to study the pest question. ALI over
the islands I found the Japanese beetle, a
native of Japan and the most destructive in
sect pest known. 1t eats the leaves off shrubs
and large trees alike and mas already almost
exterminated the wild rose peculiar to the
islands.
"This beetle is a little larger round than a
lead pencil, about half an inch in length, and
light brown. Fortunately it has not got into
California yet; and principally be cause of the
precautions taken at San Francisco by Quar-
antine Agent Professor Craw, who has been
instruments in keeping out other Hawaiian
insect pests. Hereafter every shrub and fern
imported from the islands will be fumigated
by Mr.. Morse, the commissioner. Professor
koeberle has discovered some new ladybugs
destructive to scales, but it VIII take two years
OF active work to clear the trees about Honolulu
OF scales. The sulphur tumigating process will
keep the beetles from touching the leaves, and
the cyanide process OF fum1gatlon is destruc-
tive to scales.
"There are thousands of acres of idle land in
Hawaii open for cultivation and purchasable
st $25 an acre. Oranges can be grown on that
land to perfection. There are no high-grade
oranges or lemons grown on the islands yet
Peaches, apricots, pears and apples are en-
tirely unknown, except for few on the island
OF Hawaii. All the fruit is imported from Cal
ifornia. For instance, saw head of cauli-
| flower sell for % cents, two tomatoes for
cents, three pears for 25 cents, and basket oi
apples for 81 so, and scarce at that. 1t seems
to me that there is money to be made in grow.
ing fine oranges on that cheap land.
cit is question of the coffee industry will
be success, as the soil OF some plantations is
not adapted 10 coffee. On the other hand
there are few plantations on the islands
where absolutely the finest coffee in the world
is raised. coffee that easily brings % cents q
pound. l was surprised to learn that with the
exception OF the MULTI, the fish OF the islands
are poisonous. They import fish from CaIifor-
MIA. The islanders do not understand the cul-
| tiYation OF the potato.'