The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1896-03-13
HAWAII, THE "PEARL
OF THE PACIFIC. "
The Seventh of a Series OF
Letters by John r. Mu>ick.
Author of 1.-THE Columbian HIS
torical Novels" ''BrOther
Against Brother" etc.
copyright 1896, by Funk & Wabnalls Company Ne"
York;
The Two Great Coffee Growing
Districts.-HOw Coffee is
Grown.

Coffee is said to be the hope OF the Ha-
Waiian Islands. as it will bring emlgrahls
of class greatly desired. Many OF the SUI
gar plantations are of no advantage TO the
Country for the taxes they paw. One of the
largest sugar plantations IN Hawai- Is own,
ed nv nor. residents. The manager ana
every white man on this plantaClou are
citizens of California, and every laooreT Is
Chinese or Japanese. Inc plantation mas
IT'S own store which all the employees pat
ronize. 60 that, wear by year, every dollar
of the products of this plantation OF twenty
thousand acres is sent out of the country 10
, the United States, to China, to Japan.
Sugar plantations, it is claimed. must De
conducted by large corporations; no small
| cane-grOwer has even been FOUND VINO
could successfully conduct tne business u ~"
! Rut with coffee it Is different. Coffee Is the
, "poor mans crop. From five to ten acres
NAV be cultivated by one person. ana
single crop has been known TO yleld nVe
hundred dollars per acre.
Coffee lands would disgust even Connec,
ticut farmers. How it would be posslole
to produce anything at all from tne stone
and lava would puzzle any one Iully con
versant with the stony lands of New Eng
land and vet the best coffee trees are founo
| growing ont of this same rock and lava. a
Gentleman who has been making some
Scientific investigation into cOffee-grOwlng
saws that lava covered soil is the very pes
in which to plant coffee. rms gentlellai
has coffee plantation of forty acres, WIFI
over one thousand trees to the acre, anc
his trees weld two pounds to the tree. Inc
hight. and the fungus which is the result
of the blight, has injured the trees 10 con
siderable extent, and at one time threaten
ed the destruction of the industry, put
was discovered that by spraying young tiee
with resin water and potash, Sne e;r S'is sn
could be destroyed. Then the ladyblrd wa
introduced, and has proven destructiV'
enemy 10 the blight. - A.. D,,u,
There is great rivalry between the run;
and Kama districts in growing: I'M
latter is the older district, and claims U
produce a superior article ana more W tn
acre. On the other hand Puna collee-gIow Nv,
ers claim better SOIL IMAM hana' ano un
work. so far as they have gone, Is certain.
promising, Puma district is, to great ex
tent. a wild UNEMPLOYED region on the grea
Island of Hawaii, and has but two tnous
and inhabitants, most of whom are natlVe
living IN their aboriginal style Ill gras
huts The district is capable or supportlh
in comfort and prosperity one hunureu 'H .'u
in these Islands one acre of good land WI
snnnort eight people. The Puma district
abont ten miles wide and fifty long, SO on
can understand what an enormous p0puls
lation il is capable of sustaining. funa
like most of Hawaii, is very rocky an
| sterile, Inc UOTUntTu pdit 10 No'ShSu, ,
dense lauhala forest, and is very Vhihl
This district is covered with ancient Law
flows. The only flow OF recent date Is tls
of 1910, which flowed under ground Ic
MANY miles, and then burst forth In IN
woods and went down to the sea, owe
: whelming small village in its course 1
i the course of this flow may be found lay
I and trees made by the hot tide rushing llS
on avalanche down the mountain alike. an
striking tree with such force as to splas
the molten lava up one side, sometimes
: the height of a hu1dred feet, where IL coo
ed and hardened and, after, the wood Durne
ont i'm the center, it left lava tree.
There is something remarkable ABOUT ii
fertility of Hawaiian soil. Lava nov
Z are soon covered with ferns, which al
Il great fertilizers. Then follows den'
d growth of forest vines and thickets formln
r an Uncomfortable jungle, so that one is con
nelled to cut his way through.
Deep unfathOmable chasms and cavern
are quite abundant in Puma. Some OF the
{ cayeIns extend for miles underground WI
v MANY branches leading off from the ma
. entrance. Ii is not safe TO venture into
a cave without a competent guide.
Mr.. Wright, of the Wilder Steamsh
Company, has incorporated coffee associ
ton with paid-up capital of S6,OOO LOT u
~ purpose of opening up the c0ffee country
Il Puma. The company has purchased thr
" hundred acres of the best coffee lands
Puma. to be divided into ten acre lots, al