The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-10-21
So Says Sim Mack Of American
Trading Company
MAKES TRIP THROUGH OLAA,
Surprised ar Showing Made ali Along Volcano
Road-much Must be Learned BY Careful
decentralization Of Soil ami Amos
phere Peculiar TO Hawaii-Sman Planters.

Another gentleman who knows the
coffee business from a to z has re-
turned from the Olaa district with this
legend pasted in his hat: II went,
saw. and was convinced This man is
none other than Sim Mack, the genial
Representative of the American Trad
ing Company. Mr.. Mack is now on
his way to the Orient to complete ar
rangements for the construction of a
line of railroad for which the Chinese
! Government contracted with the Am
erican Trading Company some time
ago. Ii Hung Chang has since been
on his sight seeing tour, and naturally
enough he ought to want more rail-
roads Mr. Mack takes this for grant
ed, of course, and before he returns
will endeavor to argue good progress
sive ideas into the head of the Chinese
Viceroy.
Having heard something of Hawaii
an coffee, Mr.. Mack stopped over one
steamer to take a look at the situation
in the coffee districts. 1t may be well
coffee business since a boy, and up to
last year had conducted a coffee bro
kerage business since 1887. While he
has not had extensive experience in
planting coffee, his business has taken
him through all the coffee countries of
Central and South America, so that he
not only knows a good coffee bean
when he sees it, but also has a good eye
for coffee trees.
Mr.. Mack tells of his impressions in
a style that is decidedly fiattering to
the planters, and there is no evidence
of false enthusiasm. In the first place
he was "thunderstruck" at the healthy
| and progressive appearance of the
plantations, large and small, all along
the volcano road.
Il had heard of Hawaiian coffee, y
remarked Mr.. Mack, 'but I had no
idea, and I don't believe people gen
orally in the States know how the in
dustry is building up here. Of course.
| I didn't have much time to inspect the
plantations very closely and compare
the different localities, but l have seen
enough in my short trip to lead me to
iseriously consider getting into the cot
/ fee business myself, and [ am quite
positive that my company will make a
good bid for handling Hawaiian coffee
as soon as you have any to put on the
market.
There is one thing about Hawaii
there is no place in the world that ]
have seen in which the conditions are
similar to what you have here. Pos
sibly there may be some similarity
with the Nicaragua coffee districts, ex-
Icept that planters there have heavy
rainy season to contend with. l am
going through the coffee regions of the
East Indies before l return, and pos
sibly l may strike something there
that will be like Hawaii, but I doubt
it. Your planters here must for the
most part work out their own saliva
ton, so to speak. Of course there are
certain general rules that may apply
to all countries, but the Hawaiian cof-
fee planter will have to study soil,
local climatic conditions, and expert
ment constantly to obtain the best re-
lsults.
about the relative value of the diff
ferent districts, of course I would not
care to express positive opinion, but
III will say that l don't believe the
planter has anything to fear in any dis
trict I have been in. 1t is only a
question of degree of profit. In my
whole trip up the Olaa road good
healthy looking trees were the rule
and when the tree grows well the
planters haven't very much to worry
about.
In some districts it may be found
advisable to change the variety of the
frnn sell hi oil q 10 fI1o-
= will give a larger yield. Such point:
must be decided by experiments, an(
they can only be decided in that way
Now there is a great diversity of opin
ion as to the altitude at which coffee
/ does the best. Well, every man has
/ right to his own opinion, l suppose
but | am sure / found the trees at 3,
600 feet looking as we'll as those a
1 800 feet and vice versa. But mind you
altitude isn't the only thing to take
into consideration. Haven't you seer
two farms side by side, one prosperou:
and the other going TO the dogs?
tCOffee'u grow anywhere in that dis
trict, and the man who makes the
closest study and uses the best judg
ment will be the most successful. It i:
: the same thing in every industry.
There's one thing I don't believe
you people half appreciate, and that is
the value of the coffee industry tt
: your country. Coffee is a better croI
than sugar ever thought of being. L
takes time to get the plantation start
ed, but when once bearing it is q golt
mine. There is always good market
for coffee, and there is no danger Of
over production. San Francisco uses
two million dollars worth OF coffee il
la year, and China and Japan are today
buying Central American cOffees. Is
there any reason why you shouldn't
have a slice out of these two markets
There is no cause for the Hawaiian
coffee planter to look blue. In fact the
outlook is most excellent, If l am any