The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-09-28
TO INVESTIGATE
Consul General Haywood
to Visit Hawaii.
Will Examine Into Coffee Pros
poets - May Report to
Government.

Our Government expects it's Con
suls to report on any matter of interest
or Importance to our people" said Con
sul-General Haywood yesterday, in
! speaking of his recent visit to the
lands of the Makaha Coffee Company.
What l saw out on that plantation
| leads me to believe that there is great
future in Hawaii in the coffee business.
do not understand me to pose as an
/ expert on coffee. 1 must depend en-
! tirely upon my observation and what
people tell me. 1 know, of course,
whether a plant is affected by blight
| or scale, and L know good coffee when
l drink it, l may confess, also, to hav-
ing drank poor coffee with my rail-
way sandwich in travelling about the
country, before the Pullman cafe car
kinds, l have no hesitation in saying
that Hawaiian coffee is the best l ever
tasted. At Makaha l saw coffee trees
CRYING on land covered with rocks.
them but a year and a half old were
well Iadened with berries.
This visit to Makaha was only pre-
liminary to more extended visits L
shall make among the coffee planta-
tions on Hawaii. G. l.. Wight has ask
ed me to go with him on tour of in
spection, leaving here October 18th.
We will visit all the plantations on
that Island, and if l find matters sat
isfactory l will make a report to my
Government. | shall not be surprised
to find plantations where the ground
is not as clear as a garden. l am pre-
pared for anything, and it is the trees
and berries which will have my atten-
ton, whether they grow on land COW
cred with fern trunks or rocks. After
investigating and being convinced that
the prospects for Americans are good
/ will obtain all particulars possible
as to acquiring land. In the United
States, you know, man who wants to
take up land for agricultural purposes
simply walks into the land Office in the
district, examines the map and ascer-
tains in a moment the sections or quar-
ter-Sections vacant, but here the land
business is rather new and transfers
cannot be made as promptly. Before
making my report to Washington
must also ascertain as nearly as pos
sible the amount of money necessary
for a man to have to maintain him
until there is a product sufficient to
take the place of capital.
Il understand very we'll that it is
not necessary for man taking up 100
acres of land to plant it all in cof-
fee at the very beginning. He may
plant, say, 10 acres the first year, and
put goodly portion of his acreage in
products which will help sustain him
and thus reduce the drafts on his cap
ital Some of the coffee men [ have |
talked with speak as though they con-
slider the industry only in an expert |
mental stage, but from what [ can |
gather, in some parts of the Islands |
the experiment has been a success. I |
realize the necessity for improved |
methods in treating the coffee after it !
is picked. The coffee needs grading |
for by that means | think it will bring |
a better price. So far there has not |
been enough coffee shipped to make |
much of an impression on the Cali |
fornla market, and much that goes |
there is used for blending with Cen |
trail American Coffees. If this be true, |
then the most the producer can ex-
pect for his coffee is the price of the |
cheaper Central American article |
When the Hawaiian product reaches a |
stage where it can be sold without |
by cheaper coffees, it |
should command price equal to pure
Mocha or Java, but quantity, without |
proper grading of qualities, will not |
regulate this. The coffee must be clean
and whole, not Clipped berries mixed |
with the larger quail |
ity and the pea berry These grades |
should be separated, as the wheat is |
separated from the chaff, or as one |
size of peaches in an orchard should |
be separated from smaller and inferior |
grades. These are things, of course, |
which develop in time. With the ad-
which 1 am told have been |
made within the past year, there is no
'eason why still greater improvements
n the handling will not be made with
n the next year or two, and if the fu-
.ure of coffee is what it has been rep
resented to me, [ have no doubt it will
axe precedence over sugar within the
lext decade.
Understand that my investigation
viii be made with the sole purpose of
whether coffee is a good
hing for Americans to come here and
embark in. 1 have no axes to grind.
10 fish to fry; my visit will be for bust
less, and | shall be occupied all the