The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-07-07
Central America Fruits
Shipped to California.
Pine Apples at Starvation Prices
High FreightS Have Killed
Hawaiian Fruits.

For years past a leading industry in
fruits for export Chinese have been
largely interested, and have shipped
thousands of punches. For pineapples
and bananas San Francisco has de-
pended to a great extent upon Hawaii
for it's supply of the luscious fruit, and
few years ago man came here from
Victoria and engaged, among other
things, in shipping bananas to British
Columbia, and as far East as Winni-
peg, Manitoba. This man is still re-
membered by some of the growers, for
he never came back
Except in growing pineapples, there
has been no increase in the number of
fruit producers in the Islands, so that
whatever reduction has been made in
the price of bananas is not due to COM
petition, locally, as is the case with 9TH
er fruits. 1t is not difficult to remember
when sugar-loaf pineapples were sold
on the streets here for IS cents each.
The same quality and size fruit may be
had today for third of that price, and
even less.
Our competition comes from an
other direction said NJ. P. Robinson,
large shipper of Hawaiian fruits, last
night, land for that reason it does
not pay to send away Hawaiian banan-
as or pines. For about three years past
Central American fruits are shipped
into New Orleans, thence to San Fran
cisco and other California cities, and
sold for less than we can afford to sell
Hawaiian fruits. Before this tremen-
dous competition began, Hawaii prac
tically controlled the California mar
ket in these two products.
'I do not think they can grow fruits
much cheaper than we, but they have
a great advantage over us in the mat
ter of freights. We pay 65 or rs cents
freight on a bunch of bananas, while
the Central American planter lands his
in San Francisco for 20 cents a bunch.
The same may be said of pineapples.
Ours used to fetch big price, but what
can a grower do if he has to compete
with the Central American product that
sells in San Francisco at so cents a
dozen. In point of flavor, our fruit is
better but the masses want qauntity
rather than quality.
For shipping purposes the upland
banana. like those grown at Kalihi, is
superior to that grown in swamp lands.
The difference is this: Upland fruit
ripens hand at time, so that you
can hang a bunch in a room and have
ripe and green fruit until the bunch is
consumed. Waikiki fruit ripens all at
once. You hang up bunch today, for
instance, and in two or three days the
fruit is dropping to the floor. This
grade is too treacherous to ship to the
Coast, for even when it is picked quite
green the bunch may go to pieces when
a few days from port.
Until we get some concession in
the matter of freights, it is useless for
us to compete in California or any
where else in the United States with
Central American bananas, for the
whole country seems to be supplied
from that part of the country For the
North the fruit is shipped from New
Orleans to New York, and that made
the distributing point.
with annexation, there may be
steamship competition between San
Francisco and this port, and freights
be cheaper. In former years, be-
fore we had such competition
with the South, thousands of
lunches were shipped by each steamer
leaving here, but excessive freight rates
have driven us, practically, out of the
market. Some people have an idea
that with annexation the number of
fruit growers will increase, but I do
not think so. I have disposed of my
planting interests, and I do not think
I shall embark in it again when an