The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1898-09-30
EXPANSION.

There can be no doubt about the
energy which is being displayed in
bringing large tracts of land, which
have hitherto remained idle, under
cultivation. But there is a vast area
yet which Will repay the toll of the
cultivator and give him a good living.
1t is well sometimes to look back
and see what really has been done.
Ten years ago there was not a stick
of sugar cane between Honolulu and
Waialua. Now there are three plan
tations. Fifteen years ago there was
hardly a house on the Kula of Maui,
now you can count them by hundreds,
and a large business is carried on in
potatoes, corn and pigs. The cultiva-
ton of the Kula is the more interest
ing because it Shows what can be de-
veloped here in the minor industries
The whole of that slope of Haleakala
has been taken up in small sections
by Portuguese, NOrwegians, japanese,
Chinese and probably other nationali-
ties, and these people make a good
living and save money. People who
say that the small farmer cannot live
in this country, have never seen the
small farmer as he appears in Maui. \
trip through Kula is the best answer
to any such contention.
But there is a section of the Islands
which presents equally good facilities
for people of this class which is at
present comparatively uneXploited.
The uplands of Waimea, and around
the mountain slopes above Kaalaea
on Hawaii. afford just as good oppor-
tunities for the raising of profitable
crops as the sides of Haleakala. In
point of fact. during the fifties all the
land above Kawaihae was used to
raise potatoes for the California mar
ket, and very handsome profits were
made in those days. OF course we can
have no such profitable market now,
but there is no doubt that good re-
turns might be obtained from similar
cultivation.
On the uplands of Waimea it has
been demonstrated that any of the
products of the temperate zone can be
raised. We send two thousand miles
for vegetables and hay, which might
be raised practically at our own door.
At the present time all this land is
used for is to raise a few cattle
When the area of land is as limited
as it is on the Islands, it can be put
to a great deal better purpose than
cattle raising. The lands here spoken
of are capable of supporting a large
population, the climate is healthy, and
there is everything in favor of those
who settle upon them. The TING un-
doubtedly will come when it will be
impossible to lock up lands to so lit
tie purpose as these lands are kept in
today.
The success of country lies in the
ability of the people to obtain homes
If we have class of people that work
on the land, and get their living in a
sturdy, Independent way, we shall
have gone a long way towards solving
many of the problems, social and po-
litical, which now trouble us. That
we shall get such a class in time there
is very little doubt. When the capa-
bilities of the Islands are better un-
derstood, when it is made clear that
all the work need not necessarily be
conducted on the hot low lands, but
that there are elevated tracts which
yield the products of the temperate
zone, and where the climate is as
bracing as that of California, the peo-
pie we desire will find their way here.
The fact is that we are only just be-
ginning to find out the capabilities of
the country. In another fifty years
the entire face of it will be changed.