The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1900-08-21
CANE SUGAR TO BE DETHRoNED.

Ever since il was founded The Re
publican has been urging the cullivl-
ton Of diversified crops in Hawaii. It
has. so far as It could, pointed out the
profits 10 be made from raising small
fruits and vegetables for the markets
Of the mainland. Now that the duty is
removed. ali these products can 5o
landed at San Francisco at a large
profit. Il has pointed out the fact that
alfalfa and other food products for an
imals which are now shipped from the
coast can be raised here to the i'm
mensc profit Of the grower.
In the face OF the great prosperity of
Hawaii as sugar producer it is max
ing a broad assertion TO say that what
Is now Hawaii's great staple and
source OF profit viii within a few
years be her ruin If conditions do not
rapidly change, but such is the fact.
nevertheless. We do not wish to De
an alaTmist, but the time is fast ap-
preaching when Hawaii must turn her
land to the cultivation of other crops
than sugar cane. Sugar cane will al
ways be a staple in this Territory be-
cause CT the peculiar fitness of the soil,
but some of the land must be devoted
to other products.
As cotton was king in the South be-
.ore The civil war, so is sugar king in
Hawaii now The result of the South
only having one product was quickly
seen when the war came on and the
ports were blcckaded. A southern
writer in the Century in 1883, in de-
scribing the~conditions in the South
in the second year of the war, said
that even the salt wells had not been
developed and sak became a luxury.
Rich as the South was in natural re
sources of iron and coal, the mines had
not been developed, and not until 1864
was small iron furnace in operation
whore Admission, Ala, now STANDS.
Factories of all kinds had been neglect
ed and wagons and gun carriages were
hard to secure. The South felt the
effect Of having given over all her en-
engles to the cultivation of cotton TO
the exclusion of other industries.
The Republican publishes on another
page today a summary of the sugar
beet crops in seventeen states OF the
union as compiled by the Louisiana
Planter They show that the sugar
beet industry is going ahead with leaps
and bounds. The time is fast ap-
preaching when the United States will
produce all the sugar 1t uses, aside
from the manufacture of certain grades
of candies. from the beet. The August
number Of the Beet Sugar Gazette con-
tains letters from correspondents at
twenty-five different factories in the
United States from twelve different
states. all Of which speak in glowing
terms OF the good crops this year and
the promise OF more farmers in the
vicinity to go into the cultivation of
sugar heets.
These factories ans located in dis
tricts where sugar beets will pay bet
ter than any other crop. They have
not the advantages possessed by land
owners in Hawaii, who can supplant
sugar cane with oranges, lines, ba-
nanas, grapes, lemons, avocado pears
guavas and other fruits. not to man-
tion garden vegetables which will
yield as handsome. If not better. re-
taTns than sugar cane
The Gazette further shows that new
sugar factories are TO be established |
in five states. notably North and South |
Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ore |
gon. With all this growth in the bee.
sugar industry in the states growers
in this Territory Will do well TO begin
devoting some of the land in their pos
session to the production of other
crops, Experiment with them, IL moth
ing else, so as 10 take up what prom
ises TO be the most profitable when
the day comes for change. as come