The Hawaiian gazette., 1901-02-26
HAWAIIAN
COFFEE.

tho columns OF the Advertiser, TO which
was appended the signature OF WELL
known coffee. planter In Hawaii.
! The gist OF the letter was to show that
the coffee Industry in Hawaiian terri
tory Is rapidly going to the dogs" and
that unless someone-who In particular
I II will soon arrive at this ill-starred
destination.
/ A story Is told that "once upon a
time. not many years ago" military
man having discovered liaison OF a
questionable character between his wife
and IA brother-oiiicer. carried his grew
ance to the colonel Of the regiment, and
asked him, What he should dor with
an angry gesture, combined with look
of contempt, the superior officer banged
his fist on the table and exclaimed,
- IL all sir. what have you done?
! This interlude Is somewhat irrelevant
to the matter under review. but the
question put by the incorporating COL
onel to the inactive outraged husband
may pertlnently be asked the bewailing
Hawaiian e-planter--"What have
you done?"
There seems to be little doubt that the
latter is at the present time sorely puz-
zled how to make two ends meet.
When a florist discovers that the leaves
OF a plant begin to droop and become
limp, the first thing that he does is to
examine its roots. SO 1t should be with
the coffee-growing fraternity in these
Islands; let them get at the root of
their distress.
Were Hawaiian coffee-planters asked
individually to give their opinion as to
the cause OF the existing gloomy out
look, the probabilities are the replies
would be as diversified as the colorS of
a Kaleidoscope. And therein lies one i'm
portant element. for 1t discloses a want
of unanimity in the industry.
To make this industry a success, 1t Is
necessary that there should be coalition
amongst the growers. Primarily. there
should be a mutual understanding as to
the price TO be paid for labor. and the
number of hours each day the laborers
should be called upon TO work In this
way the pay list would be kept down,
as no one estate would then offer greater
inducement than another III .he points of
work and wage.
An exchange of experiences in the
method of cultivation and results is
highly eXpedient Secretiveness in this
respect is most blameworthy. Should any
one planter happen to discover that
particular style of pruning. handling,
etc, produces better results than that
commonly adopted, he should let his
neighbors share in the benefits to be de-
rived from his personal experience, and
not bottle up his knowledge-as Is too fire.
quently done all over the world-if not
in coffee in other mundane pursuits.
1t has been said that owing to the ber-
ries ripening all the year round the cost
gathering makes it almost prohibitive.
Probably If 1t were said here that this
ripening of the berries in driblets could
be prevented, some of the older hands
might be heard to say something about
grandmothers and stocking eggs; never
tln.1. 10, I.,Y,
the deduction that judicious pruning in
season would have a beneficial effect,
and confine the blossoming to a limited
period large number of plants are
susceptible to careful pruning in this
way. True, Liberian coffee Is notable
exception to this theory; but this varie
ty of the fragrant bean can, In a meas
ure, be brought to reason in It's time of
blossoming. under the influence of the
knife.
The high figure that has to be paid for
labor is another reason given for the
depression. Undoubtedly labor is costly
and there does not appear to be mucn
chance of its being less SCAT any rate.
in the immediate future-it therefore be-
hooves the employer to work with
few hands as possible. consistent with
the proper cultivation of his estate.
Nearly every one knows that paid la
Dor in ninety-ni cases out Of hun
dred, has to be driven: also that when
man has personal interest in his
work. beyond his wage. he sets-to will
lingly; the consequence being that the
work is better done--and more of it. AS
such Is the case, why not give each en-
ploye "a pecunary interest in the results
of his labor, i'll the form of a bonus. to
be regulated by the profits? Were this to
be done, the number of men on the
check-roll might be materially reduced
Iaf ,npt 70 thn
The writer of the letter referred to
stated that planters could not sell their
coffee at any price-for, five cents a
pound to be taken out in stores" Is no
price. There is something radically
wrong here!
Hawaiian coffee is unquestionably of
the coffee Arabica species, although the
berries are different in shape to those
grown in Ceylon. This. however, is not
discouraging. There is no coffee more
appreciated or that fetches higher
price in Australia than that which is
sent from New Caledonia; and there the
trees and berries are fac simile to those
grown and borne in these Islands Again,
Bourbon coffee is at high premium in
Mauritius and Seychelles. The bean
produced on that island is also similar to
Hawaiian coffee. II may, however be
mentioned that one cause for Bourbon
coffee being in such high favor is its
cholce aroma. This is attributed to its
being dried in the cherry, as is the case
with the best Mocha.
Wherein then is the cause of Hawaiian
coffee being drug on the market?
II conjecture be permissible on the
part of one who engaged in the indus
try in Ceylon during many years when
coffee was king" in that spicy isle, the
assumption is that the beans are want
ing In uniformity, both in color and
har hNrtNAthA.T. a.,
sonally trash is put on the market, and
this has got the staple bad name. Here
by parenthesis, let n note of warning be
sounded for the benefit OF those who are
now embarking in vanilla culture. Rather
than send lean and foxy beans-for OF
these in crop there will always be
some-into the market, put them into the
hre Hawaiian territory has yet to
make name for itself as a vanilla-pro
ducing country; therefore, don't damn
the industry in its infancy by trying to
sell the sweepings-there is a sufficiency
11I