The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1901-05-17
OUR COFFEE
INTERESTS
Practical Talk on
the Outlook
Ahead.

An interesting interview on the subject
OF coffee planting was obtained by the
Advertiser yesterday afternoon from
Mr. A. Louisson of Honokaa Hawaii,
who is engaged in coffee culture in that
district and is now in this City on a
short business trip.
81 would like" said Mr. Louisson, Ito
torial that appeared in the columns of
express my entire appreciation of an edi-
your paper some few days ago in favor
of a law laying duty on coffee. /
think II is only fair that the home cof-
fee-growers of America should be pro-
tected In this industry, likely to become
so important factor in the produce of
our lately acquired possessions"
Mr.. Louisson has lately returned from
trip to the Coast made In the inter-
ests of the coffee industry and is en-
thusiastic over the future of coffee in
these Islands, If a reciprocity system
can be brought to bear upon the western
coffee-roasters and dealers. "All that
is needed" said he, would be for the
larger plantation agents down here, who
handle coffee, to instruct their buying
agents in San Francisco to buy their
grocery supplies only of those firms who
would be willing to handle Hawaiian
coffee. OF course, there are many firms
handling groceries that do not roast
coffee, but of those that do there are
very few who would not be willing o
purchase Island coffee on this basis.
This fact have myself proven by the
readiness with which l was enabled to
get rid of the coffee that had for sale
and by the talks that / had with the
more prominent coffee merchants and
brokers.
"They have no fault to find with the
product of the Hawaiian berry when
properly selected and dried. Indeed, the
opinion Of the expert roasters is that
our product is equal to that of Java.
When 1 propounded the pertinent query
as to whether they had much trade with
Java, the answer was Practically none
/ then asked If it was fair that Hawaii
should do the buying and Java secure
the trade in return for nothing at all?
The answers / received enlightened me
rs to the wherefore of the present de-
preston in coffee.
THE Hawaiian berry has never been
properly placed upon the market. The
grocers have never been. approached up
on the reciprocity basis that have sug-
gested until now; Hawaiian coffee has
been placed at too high figures, and diff
ferent lots of the product that have
reached San Francisco have not been
hand picked; that is, the badly dried or
sour berries have not been eliminated
after fermentation has taken place.
Native coffee is by Coast dealers plac-
ed upon the same basis as Central
Americans and the price thus graduated
has been less, on account of the sour
berries, than the planters expected or
were willing to accept. The brokers
generally have given a black eye to Ia
waiian coffee They have all of them
made their money through Central
Americans and it is perhaps only natur-
al that they should be Indifferent to our
claims.
ITO be successful, all our coffee should
be handled through one broker who
would be willing to devote his entire in
terests to our coffee and think that I
have found this man. The badly selected
coffee that has reached the market has
been largely the product of the small
growers, mostly Portuguese, who have
not the proper means of drying the ber
ry, and do not attempt to take the nee
essary care, often leaving the drying cof-
fee exposed on the mating to the dews
and rain. and then piling up the berries
in heaps until the sun comes out again,
thus getting them musty. 1t would be
my idea for the larger planters to buy
out the product of these smaller fry in
but still uncrushed, then pulping and
preparing the coffee for the market in
their own drying-rooms. The picking
over by hand of the berries is a most i'm
portant matter, only costing about one
cent pound to do, and bringing three
or four cents extra for the selected crop.
THE broker, too, is another essential
feature. the larger firms refusing to
buy through any other source.
BIOL vl~ l.. gr,an l,..
future of Hawaii as a coffee-producer
suggested what I consider a very prac-
ticable plan. To raise among the plant
ers and agents here a sum of money, say
about 5000 or even $4,000, to be expend-
ed in articles to be placed in the promi-
nent Eastern monthlies. The articles
would be Illustrated OF course. and
should do much toward interesting the
public in general in Hawaiian coffee.
"Coffeets not a particularly hard plant
to cultivate on the generous soil of the
attitudes of these Islands. 1t requires
some money, of course, to start with,
but not any more than the capital avail
able to the class of agriculturists that
planted the orange groves of Florida and
California, Far more certain are the
profits and far less the labor
AFTER the first rough work of Telling
the trees is accomplished, there is little
to be done that even the women of the
household could not handle. The work,
out of doors in the finest climate of the
world. would build up mans constitu-
ton while also building up his fortune.
The ideal climate for coffee-growing is
an ideal climate as far as health is con-
cerned. There is no better climate In the
world than that to be found In the up
land coffee belts of these Islands.
Coffee growing has been presented
hitherto in a discouraging light 10 those
making enquiries Everything else has
been lost sight of In the light of the SUI
gar industry. Folks taking up the cof-
fee lands have been strongly urged by
the sugar planters TO grow cane. on the
principle of course. that the more cane