The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-09-18
CHANCE FOR
FARMERS
Jared Smith Talks
of WahiaWa
Colony.
HOMESTEAD LAW
IS GOOD MEASURE
Suggests That Military Reservation
be Divided Up Into Twenty
Acre Farms.

Y THE small farmer is and will be a
success on the Hawaiian Islands," re-
marked Jared Smith of the Agricul-
tural Experiment Station yesterday
I His remark was called forth as the re-
suit of his visit of inspection to the
California colony at Wahiawa, where
he spent Saturday and Sunday. II am
sure they will make a great success
of their undertaking., he continued
they have had hard time of it. but
now are on the high road to success
and prosperity in my opinion.
The thirteen families there have an
average of one hundred acres apiece
under successful cultivation They are
now going in for the growing of pine
apples on large scale.
Farming is at best drudgery and
requires painstaking and constant ap-
plication. These people have stuck to
their task in the face Of obstacles that
would dishearten many man. They
are all good farmers and know their
business. At first they had to con-
tend with many difficulties. The prin-
cipal pests were the japanese beetle
and the melon fly which did consid-
cradle damage, as did other insectse
The soil to begin with, was acid, but
the continued cultivation, and constant
exposure to the air is sweetening the
earth now, and they are having no more
trouble on that account
These men have demonstrated that
nearly everything can be raised on the
Islands. They are located at an eIeva-
ton of six hundred feet and the climate
is fine and bracing. The lack of water
will soon be remedied. when the ditch
from Waialua is completed. About four
miles are already laid, and within six
months the Wahiawa farmers will have
all the water they require.
They have successfully raised garden
truck and vegetables of every kind
The sweet potatoes raised there are
among the finest / have ever seen
Peach and pear trees have been set out,
and will no doubt bear fruit Melons
have been successfully cultivated by
the farmers of Wahiawa, and they have
demonstrated that sugar cane may be
raised there without the use of much
water. l do not think though that they
will go in for the cultivation of cane
even after they get their water supply,
as they have not enough land to make
it profitable. Pineapples appear to be
har 40,
will begin cultivation of them on a
large scale very soon. They will raise
only those of most commercial value,
not the finer grades of fruit which are
uncertain, but those best adapted for
the market, and which are easier of
cultivation.
The small farmer is just what Ha-
Waii needs, and they would be a great
benefit to the Territory. I heartily ap-
prove of the Homestead Lease Law, it
is an excellent thing for the people of
the Islands. The United States could
not do anything better than devote the
military reservation to the small farm
er, and divide it among them in tracts
of twenty or forty acres each. There
are 400 acres in the tract set aside
y
be used for that purpose it might we'll
be given over to the small farmer
Twenty acres is enough for one man, as
five acres is sufficient to sustain a
family if properly planted In case of
a blockade Honolulu would be in a sad
plight. Her food supply cut off even
temporarily would work great hardship
This much was demonstrated in the
scarcity of food caused by the San
Francisco strike. If Hawaii had lot
of small farmers they could raise
enough to feed our own people, and
should be able to export fruits out of
season. The military reservation is
good farming land and if given out I'M
der the provisions of the Homestead
Lease law in small tracts of twenty
acres would be a greater thing for the
country than even the encampment of
a military force upon it.
The owners of large plantations
could do nothing better than sublet
small tracts to farmers willing to make
their homes here. The farmers on Oahu
have of course a better market for
their produce, than those of the other
Islands but l think farming on small
scale on the other Islands could easily
be made profitable"