Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1902-10-27

The Farmers Institute held a sic.
cessful meeting at Wahiuwi Culvny
Saturday night by way Of closing the
years work. In the absan &C of Presi-
dent Jared c. Smith, the yice-president
presided at the meeting. Mr.. kIauss.
In opening the work Of the evening
made a few Introductory remarks, trac
ing the movement that led to thu cstab.
lishment Of the Farmers' Institute.
A very interesting and instructive
paper on Vegetable Gardening" was
presented by T. u kraIss.
Common usage of the term Vegetable
Gardening makes its meaning so well
understood that shall not attempt
definition of my own. A more obscure
Latin-made term Oler-i-cul-ture. has
recently been Invented to designate this
branch of agriculture, the word being
coordinate with Pomology and Flori-
culture, and though the term appears
in some of the more formal writings.
think we need not fear its general use,
Vegetable gardening may be divided
into two categories. depending on the
disposition to be made of the products.
With the home. or kitchen and anna
teuT garden all are familiar, while mar
kef and truck gardening are terms used
in the business of growing vegetables
on a commercial scale; the former sell
ing its products in local markets. usual
ly in large assortment. the latter for
distant shipping in larger quantities,
and of few or single kind, chief
among which are-asparagus, cabbage,
celery. onions. tomatoes. ETC., a direct
outgrowth of industrial conditions,
among which are modern methods OF
canning and preserving. refrigeration
in storage and in transit, and rapid
freight movement OF perishable prod
ucts. These agencies are of compare
lively recent development and to them,
in a great measure, is due the rapidly
increasing acreage devoted to vegetable
growing in the United States.
Magnitude Of Gardening.
| have thought a brief summary OF
statistics on vegetable growing. as Civ
en- in the twelfth United States Census
Report, just to hand, may be suggestive
tude of this branch Of agriculture in
the United States:
The total acreage and value OF vege-
tables including field crop of Irish and
sweet potatoes. for 1889 Is placed at
5.I5S,l91 acres, being per cent of all
farm crops for that year, their value
being estimated at S242. 40. 1iS, or S.3
per cent Of all farm crops; making an
average value of $40 per acre for yege-
tables as against 1904 per cent for
other crops. OF this immense acreage,
slightly more than 80 per cent was de-
voted to Irish potatoes. Next come
sweet potatoes with an acreage, includ-
ing that of yams. of 537,i47. and the
value of the crop Is stated to be sl9,-
$4,000. Sweet potatoes. as you know,
cannot be successfully grown over so
wide territory as the Irish potato, its
extensive production being confined
mainly to the Southern States and
California. These sections, however,
seem to supply all home demands I'M
der ordinary conditions, and 1t there
fore does not seem likely that Hawaii
need look to the Mainland for an out :
let Of this crop. The onion crop comes
third in importance, the area OF 47,9S3
acres valued at s6,637 ,625; an average
value of slSS.33. This may seem at
first thought promising field for our
Hawaiian trucker, yet, my California
experience leads me to believe that we
cannot compete successfully with the
Mainland in onion growing. Our ell
mate may be favorable. in fact we have
grown choice bulbs of a half dozen
varieties at Kamehameha, but in gen
eral our soils are as yet too raw for
. this eXacting crop, except 1t be in limit
cd areas. However, we should by all
means supply our home demand
| doubtless herein an opportunity awaits
some skilled gardener.
, OF miscellaneous vegetables grown
for the market, an acreage of 1,l75,200
is reported, OF the above, Hawaii and
Alaska are credited with 1921 acres.
The total value of the produce is given
. as S227,746, an average OF Sli9.73 per
acre. Unfortunately these two new
!, Territories have been thrown together
in the census report, thus depriying uS
OF more exact statistics for Hawaii.
Vegetable Imports.
Also, have | been unable to obtain
even approximate figures covering our
imports OF vegetable products, but
have no doubt but that good many
thousands of dollars in hard cash are
: annually exchanged for stale vegetables
and canned goods that might be
grown here and of superior quality
That the present state of affairs should
exist must be apparent to all thinking
men, and the wonder is that our enter.
prislng Chinese gardeners have not
brought a change ere this. II seems to
me the opportunity for superior intelli.
gence and skill, and | base my con,
. illusions on years residence and ex,