The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1903-01-20
with ALL
HIS FAULTS
AN EXPERT ON
PINEAPPLES
THE BIGGEST DEALER IN THE
UNITED STATES GIVES A FLAT
TERING PROMISE FOR HAWAII.

"No industry could possibly have bet
ter conditions for success than the
pineapple industry of Hawaii las right
at the present moment" said Paul Tay-
lor Brown a passenger by the Hong
Kong Maru.
Mr. Brown is the head of the Paul
Taylor Brown Company of New York,
the largest importers of canned pine
apples in the United States. He is just
returning from a trip to Singapore
where his house controls three pineap-
pie canneries. The output of the pine
apple canneries of Singapore is 600
cases of four dozen cans each, or a.,
100000 cans a year. This output is
marketed mainly in England and Aus
tralia.
"The best canned pineapples that
come to the worlds market" said Mr..
Brown, ARE from Jamaica. Those of
Hawaii which are now just beginning
to come into the market and are not
yet shipped In sufficient quantities to
make much impression on the market,
bare fully equal in quality. l don't
know but they are better. There is no
doubt but that Hawaii can raise i'm
mense quantities of pineappIes. The
experiments already made and the
plantations already established, prove
that. Well then here is your situation:
Hawaii and Porto Rico are the only
parts of the United States where pine
apples can be grown. Florida raises a
few for the green fruit market, but
under great disadvantages of soil and
climate which puts her entirely out of
competition for the canned fruit mar
ket. Porto Rican doesn't raise L..
but she can. The duty on canned
pineapples is specific duty of one cent
pound and an ad valorem duty of
thtrty-five per cent. This make an ad-
vantage of about sixty cents a dozen
cans as against any foreign competitor
in itself a good profit. Then every pi-
neapple interest in the country, includ-
| ing the Florida growers and the Balti-
more packers, who import the green
fruit from the Bahamas and can it in
Baltimore are in favor of sustaining the
duty, except houses like my own which
are importers. But even we have some
counter interests which just about even
up matters.
The canned pineapple trade in the
United states is in it's infancy 1t
amounts to about 100000 a year, while
the canned peach trade of California
alone amounts to 900 a year, and
why? Simply because it has been work.
ed up. The Singapore pineappIes are
not of fine enough quality to meet
the highest class trade, while the Ha-
waiian pineapple is, The only compe-
! tition in quality you will have is with
the Jamaica pineapple and you. have
the tariff to protect you against that,
and If you didn't you would still have
the territory west of the Mississippi for
your own. There is already a market
in San Francisco for all the camel
pineapple you can produce. Tour in
dustry could develop to mammoth pro-
portions before you would have to go
as far as New York for a market.
know of no business or industry which
has so much promise in it in these ISL
ands as the pineapple industry. l knew
before / came here something of the
conditions and l had already made
some small investments in pineapple
culture here. Yesterday afternoon and
this morning l looked into the matter
further and am more than ever satis-
| fled with it,"
During Mr.. Browns stay in Honolulu
J he was the guest of James d. Dole,
manager of the Hawaiian Pineapple
Company with plantations at Wahi-
ava.