The Hawaiian gazette., 1903-01-30
GROWING
GOLDEN
APPLES
Pines That Ripen
on the High
Plains.

try that Is to go to the building OF
the Greater Hawaii.
Out from under the palms and the
lands about the head of Pearl Harbor,
out through the seas of waving cane
that cover all the land as a real green
| sea might cover II. the road leads up
ward always through rich pasture
lands until the blue range of Kalihi,
handicapped and rainbow tinted, seems
to come down close to the valley, whose
ending might be the ending of the
earth for all that can be seen beyond
1t save where black cloud masses lower
over far away Kauai, the pineapple
plantation of the Pearl City Fruit Com
pany lies just where the warm sun may
| ripen the luscious fruit and the cool
| trade winds give ii that kiss of the sea
which may be the one touch that makes
the Hawaiian pineapple the finest that
grows in the world.
1t Is now four years since the pine
apple plantation was removed to its
present site from the Pearl City low
lands, and since the cannery that is 80
l II
established right on the land. 1t is this
cannery on the land that gives the Ha-
waiian product one tremendous advan-
tage in the markets of the world, for
the pines are taken from the fields to
the factory door and put into market
able packages with all their richness
and flavor unimpaired by long ship
ment and miscellaneous handling. They
are canned dead ripe. Nowhere else
can that be done to such advantage.
| And the sugar Is the sugar that grows
alongside the pines-only a dividing
fence between and sometimes not that
land that is another advantage.
THE pineapple industry on the island
of oahu is a new thing. comparatively"
said Superintendent w. II. Waters. who
is in charge of the plantation, yester-
day. I'VE had to learn 1t from the be-
ginning. We got our first plants from
Australia, but they have produced a
better fruit here. Why is that? 1t is
the climate, and the soil, and study
of conditions, ! suppose. They do bet
ter on the red uplands. Our elevation
is $50 feet and up. At all events, it has
been hard work. But the result is be-
ginning to be achieved. We began with
a very small plant, down at Pearl City
The factory now has a capacity of 49,
900 cans a day, and in the busy season
from June to December, 1t is working
full time, ! can tell you. We have 100
acres, in all, in pines now. There are
900 acres in the plantation, however
and we are putting in all the plants we
can get as fast as we raise them. Oh
yes; we raise all our own plants. That
has been one of our difficulties. We
,at .,.t ,,fn
our stock increases, we are producing
more and more and the whole planta-
ton becomes a sort of nursery of young
pineapples. The pine reproduces itself
in a way. perhaps, that many people
do not understand The plant, from
it's setting-out time, is usually eighteen
months in coming to fruition, although
occasionally one will go over the first
bearing period. When II does that, we
get ten-pound pine from II. But, or
dinarily, the plant fruits at eighteen
months. The fruit is gathered, and
after cutting, in the second year. two
plants spring from the stock of the old
one and we get double yield from II
This ration process can only be gone
through with once. But the plant
though il then dies, lives again. The
crown of it has put out plant. which
makes the choicest fruit, although thes,
plants are somewhat delicate. Tn,
plant Is constantly putting forth suck
ers, which are the ordinary plants sole
in nurseries for stock. Lastly, after tn,
plant Is useless for bearing, the Who'll,
thing is cut up and buried, and from
every leaf springs up a plant whici
In its turn bears for two years and die
and lives again I'm It's young. Thus
when you once get stock. you viii hay'
stock all the time In constantly in
creasing quantity. We have, as | hav
said, 100 acres In, These pines are o
various ages, not all bearing. Tn
, plants are set on an average. 5000 L
/, the acre. which makes on the planta
Y tion an told, al this writing, about 800.
900 plants, We harvested ana market
ed $4,000 pines last year This year
estimate that We viii double that YIELD
ana mat the crop win amount, approx
malely Ia 100000, That is a good man
u pinenpples
I'VE have had moro than one probleI
Ia meet IN reaching our present STAG
,s Of progress, In the factory, for IL
- stance, nearly an the machinery Ia
had a. De changed ana adapted 10 ol
purpose, We have changed the Old nan
method 81 handling the fruit so IN,
from tbs hrst cleaning almost 10 a
cookers u Ia handled on mechanlo
N carriers We usn tho iaarkrr saniiaI
can doing away Win acid ana sold
w the sealing ana maklng a paoka,
maj II guaranteed a. carry nOihlI
, lrlrleflous 10 health Lastly, ryery ms
!. ana woman Ahl touches the frut
10 PREPARATION fer market wears ru
Dor Stoves api so lhrrr IL 10 pnSslblll
~ ~ any fnfniEn matter Heillns into n
panH"
Ana mo product as supsglnlends
y Nalsls shaNF "a hrsls npi AN and n,0
ss lhAh all ihsi ~ Hals in iis onm,nsnd
illn. Tho fTull. delivered iu 49,.