Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-02-06
Attempts to Raise Rice.

Previous to 1858 several attempts had
been made to introduce the cultivation Of
rice. but without success. In the latter year
the Hawaiian Agricultural Society succeed
ed In purchasing tract Of land in Nuuanu
valley, and in March. 1885, appointed H.
Holstein as manager and curator Of the
tablishment. A quantity Of paddy-rics
with the hull on-that the society had pro-
cured from the East Indies, was planted in
an old taro patch on May f. On September
IA the rice was harvested. AS there
no rice mill the islands the paddy was
taken to -four mill in Honolulu and pre-
pared there, but the rice grains were so
small and dark in color that they were I'M
marketable. In 1859 the same want of sue
cess was experienced. In 1860 four pounds
OF rice from South Carolina was procured.
From this forty-four pounds Of good seed
rice was secured at the end of the first har-
vest. This was distributed to whoever
wanted it. -Four pounds of 1t was planted
in an old taro patch of about one-fifth OF
an acre, and the yield 1.163 pounds of
paddy of large and full grains. This Gre
ated great excitement. Everybod wanted
to go into rice cultivation at once as an
easy and quick way of getting rich, and as
a result many taro patches were converted
into rice fields, in many instances the grow
Ing tarO being torn up to make room for the
rice. Considerable suffering followed as
result Of this, most of the rice sent
to California, and neither rice nor taro
could be bought. Taro was the principal
food of the natives. and the scarcity
sequent upon this change caused it to be-
come expensive
In 1862 the export to California was ILL.,
COS pounds of rice and So, 1I6 pounds of
paddy. For the first two or three years all
rice had to be shipped to San Francisco, as
there were no mills on the islands. and dur
ing this time considerable loss was sustained
because these mills were unable to handle
the quantity sent, and the storage charges
were high. Owing to this number who
had gone into the business failed, while
others dropped 1t and resumed taro grow
ing, for which high prices were prevailing.
BY 1855 several mills had been established
and the business put on a solid basis. and
since then there has been an almost uni.
form increase in production.
Grown in Water.
As rice must be grown in water, expen-
sive irrigation dams and canals have been
built, by means of which water can be
stored in the rainy season and later on adj
mitted to the fields when needed. This in
many instances involved delicate problems
in hydraulics, but in most cases these were
worked out years ago by the native Ha-
waiians. who used the land for the growth
of taro, which is the favorite vegetable yet
with them. AS the taro had to be grown
in water, the same as rice, 1t was an easy
matter to change from one to the. other.
AS the Chinese offered high prices for the
land-from $25 to $50 an acre being paid as
rent-the natives gladly leased their lands,
and as a result the crop Of taro has de-
creased as the rice crop increased.
The rice fields are in the lowlands and
valleys, close to the ocean or bays, where
sugar cane cannot be grown to advantage.
These lands are divided Into small fields,
containing usually half an acre or less. by
levees raised about fifteen inches above the
level of the field. Should the land be level
all the fields are at the same elevation, but
if the land slopes the fields are laid out like
terraces. each being from one to two feet
lower than the one next above 1t. These
levees are formed by throwing out the soil
from the field to make the latter level The
field is then prepared for planting by being
first ploughed up. After the ploughing Is
finished, the water from the irrigation ditch
is turned into the field, and the latter al
lowed to soak thoroughly, after which
harrow is used in breaking up the Jumps
and smoothing the soil.