The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-08-10
PA STARCH
FOR EXPORT
Jared Smith Sees
Chance for
Farmers.
Believes Industry Could
Be Made Profit
able One.
Discusses Possibility Of Growing
Manioc on Large Scale for
Export Trade.

l. y
rKanioc or pia is the latest industry
which Jared G. Smith, director Of the
UNITED States Agricultural Experiment
station, believes should be fostered in
Hawaii He sees in the manufacture
| of this starch for export a good pro-
| fit for whoever will try it. H. w.
| Wiley, chief Of the chemistry bureau of
| the Agricultural Department has been
| asked by Mr. Smith, in regard to the
| starch. and has given much encour-
| agement. DR.. Wiley believes that the
| cultivation of manioc or pia should be
undertaken extensively and says that
| there is a good demand for the starch
In the east. The manufacture of this
starch cannot be exactly called a new
| industry here, for there Is already one
| factory in the islands, that Of w.
H. Rice at Lihue, Kauai. His starch
| is used only in the local trade, but
| Director Smith believes that a good
paying industry can be built up on the
mainland, where there is much demand
for the manioc starch. Florida is the
only other place where it is being Gull
tivated.
Il see no reason why the manufac-
ture of cassava or tapioca starch from
the manioc cannot be developed in the
islands," said Professor Smith yester-
day. THE pia. which is the native
name for the plant, grows very well
indeed, in the islands. 1t grows so
well and so little care is required that
all the cultivation needed after plant
ing is to pull out few weeds now and
then.
There is already a mill for the man.
ufacture of the pia starch at Lihue,
Kauai, and it seems to me that the in
dustry could be developed on a much
larger scale. and that the starch could
be made for export trade. I have writ
ten to DR.. Wiley, the Department
chemist in regard to the matter and
have received number Of encourag-
ing letters in reply. He writes that
there is a good market for the starch
among the textile manufacturers of
the east and at much better prices
than can be obtained for the potato
starch.
1.-THE cassava starch can be used both
for food purposes and in the textile
industries. The potato starch is not
much sought after by the textile man
ufacturer and If manioc stands on the
same basis, there is a good chance
here for it's production for export on
a large scale. DR.. Wiley says there
is a good market for it in the tex
tile trade, and if it is made in suffi-
cient quantities, 1t is his opinion that
IL can be marketed in the east with
out much trouble.
THE pia grows wild and without Gull
tivation in some parts of the islands.
1t averages about four or five tons to
the acre and in some parts as high as
eight tons to the acre. About five
tons is the proper basis per yield an
acre. 1t takes five tons of the tubers
to make ton of starch, so that the
yield Of starch likely will be from
1900 to $500 pounds per acre. The starch
will bring about three and a half cents
per pound in the eastern markets, so
that there ought to be quite a margin
of profit OF course il isn't.as paying
an industry as the raising of sugar
cane and some other things, but yet
IL is one which will be a convenient
side issue for many people. The pia
grows so very easily and with such I
little trouble, that 1 see no reason why |
its cultivation cannot be undertaken !
on large scale. At least il is a crop
which will do well for export and which !
at the same time does not require a
large investment of capital"