The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-12-08
HAWAII AS 4 FIELD FOR
INVESTMENT ON CAPT tai
Continued from Yesterday

as well as some forms of deciduou
fruit. Vegetables, if properly raised, vii
= find ready local market, and in man.
[ cases can be marketed in San Francisco
[ at a profit Owing to the character o.
the climate and the soil, both of which
; resemble those of Cuba in marked
degree, certain varieties of spices, pep
per, vanilla, the castor bean, rice, coffee
and pineapples may be raised here IN
abundance. Experiments are now being
conducted in the growing of Sea Island
cotton, and everything points to success,
when this staple should prove a waltz
able addition TO the products of the is
lands, with large and assured market
in Japan and other Oriental countries,
to which Hawaii is 1000 miles nearer
than our Southern States. Rice IS
grown in large quantities by the Chinese,
and is the second largest crop exported,
| sugar being always first. Coffee comes
next in importance, about fifteen thou
sand bags being shipped to San Francisco
! last year. The island coffee, known as.
| 'Kona," is of superior quality, much
| finer than Porto Rico coffee, and of
much richer flavor than the best article
used in the States under the names of
| Mocha and lava. Several plantations
present price prevailing of from 10 to
II cents per pound, nearly SIS net profit
may be realized per acre. Some definite
action looking to the increased con-
sumption of Kona coffee should be
taken by the government. Grading cof- |
fee imported into the United States, in |
the same manner as is now done with |
tea, would be highly beneficial, and by |
eliminating the cheap grades now inn |
ported from other countries the stand |
ard of coffee consumed in the States /
would be advanced to point where all T
needed protection would be given our
own growers in Hawaii and elsewhere.
Pineapples are becoming an important
crop in Hawaii. They require practically
no water and but little cultivation, and
thus far have proved profitable. Alto
gether, there are large number of
acres under cultivation, of which the
product is sold TO local canneries at a
profit. From 5000 to 5000 pineapples are
grown to the acre, and at prevailing
prices net profit of from SI75 to $3.50
is realized. AT first the large fruit OF
Australia was grown, but recently the
smaller pines" of Cuba have been sue
cessfully introduced. This fruit is des- ]
tined, it is thought, to assume large
1t not only assures a profit .
o the grower, but as the plants require
,ut little water they solve the problem
If practically utilizing the semi-arid
ands that are not suitable for sugar
The government is now conducting in
eresting and practical experiments in
he growing of high-grade tobacco on
he island of Hawaii. An acre of suit
ble land IS being used for this purpose,
nd to obtain the best results, the ex-
'eriments are being conducted under
heese cloth, which has proved so sue
essful in Cuba. There appears to be
10 reason why the best grade of tobacco
hould not be successfully grown in
hese islands. The conditions are very
imilar to those existing in Cuba, and
With care and experience Hawaii should
re long produce a leaf that will find equal
avor with that of Cuba. The expert
nents as conducted thus far do not JUS
ify the giving out of statistics on tobac-
%. but if successful, the conditions of
obacco growing and the probable profits
hould not be unlike those of Cuba
The Yucatan fiber plant, variety of
;actus, called sisal, is destined to play
IN important part in future Hawaiian
owing to its commercial
yalue and to the fact that it, like the
pineapple, may be successfully grown
without an abundance of water.
There is one plantation of seven
hundred acres of sisal on the island of
Oahu, which markets a considerable ton
1age of this valuable rope and binding
iber. Fully 10000 acres of sisal have
'een planted and there are several hum
ired thousand acres still available for
he extension of its cultivation Sisal
grows best on the dry lands or the low
ands of the dry side of the islands,
4iaa laval fn all nf /
rom 1900 to 1000 feet. 1t is a crop
hat will grow almost absolutely without
water, and it is therefore adapted for
in districts where the rainfall
loes not exceed twenty inches per an
lu1n During 1903, the first year AM
lttempt was made to find market for
isal, something over 100000 pounds of
he fiber were sent to San Francisco,
where they were sold at nearly cents
,er pound. AT this price profit of
lbout SIS per acre is assured which,
With the large amount of land available !
or its cultivation, will undoubtedly in
crest capital on large scale to make
IF sisal one of the leading products of
he islands.
The government maintains an efficient
experiment station on Oahu. in charge
If Mr. Jared Smith, who will furnish
necessary details regarding all the agri-
cultural opportunities in Hawaii The
experiment station~is doing excellent
work for the agricultural advancement
Of the islands, and it will be through
its efforts that many avenues of invest
ment will be opened.
After an investigation of the resources
of Hawaii. one conclusion seems para
mount in Importance to others: the is
lands do not offer attractive openings
for poor or inexperienced settlers The
conditions existing here are so radically
different from those existing elsewhere,
that the same opportunities as are found
in Our Western States, or even in Cuba,
are not possible here. The day is past
when settlers are necessarily pioneers.
and to those of our readers that do not
possess sufficient capital to open UP and ,