The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-04-15

the saving in dollars and cents ha
been made during the past nine years
Upon a suggestion made to me / con
suited some of the leading orchardfst.
as to what they considered the COS
of spraying was at tbs. time it wa.
practised- My estimate being mucf
lower than theirs, 1 give it, as fol
lows:
There are 1856 acres of commercial
orchards in the district--not counting
orchards of less than five acres-I de-
duct 400 acres for cherries and almonds
leaving 1,596 acres. and I find the saw
ing-for labor and material alone-to
be s19,512 per year, or a total of S172,-
1858 for nine years. This is quite neat
sum to be placed to the credit of the
beneficial insects.
I'm the. above, estimate no considera-
ton is taken of the orange and lemon
groves, nor of the thousands of olive
and ornamental trees in the district,
or the money spent in futile efforts to
keep them clean. Even now it takes
close application with the assistance of
the beneficial insects to keep the trees
and fruit in their present clean condi-
ton. Before the Introduction of the in
sects it cost Mr.. McIvor of Mission
San Jose $500 year in his attempt tca
keep the scale in subsection on his
orange, lemon, olive, and ornamental
trees. Now they are bright and clean
without COST civilian Barry, Hor-
ticultural Commissioner of Alameda
county,
AS a final mention of Mr.. Koebele's
work I will here refer to that on the
lantana. Here was a shrub covering
thousands Of acres of valuable land
and rendering it useless. Great sums
Of money We're spent year after year
to clear this land by the owners but
in spite of all the fight was becoming
more and more hopeless each year. The
aromatic berries, carried by the birds.
would be dropped on the cleared ground
and necessitate after few years re-
petition of the work. Mr.. Koebele UNI
dertook to check this plant by intro
ducing natural enemies. confess that
when the first of these arrived, as
stood on Punchbowl and saw the tflous-
ands of berries on every brush, while
as far as the eye could reach along the
open lower slopes of the mountains and
over much of the plains one large sea
of lantana met the eye, / doubted
whether by any means this work could
be accomplished. Mr.. Koebele on the
contrary never wavered in his opinions
Beginning his work in Mexico at the
latter end of May, all conditions be-
ing unfavorable, after a month or two,
I with difficulty, persuaded the COM
from recalling him to the
islands. In August in Vera Cruz Mr..
Koebele wrote me that he could get no
H..
ing in good health was sometimes at
work for twenty hours at a stretch. II
do hope" he writes on August 18th, |
in reply to my letter that the Commits |
sioner thought of recalling him, there |
won't be any objection to my work,
which at least will take me three I
months yet-not for a moment do I I
-hink of giving it up"
On September Sth came the first
cherry letter Am now positive that
his work will be a success. yet must
AVE my own time to do the work"
On the 9Th of October 81 see clearly
,ur success, count on me. 1 will not
rive up
BY the end of the year Mr.. Koebele
having done enough returned to Cali
ornia. his health seriously impaired
rom the typhoid that he had been
How far Mr.. Koebele sue
eeded on this mission can be fully :
answered by others, but merely quote {
he last letter I have received on the
ubjeet:
Maui Agricultural Co,
"Paia, Maui. April 2, 1904.
Dear Sir: L have been intending :
Or some time to write you on the good
-ork performed here by the lantana
V, which destroys the seed. AS you :
lay have heard it seems to be everv-
here here on Central Maui. where
lere is lantana. and so numerous that
good seed can rarely be found.
nderstand that it is as numerous in r
ahaina and Hama districts as it is :
are....-. II
very truly yours, :,
"(Sig.) H. A. BALDWIN"
I ought to add that what is called /.
lie 'Iantana fly is not one insect, but
le work is the combined effect of a +,
,ut half a dozen species, which were
lrefully chosen from about 500 species il
with lantana in Mexico as
ing safe to introduce, and suita bic for
IT various seasons and localities. n
1 would further add that all those
no have taken the pains that some S
rye land owners or managers on Ma
Kauai, Oahu, and Hawaii have,
Icceeded uniformly with the lantana t.