The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-11-25
THE PAYING SUBURBAN HOME.


men TO get self-supporting homes IS
limited only by the unwfllingness OF
landed proprietors to put villa sites on
the market Al1usion has been made
bv correspondent to the reluctance
of the Palolo owners to make such use
of their holdings. They are not, how
ever. alone All about Honolulu are
realty men who appear to think that
the time is coming when they may cut
up their land into 5O-foot city lots and
who propose to wait for it. Yet in ev-
cry other urban part of the Union, par
ticularly in the Western States, subur-
ban villa sites are among the most at
tractive features of the real estate bust
ness, there being so much to recon-
mend them to thrifty purchasers at
fair price.
A three-acre domestic reasonably
near the cariines can be made to yield
every month, more money than it takes
to rent a good house in town and will
provide for taxes besides. That is to
say, it will earn certain amount of
cash in the sale of products and it will
save a certain amount in household
expenses, the two items making good
showing of profit on the amateur farm
er's books. The man in California
who supported himself and wife and
banked money for twenty-three years
from the products of a single acre, did
work, and he made a sole business of
this calling. In the case at hand it is
rot agriculture as vocation but as
an avocation that we recommend; a |
pleasant and remunerative side issue !
for men who have other resources and !
work to do. Upon three acres such |
men may add very easily to their in
comes, assuming that each suburbanite !
has one good helper and that his family |
takes an interest in the farm expert |
ment.
On three acres where there is fair !
rainfall man may raise enough sor-
ghum. alfalfa and kaffir corn to keep !
two cows. These cows wiz supply his
own table with milk. butter and cot
tage cheese and leave a surplus to sell.
A scientific system of hen houses and
yards, occupying half an acre, pro-
tected from thieves by hedge of sisali
will enable one to keep at least TIVE
hundred laying fowls, which should
easily yield, when hens are doing only
tolerably well. 1900 eggs per month. So
many eggs are usually worth $50. There
sides. Pekin ducks, if carefully looked !
after. would provide another source of
income or of saving and so would |
squads. Watermelons bring good /
money here as do strawberries, both of ,
which are possible to the suburbanite. I
Around the edges of his tract, which ,
should also be protected by hedge of .
sisal, agave or cacti. one may raise pa
paias or kiawesf for fuel. Many a mango, |
alligator pear and custard apple tree |
will find room in a three-acre tract. |
even in the alfalfa patch and do their !
part in making the home table attrac- |
tive at no perceptible cost. Then there |
are bananas.
One of the prime requisites Of the !
villa home is the vegetable garden.
People here have a superstition that .
the home garden patch is foredoom- !
ed failure although conceding that the
great Chinese truck farms are money
makers. But it is all a matter of care
and industry. If the home patch is kept
clear of weeds, reasonably watered and
its insects fought off with kerosene
emulsion or .'slug snot," the garIen
viii do all right and it will save the
cash you pay to hucksters.
And then there is the quiet the peace,
the fresh air, the change from town. the !
wider outlook to consider. 1t all counts
in the sum of happiness and health. !
Besides, one does not have to build such
pretentious houses in the suburbs as in (
town. Out there the cosy bur galow ,
will Go.
When one looks over Palolo valley
or wanders up Pauoa or Kalihi or sees
the sweep of lantana-curnbered land be- /
tween Diamond Head and Waialae, he
wonders why the villa farmer is never
given a chance. A hundred thrifty
homes could easily be established there
in which the truest delights of tropical
existence might be attained and that
ever-present woIf-the Cost of Living
driven far into the heart of the town.
Under the Cuban-American treaty
the United States has the power to
compel the Havana government to
keep its cities clean. During the old
regime, Cuba was a constant menace
to the health of the Gulf States. yell
low fever easily found its way to New