The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-02-05
FARMERS
MEETING
Insects, Avocado Pears
and Diaries Are
Discussed.

| The Farmers Institute meeting held
at the Kamehameha schools last night
was largely attended and proved very
instructive. The meeting was held in
the large assembly room of the Boys
School, and nearly every seat was filed
when the Kamehameha Glee Club open
| ed the program with one of their char
acteristic selections. A large part of
the audience was made up of the school
boys and girls, most of whom remained
until the end. Aftel the song Jared
e. Smith, president of the institute,
introduced President Perley L. Horne
of the Kamehameha schools, who made
a few welcoming remarks. After an
other song by the glee club came the
first paper of the evening.
This took the form of an informal
talk by D. /. Van Dine on the subject
of Insects" Illustrated with lantern
slides. No attempt was made to make
the talk technical, but Mr.. Van Dine
showed pictures of different classes Of
insects, of beneficial and harmful in
sects, and the more common appli-
ances for the determination of pests.
An endeavor was made to interest those
present in the study of insect life, at
least, enough study to enable them
tC Distinguish the harmful from the
harmless. Representations of the COM
mon house and store pests were shown,
as we'll as agricultural pests aud their
remedies. Altogether the talk was an
intensely interesting and able practical
presentation of a subject much neglect
ed by the layman. Following the talk
Mr.. Kotinsky made a few apt remarks
urging people to become interested in
at least the rudiments of entomology.
The next topic of discussion was the
avocado or alligator pear. Mr.. Henry
Davis read an able paper on the sub
ject. He traced the history of the fruit,
which probably originally came from
MEXICO 1t has spread to all sub-tropi
cal countries. Probably no individual
the trees into these islands,
but it came rather in several importa-
tions. Mr. Davis was of the opinion
that the pear was a little out of its
climate III Hawaii. but that it would
oe a very profitable export. He told of
pears shipped in egg cases from the !
W est indies To New York that sold for |
Il per fruit. Mr. Davis told of his own
experience in growing the trees. He T!
was followed by Mr.. Brigham, who !
showed some specimen models of the |
'ruit that he had raised. He laid spe- |
,iai emphasis on the need of careful
cultivation and fertilization
In the discussion which followed diff .
erent members laid stress on cultiva-
ion, of proper selection and breeding,
md on the location of the trees. One
member was of the opinion that trees
lid better at sea level than at 1000 feet
deviation. 1t was stated that pears had
'een shipped to New York and had ar
ived in good condition. and that they
ad been kept in cold storage for seven
weeks here. Alexande~ Craw salo that
he fruit had often brought twenty-five ]
ents apiece In San Francisco and I
rgad its cultivation as one of the best
hinss a small farmer could do. He I
dvised that only about a half an inch {
f stem be left on each fruit and that I
ne fruit be cut from the tree and not !
uned.
The last address was on the sub
ect. Some Modern Dairy Farms. by
II. F. 6. Krauss of Kamehameha :
ehools. BY means of lantern slides T
nd descriptions he showed some Of the i
raat dairies of California and told Of /
le possibilities for the industry in Ha- s
ali. lie told of one of the cows at 7
le Kamehameha dairy which netted e
10 in one year. and urged an extern I
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