The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-12-02

! planting proposition. Much of this
land lies in sheltered valleys, and at
the present time it is heavily wooded.
The soil being volcanic, except on the
coast plains, which are of coral origin,
the drainage is good and the land
fertile For certain growths, however,
fertilizers are needed, and to those who
contemplate taking up land in the
Territory of Hawaii it is strongly
J urged that they communicate with the
special agent in charge of the Hawai-
ian Experiment Station at Honolulu,
| who is a gentleman of much expert
ence and who is in a position to be
very helpful. Exactly what it would
cost one to purchase land it is difficult
to state. Good sugar land brings from
s25 to $50 an acre, that is, when pur-
| chased from private individuals, but
| bought from the government it would
cost from $40 to SIS. These holdings
are all classified, and the commissions
er at Honolulu can give any inquirer
| full information regarding what is
! open, conditions for the homestead
| lease system, right Of purchase, leases,
cash freeholds, and SO on.
! / have dwelt at some length upon
this for the reason that now that rub
the Sandwich Islands, and particularly
as these islands are now making real
progress, many faces will turn towards
! this Pacific possession of ours, and
| much agricultural development will re-
suit. 1t is to be hoped that a large
part of this, or at least fair proper
! ton of it, will be along the line of
rubber cultivation. Indeed, it wouldn't
III e
thousands of acres devoted to the lux,
ury, sugar, were turned within the next
five years into the production of the
necessity-rubber.
To speak a little further about con-
ditions for the man who wishes to plant
rubber or anything else: It will be a
satisfaction to many to know that there
are no snakes or poisonous reptiles o.
any kind in all the islands. There are
no such pestilences as are to be found
in other tropical countries, and there
isn't wild beast anywhere there; nor
have they yet discovered malaria. Or
course, there are certain drawbacks.
While there are apparently no insects
poisonous to man, there are may ag-
ricultural pests. For example, the fruit
industry suffers from scale and mealy
fight the borer and all his kin. Then,
too. there are cutworms, plant lice,
Japanese rose beetles, and lots of others
of the same sort. Whether there is
anything that will be injurious to rub
Der no one knows yet, but it is quite
likely that some of the existing insects
will adapt themselves to the rubber sit |
uation as it develops.
iptareSt IN r11hhar do or |
back to 1890, during the reign of King |
Kalakaua, with whom I had a most in |
teresting correspondence. That is, |
wrote him some very interesting letters
and got no replies. I don't say spe
officially that that is why he lost his
throne, but any student of history
knows what has happened to the is
lands since I received the royal snub.
The defunct ruler, however, went on
record as believing that something
might be done with the Ficus relfgiosa
and the Ficus Indica which grow there
in prolific profusion.' He also noted
that the breadfruit tree (Artocarpos
incisa) produced a gum that for GEN.
turtles had been used by his subjects
for waterprooffng purposes, and which
he believed might contain percentage
of rubber. With regard to the cultiva-
ton of rubber, he promised his royal
to anybody with money to
spend to come there and spend it for
rubber or anything else.
Somewhere in 1900 the papers in the
Far East claimed that the United
States government was going at once
to save $50, 600, 600 that it was then
paying for imported rubber by BOOM
ing cultivation in Hawaii. The story
was, that the nucleus was to be 100-
300 rubber trees transplanted from
Brazil to the newly acquired Territory.
Nothing, however, came of this.
1t was on the Island of Maui that
the first real start at rubber planting
was made. Seven hundred and sixty
square miles has Maui, and a most ro-
mantle island it is. It is really two
mountains connected by a sandy 18th.
mus. and is wonderfully varied both .
n climate and scenery. For example, ,
speaking of climate, one side of the
sland is dry and barren, but the other,
he windward, is exceedingly fertile.
fhis portion. which consists on the t
over levels of picturesque valleys, has {
'lenty of rain and rich SOIL and it is t
lere that the rubber is being planted /
nd Ceara (Manihot) was the first tree q
elected Rumor has it also that there G
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