The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-10-11
SPEAKS WELL
Of RUBBER
DR.. OIsen-Seffer Says
Published Story
Was Wrong.

A statement printed in the Hawaiian
Star on Tuesday, purporting to be the
opinion of DR.. Olsen-Seffer on the pos
sibilities of rubber, coffee and fiber
culture in Hawaii was a shock TO the
men of Honolulu who are putting their
energy and money into at least two OF
the enterprises From the printed artl-
Gle it would appear that rubber, slsal
and coffee cannot thrive here but IN
the opinion of the doctor, who is an
expert in the cultivation OF rubber ana
sisal the contrary IS the case He Is
connected with the Hidalgo Rubber Co.,
Of Mexico, and his business here Is
merely incidental to his Mexico con-
neetions. He has been over a portion
of Hawaii and, while not making a
close inspection of the soil in the Olaa
section, says it looks to him good for
rubber up to an elevation of two thou
sand feet, or twenty miles from Hllo-
DIR. Setter furnishes the Advertiser
| with the following:
Perhaps l was misunderstood by
the young gentleman who represented
| the Star I was certainly misquoted,
| but it was unintentional, / am sure.
/ The occurrence was peculiar in that
was, at the moment the paper was plac-
| ed in the hands OF the newsboys, IN
consultation with some gentlemen who
| are largely interested in the rubber
| plantations al Nahiku and the state
ment appearing in the Star was diamet-
! rically opposite to that ! had made to
| them. What l wish to convey is that
| the area of Hawaii, in land suitable TO
| the cultivation of rubber, and, | may
/ add, available for tine purpose, is not
| sufficient for the development OF very
large industry. OF the trees | have
| seen | cannot speak too highly At
| Nahiku landing L saw Ceara rubber
trees which they told me were planted
| eight years ago, with diameter of
twenty-five inches. This is really re-
markable.
II consider the climatic conditions
of that portion of Maui excellent for
! the cultivation of rubber. The aver
| age temperature is conducive TO good
supply of sap. In my experience / find
an average of "a deg. high and mini
mum of % deg. low to be excellent,
| lower than o2 deg. endangers the sap.
| Tropical trees are sensitive and a low
| temperature has its effect upon the
/ trees
| 1T looks to me as though the men
who have started the rubber industry
on Maui viii do well but there is al
ways the danger of promoting boom
which would not do here on account of
| varying condition in soil and climate.
/ l found the Hevea trees making excel
lent progress and they viii no doubt do
well.
| Il do not think this Territory is
| adapted to the cultivation of coffee but
I will not say the same for fiber plants.
/ found the sisal an excellent quality
but the progress is slow and I am in
| clined to believe the matter has not
been gone carefully into. The land in
| the different sections / have visited
seems suitable for the plants and they
| compare favorably with that grown in
| Yucatan. AT Pahala I saw one field
of plants that looked very well as do
| the plants on the line of the railway
| outside of Honolulu. But / am of the
! opinion that there is a scarcity of
| water at sisal and the soil, as viewed
| from the ear window, looked a trifie
| shallow for the best results. There
are other fiber plants than sisal that
| would do well anywhere in this Terri
tory and the common century plant is
| one of them