The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-12-07
THE GOVERNMENT EXPERIMENTS WITH RICE
By FREDERICK q. KRAuss.

In Charge Of Rice Experiments. u. S.
Experiment station, Hawaii.
out King street. just before you turn
into Kalakaua avenue. II you happen
10 be driving or walking you will mo-
tice a field of rice containing an acre
or more Of different color and growth.
This In the trial field of the United
states Experiment station and Fred
eriek G.. Krauss, OF the station, is en-
gagged in an effort to discover the best
rice for this market.
with the advent Of the numerous
japanese in Hawaii came demand foi
Japanese rice; the demand for the Ha-
waiian variety became limited TO the
white residents. mainly, and the Chi
nese. The rice industry was at once
endangered and many Of the growers
gave up planting. J. A. Hopper &
Son. owners Of the largest rice mill In
the couniry went out of business, be-
cause most of the rice used here was
imported from Japan and needed no
milling. Then came the Russian-Jap-
anese war. and with IT the supply OF
rice from the orient was cut off. The
variety raised in Louisiana is from
Japan seed, or the japan seed Is from
tit makes no difference-so the nifty
sea captain found a way of turning an
honest dollar by bringing down to the
islands, for ships account, several hun
dred mats of the commodity that was
"grown in the United States"
The United States would have the
industry flourish again, and, in order
that 1t may, is making these expert
ments. A careful observer into the
field will find that some OF the rows
are empty of stalks; in places the
empty places may be several feet apart,
a void caused by the failure of the
seed to terminate. Other rows are
made up of short growth varieties
which appear and may be stunted. He
will notice also. hundreds of grass
hoppers. a pest which devours the seed
in the rice pods almost as thoroughly
as the rice bird. Old Chinese planters
say the hoppers appear mainly on the
edges of the field, and there Is where
the damage mostly occurs.
The object OF the trial grounds is to
grow all available varieties Of rice side
by side. under uniform conditions, for
comparison and selection of the most
aos,r,bla sorts for tho conditions While
onIv ope of the MANY and diversified
n,obIems IN he solved in these investi-
cations. the question of determining
IN ,,os, Desirable for the conditions
hare 10 tho most ,mnortant. The ideal
for which tho station 10 striving is one
,ha, a,,bodieg surerior culinary mali
ties, superior milling qualities, and, OF
.o,,,so s,,,o.,or t., yia,ding ana General
cultural oualitiae corseouentlv affect
IL, H. ,,ro,,.er tho miller and tho con- :
80, U-bila ,ba Hawaiian rica 10 n
,,ro,, ,ro,,or and good vieldor the
.,,oIi,y nf ,ho groi, 10 mot accountable
- 49,, .r,o., consumers tho Ionnnesa
u,bo ;mnor, tho hulk Of their rice from
,bair native ,op5 NJ n birher nrice than
tIouoi,,n rico viii bring
out t., ,ba trio, heas tho Exnerinent
rt.t,on hos about ono hundred and
,hir,,, oda yarieties for comnorison
,.;,h eocb other ana tho hest Hawaiian
variety Tho difforant varieties are
yroyvino from seed furnished nv the .
T-pi,ed Stotae Denartment of Apricul-
t,,,a which roceiyea thern through the
exnIorars of the department men who
arc constantly IN search of new things
.gr;ou,,urol and y,bosa TRAINING has
stted them IN select varieties NJ eco
nomic plants likely to prove of benefit