The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-02-19
DEMAND FOR
HAWAII'S PINES
How Better transportation
Would Boom the Fresh
Fruit.

w. B. Thomas, the WahiaWa pioneer
and pineapple planter, is as enthusiast
tic over pineapple culture in Hawaii
as he ever was. Talking to news
paperman yesterday, he said:
my son met last December in Chi
cago one of the leading fruit dealers
of the city. The latter had seen ]. E.
Higgins shipment of fresh pines from
here and was so pleased with them
that he made arrangements to take a
carload every month or oftener If
steamship facilities would permit. He
stated that he thought that Chicago
could take twenty carloads of Hawai-
ian pineapples at a time without
that he found the pines greatly SUI
perior to any other which were ship
ped to Chicago from other places, both
in size and quality.
THE fruit was exhibited in the city
and graced the tables at banquet
given by a leading commercial club
of Chicago. This banquet was attend
ed by many prominent fruit men and
on the tables were bananas and pa
papayas from the Territory as well as
pineaples.
The shipment of fresh pines was re-
packed in San Francisco and the per-
feet fruit was forwarded to Chicago.
1t would be well to do this with all
shipments as in this way the unsound
fruit may be got rid of. The pines
were sent to Chicago in cold storage
fruit-cars.
IF we had really good steamer facil-
tiles the fruit might get through all
right but as things are at present the
pines are more than liable to arrive
at their destination in bad shape I'M
less repacked in San Francisco.
las an Illustration of the consump-
ton of pineapples on the mainland, T
would say that Boston during the sea-
son gets from 10000 to $1,000 pines a
day and Chicago is a bigger distribut-
ing point than Boston.
THE trade in fresh pineapples has
to be built up. If a dealer gets his
regularly his business keeps
increasing but a break in the arrivals
sets it back unbelievably. 1t is the
same with bananas. A Los Angeles
dealer built up a nice trade in Blue
field bananas. Then none came to
hand for a while and when a shipment
finally did arrive it was with difficulty
got rid of. This dealer is at present
using six carloads of pineappleg a
week. ! cite this to show the i'm
portance of being able to depend on the
regular arrival of fruit from here. A
weekly steamer between here and Los
Angeles would assuredly result in
big trade being built up. The dealer
mentioned could sell 500 cases of pines
a month himself at a conservative es-
innate, but the supply would have to
be kept up all the time. This is
popularity of the fruit business.
81 used to ship only fifteen dozen
pines at a time to Vancouver. In three
years this has grown to 5000 month,
which number 1 am sending at present.
Other people are shipping there and
fully 10000 pineapples go to Vancouver
every month.
For a year or so I look for the
production of pineappies in Hawaii to
be way ahead of the consumption if
there is no adequate outlet for the
fresh fruit provided. Eventually, how
ever, the consumption will catch up
and with better facilities for shipping
in sight the prospect for growers is
encouraging.
Florida produces two or three times
as many pineapples as the Hawaiian
Islands but sells all her fruit fresh.
There is only one small cannery in the
country and that isn't running. The
Florida pines are grown under cover
to protect them from frost and the
covering; costs $500 an acre. Then the
ground has to be heavily fortified for
every crop on account of the sandy
soil which is composed of ninety-five
per cent. pure silica.
Il am getting machinery from the
mainland for cannery which will be
built in Honolulu and which 1 expect
to have ready for next summers
pack