Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1909-06-09
RICE.

hlOE.
Rice was int reduced into the Islands as commercia
cereal 1858. Interest in this crop developed rapidly
and In the first expectation of rice took place since
This date 1t has increased until there are Il, 600
acres cultivated in rice, producing an annual crop Vaueu
at $500 Rice is the chief article OF diet OF ne
urenals and production is almost entirely In the
hands Of Chinese Two crops produced annually one
in the spring, and in the fall; and corresponding
with these scmi-annua crops are spring ana lal 'se
ties Of rice The annual yield of clean rice ranges from
rc from s5o To- 500 Careful estimates place the
Of production at $500 to 1915 per hundred pounds
The prices received for rice in 1908 ranged from Sf2o
for rice land varies from $1,000 to $4,000 per acre.
Cultivation in the Islands is carried on by
Chinese methods These methods have been brought with
Chinese from their native country and have been
followed here since the cultivation OF rice mas been
carried The rice lands for the most part divided
into small areas separated by dkes for irrigation pur-
poses and this method Of culture renders impractcaoe
the use of machinery such as employed In the
States The power the cultivation of the soil Is fur
nshed by buffalo and horses. The rice is sown In
beds and then tanspanted From three TO seven
seedlings placed in cumps about foot apart each
The fields submerged during about four-hfths
of the growing While this method OF cultivation
tedious and wastefu of labor II has been found
that the yields almost double those from direct SOW
ing The Chinese expert at transpanting that the
method is unqucstionaby profitable.
There about important rice mills In the Islands
many them being quite Anticipated pattern but the
work accomplished by them is satisfactory. The annual
crop OF rice in Hawaii Is about 5OOOO,OOO pounds, and
in addition to this amount II 900 900 pounds i'm
ported Japan China. The expectation of rice
from Hawaii amounts to about 100000 pounds pei
year.
The Hawaii Experiment Station given considerable
attention the study Of rice Comparative tests have
been made with more than 100 varieties and a few OF
these have proved superior in yield and quality that
they are being generally adopted by the rice growers
An efficient program of fertilization has been worked out
and Is being followed by the rice producers. In addition
TO work with varieties of rice and fertilizers the Hawai-
Experiment Station has demonstrated that Upland rice
and salt marsh rice be cut for hay and furnish
excellent quality of forage which compares favorabls
with imported cereal hays The production of rice ha,
Is now being tested in number of widely separated
localities and AT different attitudes the islands
when it is remembered than 21OOOOO pounds of ric
are annually imported from Japan and China, 1t is APP
that there for the extension OF the rice in
dusry There are few locations where rice could b.
cultivated with profit according to the methods adopted
in the Southern States There is a conspicuous lack o
threshng machines and these could most assuredly b
used TO advantage At present most of the rice is rampe
out by water buffalo cement floors. The presen
preference shown for the imported japanese rice coul
be partly overcome by the formation of business k
association among rice growers and the maintenance
suitable campaig of education 1t is believed that
the further development of the rice industry in tn
Islands, the white farmer must take an active part.
SISAL
The only fiber plant at present grown on commercis
scale in Hawaii is sisa This plant was introduced
1898 and its cultivation has increased until
about 400 OF sisa with output of 200 tons
fiber annually, worth about $4,000 The largest sis
plantation of the Islands will soon plant additions
1000 acres This comnany has It's business well organ
lied and is In thriving condition. II We may jude
from the experience Of sisal growers throughout II
world It be safely stated that this is crop whiC
requires extensive paintings in order to yield satisfa
tory profits In n thickB settled community 1t might
possible TO produce small quantities of sisal which cou
be milcd In small machines and distributed by co-ope
tive association. Under conditions, however, II
ssa industry must apparently he carried in extensi
plantations
In Hawaii, only the true ssal is grown commercial
and the life Of the plant with extends from eight
ten years This Is a shorter life period than that
henequen In Yucatan but the leaves have smooth edge
rather than spiney ones is the with henegueI
and the value of the fiber Is considerably greater Ssa
therefore is 10 be preferred to henequen for cond
ions The stock for planting be obtained from Il
growth OF young plants In nurseries, from the dire
of pole plants suckers, Our growers plant fro
500 to 900 suckers per acre The first harvest occu
three after planting, and the average yield of ib
per Is about 500 pounds
Sisal Is commonly mentioned plnnt which WI
grow without cultivation. While this IL true
has been found that the growth Of the plants may
greatly benefited by cultivation along the rows. TIL