The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-01-11

llI
EI AlI1
sllaTRo JoN or ALcARosHI||
Is FROM / CALI RNi less. a
ING UNTOLD VAIL
;1i HoNOLULU Hawaii. JAM al "
n6st every visitor to Honolulu has
srroba BY had his attention allied 70 '.' q
I .nar.ed and twisted old tree wita. top
snpgfu Or cut away some twenty feet
iaboIe the ground. which stands partly
upon The, / sid ewalk and partly within
3Eae grounds. 5ofss the Roman Catholic
,Ezthedrai on Fort street a few blocks
cUm the waterfront A square wooden.
Sign nailed to the rough trunk, lust
Below the mass OF struggling, decrepitt
:Eranchese which cast a poor shade or.
vr the dusty street, bears the follow
Eg inscription in gold letters: &
FIRST AL BRoBA TREE 3
! ,sss Of tie HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SS
Imported and Planted in 1887 q
BY FATHER iBAcHELOT.
!Founder Of the Il. c. MIssIo n.
Z Father Bachelot, the pioneer French
priest, who established the Catholic
EMISSION in Honolulu in; 1927, probably
mad but little idea OF the service which
1p was rendering the Hawaiian Isl
uDds when on mis- return from a trip
20 California 10 years later he brought
with him the little algabora seeding
1rd planted It in the corner OF the
4 rrIsslon grounds. then in the outskirts
or the village Of Honolulu. But from
shat one tree have all the Islands OF
HE group become heavily forested
with one Of The most valuable OF all
\ Inc trees at present in the Territory.
n has. clothed in veriure thousands
Of acres which from lack Of water
were utterly barren. z
The aIgaroba (Prosonis juuliflora) Is
a naGye OF the arid southwestern sec
tion OF the United Sttaes, where 1t Is
: generally known as Mesquite; although
differing from the mesquite OF Texas
ind New Mexico. In Hawaii 1t seems
: no have found even more congenial
sonilltons than in Its native habitat,
Ind the trees often attain height Of
tifty or sixty feet, and a girth OF six
feet or more. Besides the value OF the
hard durable wood for building pur-
poses, fence posts. and fuel, It hns
h much greater value as feed for
gtock and It Is for this purpose that
nj Ids mpst valued In Hawaii. Cattle
hnl horses eat the foliage readily. ms
well MS the sweet seed pods, and thou
sands OF head OF cattle have no other
Yeed the year round. the large honey
fndnstryof the islands has been made
i possible largely from the splendid pms
turarc the bees find in the algnroba
blossoms.
Atythn nrcsent time the economic
value o.. tho algaroba Is attracting
unnrh attention. 1t Is predicted that
\ within q short time the very abundant
coed .rnIs OF the tree will supply q con-
siderable part Of the horse and cattle
feed which Is now imported in the
Torn, OF barley. corn, oats. etc. These
mods contain by weight almost fifty
mer cent. OF sugar, which causes 1t to
ne preatlilyS eaten by stock. while the
rects ore rich in protein, having about
sha some food value MS flax seed. Here
fofore but a small part Of these seeds
mas heen available for food. owing to
The hard covering which rcslsts diges-
ZION unless 1t Is broken. The pods
sonId not be ground owing to their mu-
eilagInous character which caused the
cumming UP Of ordinary milling ma.
rhfnery. a Honolulu inventor has just
Gcrfsel n very simple machine which
Gas proven admirably adapted for the
work. however, and 1t Is probable that
1t will son come into very general Use.
Or. E. V. Wilcox. director Of the U.
g. Agricultural Experimental Station.
estimates that land in iagaroba should
produce not less than $40 per acre in
feed. 6ssIng the price OF the product
ut about half Sf the cost Of imported
sbrage.
Experiments in making alcohol from
Pie aIgaroba pods. show that 1t will
yield about 500 pounds Of alcohol per
ton; while the Tod value OF the seeds