Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-09-11

cereals but when you get back on
those elevations you get so far away
from any place that the cost OF inland
transportation makes the cost of those
products prohibitiye. Coffee was
thought to be very promising. | tried
il myself when l first came here, and
lost FIVE or six thousand dollars. There
are a few localities where coffee is
successfully grown, and that is by ia
panese. There are great many diff
ficulties to contend with-some of the
trees grew very well, some of the
trees didn't. Some were affected with
a blight. II is hard for us to compete
the American market.
Mr.. Ashford: Was there not a
slump in coffee at that time? Was
not that the chief reason for your
failure?
A. No. would not say that was
the chief. - - 74gws
Mr.. Fisher: You think that II the
market was in good condition and the
transportation facilities were ade-
ouate, nevertheless there are climatic
and physical handicaps?
Al. 1t must be in locality where
there are no stones, where the rain
fall is even. There are only few
localities in the islands where those
conditions exist A large part of the
plantations in the olaa district was
formerly planted to coffee. There
was a heavy rainfall, apparently lit
tie wind, when they planted the trees
they went to wood principally, and
had il not been for sugar plantation
being started and buying out those.
growers those people would have gone
into bankruptcy. SO far we have only
found two staples-that is sugar and
pineappIes. Others are in the expert
ment state Possibly cotton will be
found profitable in the future, but it
takes time; 1t takes experiment. So
far we have only got the two. In re-
gard to cane culture the question has
been asked by you, Mr.. Secretary,
whether or not white man can grow
cane here. Ny reply is that he can,
but he is not inclined to do it. ! am
speaking now of white men-I mean
the mainland man. The reason is oh.
Vious.. The mainland farmer raises
nearly all of his products by machin-
cry. He plants his corn by machinery,
he and many of them take their
produce to market in an auto truck.
Here the greater part of cane culti-
walton is by hand. 1t is true the PLAN
tations pillow with steam plows, but If
each individual farmer tried to buy a
steam pillow they would soon be put
out of business On an irrigated plan
tatien it is impossible to cultivate by
machinery. When it comes to har-
vesting, which is the hardest part of
the cane cultivation, no machine yet
has been designed to cut cane at
tempts have been made to invent cut
tiers. The Hawaiian Sugar Planters
Association is doing its utmost to se-
cure up-to-date machinery.
Up to within a few years ago the
hard part of cane cultivation was the
stripping. BY stripping mean taking
each individual stick with the hands
and stripping the blades of, and when
you consider that the cane grows thick
and heavy, that is a pretty hard job
for any man to tackle, especially the
American farmer. The experiment
station has demonstrated, however,
that stripping is unnecessary. 1t took
long time to find it out / am tell
ing you all this to. show you that it
takes time to work out the problems
of demonstrating in these islands. We.
will take up the other staple of pine-'
apples. The production of pineapples
in 1907 reached half a million cases.
Tho - rrac irarn adiofo1v f,,1lx,rv;v,ex kl,as
panic of 1907. The consequence was
that there was slump. The differ
ent sugar agencies were making adj
vances to nearly sall the pineapple
people My firm alone advanced up
to nearly 100000 to a cannery on
Maui, and without such help think
it would have failed | think the same
is true of nearly all the other Gamer
les.
don't think that would include Mr..
Dole, but think nearly all the others
were supported by the sugar agencies.
The advertising campaign was work
ed up to which the sugar agencies
they advanced the money to carry it
on to bring to the attention of the
people of the mainland the superior
qualities of the Hawaiian pineapple,
and as result the market is in a
much better condition. think 1,00O,-
900 cases this year. This has been
marketed without any difficulty. There
will be thousands of acres on Maui
at least, near that-open for pineapple
production, and am very much afraid
that the market will again be over
supplied.
You must remember that pineap-
pies now lead in canned fruit in the
United States. There is more canned
pineapple marketed than any other
single fruit, and there is the question
as to whether the market may not
be oyersupplied with pineapples dur
ing the next Leven years. The pine
apple Industry had to be nursed along
and had to be thought up to what it
is by very careful handling, and had
it not been for the help of the sugar
interests, the pineapple industry would |
not be what it is today. We advanced !
them money at 8 per cent. to tide |