The Hawaiian gazette., 1912-03-22
DANCER,
SAYS LOUISSON
Coffee Experts Believes Fruit-fly
Do. S Not Damage Coffee
at All vitality.

al All Wtally.
Editor Advertiser.-I feel eonstrain.
ed to make public some facts in rela.
ton to the fruit fly, anent its opera
tions on coffee.
1t is most unfortunate that reports
are being circulated to the effect that
the fly menaees the coffee industry.
Before forming any concrete conclu.
sions as to its supposed ravages and
the nature of same, as respects this pro.
duct, it is necessary that an investiga-
ton be made as to its method of opera
ton. Having heard verbal assertions
and read some press statements as to
what it is doing, or might do, the lat
ter a hypothesis only, lost no time
whilst in Honolulu, (prior to my de-
parture for San Francisco), to examine
several groves of coffee trees, in and
about Honolulu.
Fortunately some of the trees had a
fair sprinkling of ripe coffee berries,
which l plucked and examined. In
some of the berries / discovered the
maggots of the fly, and in others none
at all. The maggot was in evidence
beneath the red skin of the bean, which
is designated as the pulp, and not in
the bean itself;-the bean again en-.
veloped in tough fibrous parchment.
The bean I found to be untouched, and
in good condition.
Seed Unchanged.
was convinced at glance, that
the maggot lives on the pulpy material
of the berry, and especially that por-
ton of it which contains the fruit
JUICES and Shiny substances. This
proves conclusively that the fly, as it
is known in ordinary parlance-"A
Fruit Fly" is essentially fly seek
ing, for the sustenance of its offspring,
products of distinctly fruity and
Shiny character, and in that category
we must place the majority of fruit
bearing trees, the products of which
have the aforesaid characteristics,
hence its great danger TO fruits, at
least to most varieties of them. Coffee
does not belong, strictly to this class.
1t is not fruit, but seed.
The foregoing must lead one to the
following conclusions as to its danag-
ing or Mountaineering effect upon coffee.
Now, the coffee bean, as stated, is
simply seed, very much like the seed
Of trees of similar nature. The bean
is absolutely free from any fruit juices
or Shiny material, the natural food Of
the maggot. 1t is practically of a tough
and leathery consistency. The in
ference resulting from my investiga-
tions simply proves, that the coffee
bean itself is not the food of the fruit
fly, in any stage of its metamorphosis,
and though it uses the pulp as medi-
UNI to promote its stage of development,
it does not Ito reiterate) feed ON the
coffee proper.
Only Ripe Berries.
Another important fact is, that the
fly does not lay it's egg or eggs in the
pulp, until the berry shows signs of
ripening and by that time the coffee
bean itself has reached its full stage
of growth and development, and the
danger, if there be any, although 1
conscientiously believe there is none,
is practically minimized and reduced to
nil.
do not agree with another state
ment advanced that the fly causes
the ripe fruit to drop prematurely.
Copious and heavy rains at the heavy
picking season are of far more conse-
quence than any loss the fly could en-
tail.
1t is to be sincerely regretted that a
statement of the situation has not
found publication ere this in the press,
SO as to allay the apprehensions of
those engaged in its culture. Hawaii
seems to continually leap into parox-
ysms of fear when some new contin-
gency is upon us, and experiences of
the past have proven, that they have
been solved, or have not been what
they appear to be.
| However, from the standpoint of
fruit culture of the future, the govern
ment should take the necessary steps
to ascertain if a parasite of the Fruit
Fly is to be found in some tropical
cline, and adopt immediate measures to
have same introduced into the territory
The future of Hawaii demands the
liberalization of its agricultural pro,
ducts, for its wealth and economic
status must forever be founded upon
the productions of the soil.
Respectfully,
A. L. LoUIsSoN.
San Francisco, March 7, 1912.