The Hawaiian gazette., 1914-03-31
.COTTONNEEDS
. but LITTLE
ATTENTION
caravonica, Planted by Expert
ment Station on Poor Soil
Thrives; Doctor Wilcox Coma
dent That it Has Been Demon
strated That This will Be One Of
Coming Crops Of Hawaii.
(From sunday Advettiaer.l J


Caravoniea cotton is pretty wen
demonstrated as one Of the coming
crops Of Hawaii, . said Dir. y. v. vii.
cox yesterday in explaining what the
Hawaii Experiment Station Is doing for
this Territory.
A measured acre was planted with
this crop early in 1910 on the slope
just below Doctor Wileox's residence
maulsa of Punebbowl crater. The land
is about as unpromising for growing
field crop as could have been chosen.
The shallow soil is stiff, lumpy clay
over pahoehoe, like on the lower slopes
of most Of the hills back OF Honolulu.
Land Not Flowed.
The land was not plowed but Just
grubbed and burned The crop TO date
has had no irrigation, no fertilizer and
practically no cultivation. The only
care given, Doctor Wilcox said, has
been to pick the cotton, and cut back
and burn the ripe stalks as a part OF
the insect-control work.
The 1910 yield Of clean lint was $50
pounds net; 1911, 695 pounds; 1912,
403 pounds; and 1913, 6lc pounds.
Wilcox said that careful observations
and records show that the highest loss
from boll.worm in any one year was
only seven per cent.
Sea-Island cotton is simply riddlcd
by boll-worm, he stated, but the cara
voniea is almost immune from the raw
ages of this particular insect.
Doctor Wilcox said that all that
happened TO cotton during the last five
years was that a lot of people who were
not really farmers jumped in and or
,ganized companies and plantations,
grew crop or two, met some mex
pected difficulties in the way OF pests,
found it hard to sell the small crop of
lint and quit.
Cotton got a black eye, the expert
ment station was liberally damned for
arousing false hopes and another pros
pective industry was said TO have no
hope Of success and the Investments
were all practically abandoned.
Kona Product Promising.
The Japanese in Kona kept pegging
along growing caTavonica. The Kona
product is so promising that agents OF
some OF the large Japanese textile man
ufaeturers have come here to look into
the FUTURE possibilities of Subsection.
The experiment station. star have
also kept on growing cotton, wedding
out varieties, investigating tho pests,
and storing up n mass OF llsefnl infor
nation that is going TO heIp finally
put this industry on its feet.
Doctor Wilcox called attention to the
history of the introduction of the
Egyptian Mitifii and Abqssi cottons
into the United States. The begin.
nings of this industry date back fifteen
years. Things happened in.the United
States much as they did Ave years ago
in Hawaii with the earayOnlea and
sea-island. There was "a boom all over
the Southern States and good many
hundred acres went into Egyptian cot
ton. The lint was new to the cotton
market and was practically uIsaleable.
The industry lapsed. A few growers
saw possibilities in it and continued
growing Egyptian but most people said
IL was a failure.
The 1913 crop OF 2lOO bales Of
Egyptian cotton grown in the Salt Riy-
err valley in Arizona has just been
sold at a price which netted the grow
ers 2h cent pound-a price consider
ably above the average Of the best
Abassi cotton grown in the valley of
the Nile. The Egyptian cotton indus
try is a success today in southern Ari-
iona and Southern California, and the
carayonica cotton industry Is going to
be success In Hawaii
Doctor Wilcox said that sudden for
tunes are seldom realized in agriculture
and that those who would choose this
road to wealth must be satisfied TO
make haste slowly.