Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-04-22
governor IN SPECIAL MESSAGE
TELLS LEGISLATURE OF INDUSTRY
Continued from page oue)

lesser degree. pneapples. which we
can recommend as a sound, economic
industry adapted 10 produce staple
IN which The population Of these
islands can rely for maintenance.
The following are the more i'm
rurtant grounds on which this opinion
is based:
"ND From an agricultural point OF
view Hawaii Is not a tropical COun,
Try. and the strictly tropical crops do
not find optimum climatic conditions.
! "t2l Hawaii has not temperate
climate and the staple products OF
the temperate zone cannot he relied
on
"t3D Our distance from mainland
markets imposes Il serious handicap.
and 9th imtrr-islaud and int"r-Cem-
munity transportation is difficult and
expensive because Hawaii is Il group
Of comparatively small. mountainous
| islands with very few harb0rs
90 Insect pests, accidentally in
, trOduced, thrive because of our balmy
climate and the absence of their nat
ural enemies PARASITES. birds. frosts
etc.. They not only iniure the grow
! ing crops but, as in the case OF the
Mediterranean fruit fly, cause the i'm.
position CT quarantine. The mere
presence of the Mediterranean fruit
| fly is enough in itself to prevent the
expectation of Hawaii fresh fruits to
| mainland markets, except bananas
and pineapples.
"C5) Practically all tropical indus
| tries demand a plentiful supply Of
cheap labor. Labor in Hawaii is
neither cheap nor plentiful In this
advantage compared with nearly all
tropical countries.
Not only must the above cited adj
verse conditions be met by any new
industry, but it should be borne in
mind that the area of cultivated land
in Hawaii IS very small, the amount
reclaimable still smaller. and we must
meet the needs of growing poPula-
ton. This means intensive cultiva-
tion and a high average rate of wealth
production per acre. In the ten-year
period 1900-191O our population in
creased 24.6 per cent, and our area
of cultivated land So per cent. The
census reports also clearly show that
Hawaii is cultivating its land far
more intensively than the mainland
states; for example, we are support
ing % times as many persons per acre
of improved arabic land as the agri-
cultural state of North Dakota Clear
ly the problem in Hawaii is a pecu-
liarly difficult one and it is not sur
prising that one after another Of the
suggested crops have proven unable
to meet the conditions. Those for
which perhaps the most has been
hoped are rice, cotton, tobacco, coffee
and bananas. The status of these to-
day is as follows: =
"RICE-During 1914 Hawaii pro-
duced rice to the value of about $780,
600. Extension of the industry is pre-
vented by lack of suitable rice land.
and the absence of the Chinese labor
required to produce the crop under
Hawaiian conditions. We understand
that Hawaiian rice is unable to COM
pete in price with Texas rice in the
San Francisco market.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS carried on
several years ago with CaravOnica
cotton gave such promising results
that many believed that in long staple
cotton we might have a new Industry.
At that time about $50 acres were
planted to this crop. The pink boil
worm, however, became so serious a
menace that, in the absence of any
practical method of combating it.
cotton cultivation has been practical
ly abandoned Not until control of
the boil worm can be effected and
| the essential conditions of locality,
rainfall, soil and elevation are deter
mined. win there he extensive cotton
planting in Hawaii When the agri-
cultural problem shall have been
solved, there will arise the problem Of
establishing marketable grades.
"TOBACCO-During the past ten
years several hundred thousand dol
lars have been spent in the effort to
| establish tobacco growing industry,
but without success. Difficulty has
been encountered in properly curing
the leaf. We fear that even If this is
| overcome our output will be INSULT
cfent to command general market,
so that Hawaiian tobacco would de-
pend on special patronage. This is
the hope of the financial interests be-
hind the effort to overcome the pres
emit failure.
"COFFEE-Coffee growing has ex-
listed for a number of years as a
minor industry and is successful in a
small way on a limited area Of land.
Hundreds of thousands Of dollars
| were lost before the limitations OF
suitable areas we're ascertained. Our
| coffee is now produced mostly by in
| dependent Oriental growers planting
! on leased lands, and satisfied with
! very moderate returns. wholly INSULT
cient for an American farmer.
| Observation-Disclosures are grown in
| Hawaii, and exported to some extent
| from localities convenient to trans
pacific shipping points. The chief
| handicaps to expansion are:
1.-THE only present markets are
the cities situated on San Francisco
| bay.
decomposition with bananas
| ha fro