The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1915-09-17
EXPERTS OPINION
'ONkONATOBACCO
-. Z s. .-s--A- - 80. u. .-s 1
Old Sumatra Planter lnspects
Plantations and Gives Ad- (
.. ~, vice As TO Future u.s.

pert, who inspected the Kona plantation
in company with John p. Curtis and
Jared "a. smith, stated before leaving
for San Francisco yesterday that he
was very wen pleased with the texture
and appearance Of the Hawaiian leaf.
"Hawaii IL not Sumatra and hence
no direct comparison can be made" he
said. 81 was employed on one Of the
larger sumatrs plantations for about
fourteen years, have had Investments
there and have also written q nun
Der Of books and articles on the indus
try. Hence am thoroughly conversant
with the Sumatra tobacco industry. I
Homo 'Experts' Best ''N !.
You In Hawaii must make your own
experts, Our ways Of doing things
would probably not suit your condi-
lions nor could you expect n Sumatsa
expert TO succeed in Hawaii, He would
have to first unleaTn what his previous
eoperiencs had taught him. In tobacco
more than with any crop local expert
ence is the best guide, for no two coun.
tries handle their crops in the same
way. Whether you bring tobacco men
here from Snmatra, Cuba, Florida or
Connecticut, the rule Is the same" Mr..
Frederichson said, athey could not sue
coed unless they modified their praetisss
to suit Hawaiian conditions: 80 d
"Nor would | 60 TO Sumatra for seed
each year as has been suggested. l
would take the tobacco you now have,
which is already acclimated and suited
to your environment, and improve it by
selection. Mr.. Smith has already made
q good beginning In this line of work
at his plantation.
Hawaiian Tobacco Characteristic
Hawaiian tobacco Is not Sumatra,
he, said, 90 although il is quite remark.
able in type and seems better than
many tropical tobaccos. 1t is fine, silky
and elastic. The eolors are not uni.
form, but the probability; is You viii
learn how TO overcome that difficulty
through experience. Experience must
be your guide. What we do in Sumatra
would not necessarily be the best thing
for you to do in Hawaii to bring about
Improvement. 81 49, ~ 20 p. r- +
THAT is the first lesson you must
learn" Mr.. Friederichson said, "to
forget what Cuba does, or what Sumatra
does. 1t is well to know what they
do, but II is not imperative that you
should follow their practises and meth
DDS because Hawaiian tobacco is dis
makes a name and reputation, as 1t will
some day, 1t will stand or fall on its
own merits.
"Our Sumatra tobacco came orig
inally from identically the same seed
az the Havana tobacco, yet the twr
products are extremely unlike. SumatrH
leaf is bitter and has no favor fCubar
leaf is aromatic and highly favored
Differences in soil and climate have
wrought these changes"
Hawaiian Resembles Havana
He said further on this subject
"Your Kona tobacco is more like Gu
ban than Sumatra. In favor it is moi
unlike some of the aromatic cigarettl
tobaccos. Perhaps it would be mort
profitable to attempt the production Of
cigarette and Cuban types in thest
Islands. Experiments should certainly
be directed along these lines,
"Of one thing I am certain, Hawai-
can never compete with Sumatra in thu
matter Of cheap labor. When a manu-
faeturer buys .Sumatra wrapper to
baccp the principle share Of what h
pays for is labor-the continuous appli
cation of infinitely painstaking toll.
"All the feTmenting house work IL
Sumatra is done by Chinese, he said
1.-THE grading in particular Tequirel
care and an extreme nicely of judge
ment which cap only be acquired BY
long practise, These Chinese eoolieI
only know one thing, how TO grade, o.
how to sweat the leaf, or perform som,
othsr single operation. Hence q bal,
of Sumatra wrapper tobacco repre-
SCENTS tremendous total Of skilful' Ia
Dor properly applied. No other typ,
Of tobacco is' graded SO uniformly o
with such perfection. That Is VIVA
the cigarmaker who buys Snmatra lea
pays for. 1t is not the climate no
the soil that creates this perfection, bu
skin and long experience. wv
Labor Conditions Different ID" "
"You have no COOLIES in Hawaii
You cannot flog your iaboFers whel
they make mistakes. This is fire.
Amsrica," Mr.. Friedrichson remarked
"hence / would not advise you to at
tempt too closely to follow or initial
SumatTR. Your market is the Unite'
States, Hence you must study VIVA
the home market wants and try to pro
duce II. You will have TO create You
own experts, 40 | said before. n
Sumatra man would know the Amer
can ways of getting work done and
am afraid you would have no end o
trouble II you were to get ., foTeigne
to manage . Hawaiian plantation. II
might speak English book perfect, bu
that would not do. He must be Amer
can and know the customs of the cOuI
try. .". y. ~ b.,
Exosllent EQuipmsnt
~ did not expect to fpd the equiE
msnt and preparation that you have fC
tobacco production, from what / ha
heard in San Francisco about the Kon
industry, he stated. 'fNor can ! at
wise you what to do, whether to go 0
with 1t or not. That is something 70
In Hawaii will have to decide.
"YOu have O very fine equipment