The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-09-25
KONA NEEDS COLD
STORAGE FACILITIES
Producers Unwilling To Take
An Chances Haphazard Ship
ping Now Necessitates
By JOHN H. M1DKIFF
Food Commission Agent Of West

Koua needs q cold storage plant. She
has lost more vegetables, fruits and
such through a lack of storage and
shipping facilities In the last year
than she has sold.
She has one steamer to Honolulu
every ten days. II farmer is so for.
tunate ~ TO have his vegetables and
fresh meat ready to ship just at the
time the steamer comes he may make
fair profit. If his produce ripens at
any other time he loses nearly all.
If he ships ripe his stuff is over ripe
when il is placed on the market and
sells at a discount or is dumped. II
he ships too green IL often rOts before
it ripens, due TO the rough handling in
shipping, and brings little or nothing.
Under these conditions il would be a
very poor business man that would
raise perishable produce in Kona TO
ship to Honolulu. And these men from
ROna are not poor business men. They
know that they will be better off fnan.
cially to let their ground lie idle than
to raise more perishable produce than
they can themselves use. ....i
And that is not the only trouble
with the present system. Since we have
no cold storage plant, II is necessarily
only occasional shipments that are sent
to Honolulu. Honolulu cannot depend
upon KOna for steady supply of pro-
duce and sends to the Coast for her
regular supply. Then when the ship
90 .
falls upon n flooded market.
As result poorer prices are paid
and the shipper is more dissatisfied
than ever. He spread his tale of woe
among already disguised neighbors and
so shipments become fewer and fewer.
The Territorial Food Commission is
trying to remedy this last difficulty.
They ask that all shippers let them
know a month ahead Of time when
they are going to have shipments for
Honolulu. They then notify the ter.
ritorial market that on such and such
date a certoin amount of produce
will be shipped. The territorial mar.
ket in turn notifies the merchants and
they cut down their orders from the
Coast accordingly.
This system would be fairly salts
factory if the territorial food commits.
+ioner could get large part of the
shippers in his district to notify him.
When the people find out that this sys.
TEN really makes them money they
will doubtlessly avail themselves of the
opportunity 10 place their goods ON
market that Is not already flooded
with Coast goods. .,..
There are several good places in
Kona for such a cold storage plant. Kai.
tua and NapoOpoO both have their nd.
vantages. The choice of these places
Is of little importance compared to
he Importance of having it at one
of these central points.
The question of who is to run il is
somewhat more important, however. II
should be run by someone who would
he satisfied to make a small profit on
each storage. 1t should be run with
the idea of service to the public.
The government would be the i'd 60
management for such a scheme. The
territorial market could easily multiply
he amount of produce received from
Kona many many times, if it could
maintain such a cold storage system.
Then the local producers in KOno
would, with confidence, increase theiI
scale of production. They would know
that they could raise vegetables in
large Quantities and that they would
Irrive on the market in a fresh, mar
ketable condition.
Honolulu could confidently count or
large steady supply of produce from
kona and so cut down on her large OF.
1ers from the Coast.
Local island industry can. be increas.
ed in this way and much needless ship
ping cut down. And if it is a part of
our war program to cut down Coast
shipments to minimum, to utilize t.
1 maximum our own resources and too
for Hawii to feed herself, let's equip
ourselves with these necessary tools to
work with and "dO our btu.
kl2O a month from, tho n,oya,nnoon,