Vol. XVIII. No. 454. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



299 



THE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT OF 

 HAWAII. 



Two important articles have recently appeared on the 

 industries of the Hawaiian Islands. One is an article entitled, 

 'Some of the Factors in Industrial Development 

 of the Hawaiian Islands ', by Mr. J. N. S. Williams, 

 M.I.Mech. E., which appears in the [ournal of the 

 Royai Society of Arts lor July 25, 1919. The second 

 article, of a less economic character, is entitled, 'Obseivations 

 on Agriculture in Hawaii,' by Mr. V. J. Webster, published 

 in the Philippine Agricultural Revic-a\ Vol. XII. No 1, 

 1919. 



The Hawaiian Islands contain an area of about 6,500 

 square miles and a population comprised of different races of 

 about 250,000. The principal industry is the production of 

 sugar, and some interesting and instructive facts are recorded 

 by Mr. Williams in regard to this industry's development. 

 The main factors which caused the sjgar industry of Hawaii 

 to rise to its present eminence were as follows ; Firstly, it 

 was due to the advantages afforded to the Hawaiian planters 

 by the admission of their products by treaty free of duty into 

 the American market, whereby the sugars brought enhanced 

 prices by reason of the duty levied on all other sugars enter- 

 ing United Sta'es ports from foreign countries. Secondly, it 

 was due to the highly developed system of co-operation 

 amongst the Hawaiian planters themselves, which extended 

 from the supplying of labour for tilling the lands, to an 

 advisory oversight as to cultural ai d manufacturing opera- 

 tions, and to the marketing of the finished product 



By CO operation the planters were ab!e to obtain labour 

 from nearly every country in the world ; but a very large 

 proportion were Japanese, who are industrious, thrifty, ener- 

 getic, and ambitious. This raises the question as to whether 

 the labour scarcity in British Guiana and Fiji might not 

 be remedied by means of Chinese or Japanese emigration. If 

 this has proved successful io the Hawaiian Islands which 

 have a similar climate, and general conditions, there would 

 appe ir to be no definite reason why the experiment should 

 no: be tried in other territories. 



Interesting statements are made in Mr. Willams'a article 

 concerning the outturn of sugar per labourer emplnyed. In 

 1H82 the output of sugar amounted to 7 tons per annum per 

 man employed on the plantations ; in 1890 this production 

 remained about the same ; in 1900 this ratio had increased 

 to about 9^ tons per annum per man employed ; and in 

 1917 the output of sugar per annum per man employed on the 

 plantations bad about doubled that of 1S82, since in 1917each 

 man employed produced about 14 tons of sugar. This was 

 due to the efficient carrying out by tlie Association of Sugar 

 Planters of the charge laid upon it at the inception of the 

 enterprise, of 'securing such improvement in the cultivation 

 of sugar ciiie and in the manufacture of sugar as may seem 

 to be desirable.' 



Although sugar is by far the predominant industry of 

 Hawaii, cattle and pine-apples are also of considerable 

 importance. Fresh milk and cream of good quality are 

 obtainable at all times. The value of fruits and nuts export- 

 ed, chiefly pine-apples, in 1917 was •$8,355,39"). The 

 value of tho sujiar exported during the same year was 

 $63,133 274. Situated in the Islands are a number of large 

 pine-apple canneries, and the export ol the fruit in a canned 

 condition is the principal trade. Large quantities of coffee 

 are also produced in Hawaii, and not inconsiderab!e 

 qnantities of rice and honey. 



One interesting feature of the sugar-cane cultivation 

 deserves mention before concluding this article, namely, the 

 use on Hawaiian sugar estates of paper mulches. This new 



method of conserving the moisture in the soil by putting 

 down paper manufactured from megass has been looked 

 upon with some scepticism in certain quarters. But it has 

 given good results in the drier districts, and in the future 

 we may see it adopted by some of the more enterprising 

 planters in the West Indies. 



DEPOSIT SYSTEM FOR CREDIT 

 SOCIETIES. 



Reference was made in the Agriciiltaral News 

 of August !:), 19 19, to the successful establishment of 

 six agricultural credit societies in Tobago. The 

 following extract from the Fort-of-Spain Gazette 

 (Trinidad) shows that these societies possess a new 

 feature: — 



A noteworthy feature in the working of the societies is 

 that they not only aim at lending money to members to 

 assist in improving their cultivations, but recently they have 

 launched out into the idea of further encouraging the spirit 

 of thrift by starting a system of saving deposits. An 

 individual depositor can place a maximum of $50 by way of 

 saving on which he gets 4 or 5 per cent., and at the end of 

 a year he has the option of transferring it as a loan to tho 

 Society at 7 or 8 per cent. The following figures show the 

 interest that is being taken in the deposit system The 

 Scarborough Society for the year has a saving deposit 

 account of $144, Moriah §135, Pembroke $148, Delaford 

 $329, and Mason Hall (which has just started) $822. The 

 Societies, on the whole, have operated well during the 

 year, and after payino expenses have made a profit on their 

 working. In this connexion the Scarborough Society shows 

 a profit of $19-73, Moriah $3493, Mason Hall, $56-38, 

 Pembroke $26 96, and Delaford $68 46. Part of the profits 

 go to the reserve fund which is being built up, and in 

 addition to profits, Scarborough boasts a reserve of $71, 

 Moriah $61-50, Mason Hall $56, Pembroke $42-29, and 

 Delaford $62 '50, The reserve fund, it may be mentioned, ia 

 never utilized for the purpose of loan. 



Recent Jamaica Exports.— The following figures, 

 supplied by The Times Jamaica correspondent, show the 

 exports from that colony for the first half of this year, and 

 the corresponding period of 1918 : — 



Article. 



Coffee (cwt.) 

 Coco-nuts 

 Cacao (cwt.) 

 Dyewoods (tons) 

 Bananas (bunches) 

 Grape fruit (cases) 

 Pimento (cwt.) ... 

 Kum (gallons) ... 

 Sugar (tons) 

 Cigars (Bb.) 



A large increase in the case of every item will be 

 noticed. The wholesale price of bananas in London is now 

 about Is. a dozen, but the retail price is nearer 6s a dozen. 

 This profiteering in the banana tride, is, according to 

 The hiily Chronicle, causing a big outcry amongst 

 consumers. 



