HAWAII EXPEKIMKNT STATIOJN'. 407 



COTTON. 



The ruling hicrh prices for cotton durinj^ the last twelve months 

 have caused nmny inijuiries in regard to the possibility of cultivating 

 this crop in these islands. A considerable amount of Sea-island cotton 

 was grown here during the period from i860 to iSTo. From the 

 latter date there was a marked falling oil' in aereag<» and before the end 

 of the next decade the industry was entirely abandoned. There are 

 many cotton plants grown mainly for ornament in yards on all of the 

 islands. The plant shows a tendency to live almost indetinitelv, there 

 being many individual plants in the city of Honolulu which are 

 known to be frou) 15 to 20 years old. There woidd be no difiiculty 

 whatever about growing this crop on a commercial scale in these 

 islands, as there are thousands of acres of land not adapted to sugar 

 cane which could be, at vei-y little cost, converted into cotton fields. 

 Cotton is not a crop which bi-ings very large returns per acre, but it 

 has this in its favoi- that it is a cash crop. Occasional experiments 

 have been made in tiie cultivation of this crop. The quality of the 

 tiber and the yield compare ver}^ favorablj^ with the average results 

 throughout t\w Southern States. However, there are no cotton gins, 

 so that there would be no local market. A factor which might be 

 taken into consideration in an attempt to establish the cultivation of 

 cotton in these islands would tic the proximity to the Japanese and 

 Chinese markets. If this crop is ever grown on an extensive scale, 

 the prices obtained for the fiber should be higher than the ruling 

 prices in the South by the amount of difference in freight between 

 Galveston and New Orleans and the Pacific coast. The average 

 steamship passage from Honolulu to Japanese ports is from nine to 

 ten da^s, and freight rates of cotton from here to Japan should be 

 correspondingly nuich cheaper than fiom (iulf of Mexico ports. 

 Provided cotton can l)e grown here for export to the Orient, the 

 average of prices received by the producer should be enough higher 

 than the a\ ciagc piicqs in New Orleans to return a very fair margin of 

 profit to the Hawaiian grower. This station has grown several of the 

 best varieties of cotton. Other experiments, on which more careful 

 notes will be taken in regard to yield and (juality of i)roduct, will be 

 undcMtaken should there be a demand for information in regard to the 

 cultivation of this crop. 



SUGAR CANE. 



The iulti\ati<)n of sugar cane has for thirty years l)een the dominant 

 industry in the Hawaiian Islands. The land at present under cultiva- 

 tion in this crop constitutes the coa.stal plains and a belt of land 

 extending backward from the seacoast a distance of from ;; to 10 

 miles. The location of the plantations has been governed in the past 

 largely by the available supply of water, either for irrigation oi-. on 

 those plantations where irrigation is not retpiired, for tiuming cane to 



