HAWAII EXPERIMENT STATION. 411 



conditions and also entirely unlike the methods pursued in the Central 

 or Soutli American coft'cc-producinu- countries. The oroatest increase 

 in the rate of income from a o-iven ai-ea of coffee will come from 

 improved methods of culti\ation and from the use of hii»h-uriide fer- 

 tilizers ratiier than throuj^h an effort to bid down to a still lower 

 U'vel the monthly wages of the laboring class. In other words, cheap 

 hibor is not the greatest necessity. There are half a dozen ])lantations 

 on the island of Hawaii where the yield of coffee has exceeded 2,000 

 pounds per acre, equal to ten times the average yield per acie in Brazil. 

 The coffee belt on all of the islands is a region where th(» climate is 

 almost unexcelled. Although this Territory lies within the Tropics and 

 has advantages which such a location secures, through i)erpetual absence 

 of severe winter cold, the mean temperature is al)()ut 1(» degrees 

 lower than that of any otiier group of islands within equal distance 

 from the equator. The unbroken sweep of ocean to the northward 

 and the trade winds which prevail ten months in everN' year create 

 conditions not to be found anywhere else in the Tropical Zone. The 

 daily temperatures throughout the year, from sea level to an eleva- 

 tion of 5,000 feet, seldom rang(> below 50^ or above So'^ F. The cli- 

 mate of the whole group is very equable. Violent storms or torna- 

 does, such as sweep the West Indies and devastate the mainland of 

 the United States, are here absolutely unknown. If the coffee indus- 

 try" can again l)e phiccKl upon a suitable basis, and it can be if the 

 people of the mainland of the United States will insist on having 

 Kona and llamakua coffees supplied them, the question of the intro- 

 duction of the American farming population in these islands will be 

 answered. Coffee is at present sold in the United States very much 

 according to reputation and fashion. Far more attention is paid to 

 the color of the bean than to its (piality or even to its flavor. But 

 even on these terms the Hawaiian coffee can hold its own. A recent 

 shipment of coffee to the San Francisco market from these islands was 

 pronounced by experts at that point to be the linest coffee which had 

 been received in San Francisco this year. Fven at the pres(Mit prices, 

 selling oiir cotlee in comi)etit ion willi that imported from l)iazil and 

 other South and Central American countries, plant(M-s who are both 

 good fiirnieis and good business nu-n can at least get a good rate of 

 interest on their investment. Any factor which will lead to a l)road- 

 ening out of our market, and especially any change in the coffee trade 

 which will j)ennit the sale of the Hawaiian coffees on a basis of their 

 quality, will do much toward settling up this land with American citi- 

 zens, ir our planteis can secure the average l)rice of 12 cents per 

 pound lor their i'litire coffee crop there would be nearly as nuich 

 money in it as in a successful sugar plantation. Il nu'ans a great detil 

 to this Territory that our people on the mainland should render that 



