37 



many people who were undoubtedly sincere in their belief 

 that sugar was the only possible crop. As a matter of fact, 

 there are so many things that I hardly know where to com- 

 mence and shall have to content myself with a mere enumer- 

 ation. 



Pineapples. Five canneries are now in operation and others 

 are in process of construction whereas, in 1901, there was 

 only the single cannery of the Pearl City Fruit Company. 

 The capitalization employed has increased to over one million 

 dollars, and as an illustration of the growth of this industry 

 you will be interested to know that one of our new plantations 

 is the largest in acreage and number of pines planted, in the 

 United States. The shipment of fresh pines amounts to over 

 ten thousand dollars annually and is capable of much greater 

 extension. 



Sisal. The beginning of the sisal industry dates back about 

 fifteen years but has only become prominent within the last 

 three years. It now ranks as one of the established industries 

 and has only begun its full developmental period. Hawaiian 

 sisal fiber has been pronounced not simply the equal of the 

 best Yucatan but very superior to it, and the prices realized 

 for it and the demand which is developing, promise to place 

 our sisal fiber on a par in the world's markets with the best 

 Manila hemp. 



Tobacco. Experiments v/ith tobacco have been carried on 

 for four years and the 1906 crop grown by the Hawaii Experi- 

 ment Station has been pronounced by all who have examined 

 it, of very fine quality. There are a good many thousand 

 acres of land in Hawaii capable of producing this weed and 

 I want to say right here that tobacco countries are rich coun- 

 tries the world over. Tobacco may be an enemy of man- 

 kind, a luxury and to some extent a poison, but the develop- 

 ment of a tobacco industry in a country demands a stable 

 population. There is a good deal of "know how" required 

 and it is not the kind of know how that can be readily tranc- 

 mitted to a class of laborers who are here today and there to- 

 morrow. Skill and knowledge are essential to the productio^i 

 of good leaf and I am firmly convinced that the development 

 of a tobacco industry in Hawaii will do its share towards giv- 

 ing these Islands a better class of population than has been 

 considered necessary for the cultivation of sugar. Because 

 of the value of the crop it is a small man's industry and I be- 

 lieve that our Hawaiian boys could with profit to themselves, 

 take up tobacco cultivation. 



Rubber. The cultivation of rubber producing trees has 

 been entered into on all of the larger islands of the group and 

 some of the trees are almost up to the bearing stage. Rubbe^r 

 cultivation in Hawaii has every promise of becoming an ex- 

 tremely profitable industry and this crop, like tobacco, is cap- 



