124 



the disappointment that follows from not appreciating the 

 facts as above presented. A broken industry and a disap- 

 pointed people are iiot pleasant sights, and one does not soon 

 forget the impression tliey create. Their greatest use is lo 

 teach others to profit by studying into the cause of the mis- 

 fortune. 



It seems to me that the principal cause of failure in the 

 pineapple industry is contained in the third stage sketched 

 above, namely, in the period of failing off in tlie yields due to 

 the accumulation of the pesls of the crop. 



Now, while it is not possible by any known practicable 

 means to prevent the arrival of these pests, or to prevent their 

 accumulation, it is possible to delay their arrival, and to 

 hind^ their development to such an extent that the period of 

 acute depression in the business, which has been a very con- 

 stant feature of the history of such enterprises, can be both 

 delayed and mitigated so that the industry does not have to 

 suffer a readjustment following on bankruptcy and all its at- 

 tendant disappointments and evils. All that is necessary to 

 do this is to provide beforehand for these necessary evils. 



The main line of action is to watch for the arrival of pos- 

 sible pests with a view to stopping them altogether. Nothing 

 less should be the aim of all inspection and quarantine of im- 

 ports. This part of the plan is in operation in Hawaii in the 

 form of an inspection of imports. The effect of this beneficent 

 law should be to at least delay the arrival of pests. It is 

 unreasonable to expect tlie impossible. In spite of all precau- 

 tions, we know that diseases do occasionally get past almost 

 any inspection. After they arrive at the pineapple plantations 

 they may be hindered m their accumulation, and the exercise 

 of sufficient care will prevent their ever becoming the scourge 

 they may become if they are neglected. 



The following pages deal with one of the main rots of the 

 pineapple that has already arrived at the plantations on the 

 islands of Oahu and Kauai, and in all probability the remain- 

 ing islands where the pineapple is grown. At the present 

 time this rot is not causing such severe losses as it will un- 

 doubtedly cause in the near future, unless greater precautions 

 are taken to prevent its accumulation. I refer to the fungus 

 scientifically known as Thielaviopsis efJiaccficus, Went. At 

 present this is the commonest rot of the pineapple in Hawaii. 

 Nearly every pineapple grower will at once recognise it when 

 I sav that it is the soft rot accompanied by a sooty black 

 color of the watery tissues in the last stages. The earlier 

 stages are not accompanied by the black color: on the con- 

 trarv, the fungus merely softens the tissues, discoloring them but 

 little. 



