290 



Of these many thousand trees will be ready for tapping early 

 next year, and from that time, rubber will, without doubt, figure 

 more and more prominently in the exports of the Territory. 



Although the Hawaiian Islands are theoretically not ideally 

 situated for the growth of rubber, there is now every indication 

 and assurance that they are about to enter the list of rubber- 

 producing countries. The outlook is a most promising one, not 

 only to those immediately concerned in the industry, but to the 

 community at large, for with the successful establishment of this 

 lucrative industry in the islands will come a measure of general 

 prosperity to all. The recent development of the pineapple in- 

 dustry has been both rapid and thorough and the promises for 

 its future enlargement are such that within a very short period 

 the exportation of canned and fresh fruit will be multiplied 

 manifold. Yet, however rapid has been the growth of this in- 

 dustry, the prospects before the cultivation of rubber appear 

 more promising and' we predict within a few years the establish- 

 ment of a number of plantations whose combined capital and 

 influence will be second only to that of the sugar growers. 



The first speaker at the convention was Mr. Jared G. Smith 

 of the U. S. Experiment Station, who in part said as follows: 



OCCURRENCE OF THE LATEX. 



''Rubber, in the condition that it is found in the plant occurs 

 in the tissues. In the Ceara it exists in a network of cells not 

 directly connected. That is, it is the opposite, for instance, to 

 the arrangement of the blood in the human system. If the arm 

 should be cut from a man he would bleed to death, but when you 

 break a branch off a rubber tree the tree does not necessarilv 

 die. There is a certain connection, but it is not a close one. If 

 a rubl3er tree should be cut down you would" by no means get all 

 the rubber from it. The latex from only a small area would be 

 withdrawn. 



"The rubber in a plant seems to be placed there for the pur- 

 pose of preventing evaporation of moisture and to stop up wounds 

 which would otherwise cause trouble and possible damage to the 

 tree. There certainly is rubber in many trees in Hawaii and it 

 seems to me that there should be a great deal of success in the 

 growing of rubber trees here. 



