ISLAND DEPENDENCIES 



ISLAND DEPENDENCIES 1693 



the map, designated by the letters A and B are the two 

 most noted coffee-producing sections; C, D, E, F, and 

 G are localities in which pineapple-growing has become 

 an important industry; H, indicating the district lying 

 about the city of Honolulu, locates the area where 

 there is probably the greatest variety of introduced 

 horticultural plants; at K, known as the district of 

 Kula, on the Island of Maui, potatoes, corn and other 

 temperate-climate crops have been grown for many 

 years and were shipped to California to supply the 

 needs of the gold-seekers in 1849 and the years follow- 

 ing before the agricultural industries of that state 

 were developed. 



The growing of pineapples is not only the leading 

 horticultural pursuit but ranks next to sugar-produc- 

 tion among the industries of the Islands. Hawaii is 

 widely known for its pineapples. It is only within 

 the last decade that this crop has risen to large impor- 

 tance. The beginnings of the industry were near Hono- 

 lulu and the first large plantation was about 14 miles 

 from that city in a northwesterly direction, on the 

 foothills sloping from the Koolau 

 Mountains. A little farther to 

 the northwest a small colony of 

 American farmers settled at 

 Wahiawa on virgin lands, said 

 to be useless except for grazing. 

 They found that the pineapple 

 attained perfection on their 

 lands and the industry began to 

 extend rapidly from that center. 

 Several thousand acres have 

 been planted on the foothills and 

 the plains between the moun- 

 tains, and considerable areas 

 have been devoted to the crop 

 on the north and east sides of 

 the island. Other centers are to 

 be found as indicated above on 

 Maui, Kauai and more recently 

 on Hawaii. Only a small frac- 

 tion of the crop is marketed as 

 fresh fruit, the greater portion 

 being sold in the can. Large can- 

 neries are in operation in all the 

 centers of production, owned and 

 controlled by the larger planta- 

 tions. The price paid for first 



quality pines is about $20 a ton. The total output for 

 the season of 1912 is estimated at a little over 1,000,000 

 cases of two dozen cans each and valued between 

 $3,000,000 and $4,000,000. At the present rate of 

 planting it appears that the annual pack will again be 

 doubled within a few years. The products of the pine- 

 apple cannery include not only canned fruit in several 

 forms as sliced and grated pineapple but recently the 

 juice is being bottled in much the same way as grape 

 juice. A syrup is also made from the juice and one 

 factory is engaged exclusively in this business. 



The fresh fruit trade is also increasing and shipments 

 are made by nearly every steamer to the mainland, 

 where they are distributed to all parts of the Pacific 

 states and a few are sent to the East. Carload ship- 

 ments have been made to the great central markets, 

 but the Hawaiian pineapple-growers have devoted 

 their attention chiefly to the more conservative method 

 of disposing of their product as canned fruit, which has 

 found a ready market in the United States. 



Most of the pineapples are produced under the plan- 

 tation system, the units varying from a few hundreds 

 to several thousands of acres each. A few individual 

 planters are in the business and at the present time 

 their number seems to be increasing through the 

 opening of homestead lands by the government. 



The pineapples are grown just above the cane-belt, 

 but in places in which water is insufficient for cane, the 



pines extend almost to sea-level. The soil upon which 

 they are grown is usually rather a heavy loam, sub- 

 tended often with a clay substratum. Since the plant 

 will not endure standing water, drainage is one of the 

 important problems. Underdrains of tile or rock are 

 not in use, but surface ditches or depressions are pro- 

 vided to carry off the surplus water of heavy rains. 

 Deep plowing is practised to break the almost imper- 

 vious layer which develops just beneath the cultivator 

 teeth. The use of giant powder for the purpose is now 

 being tried. Both these practices can be conducted 

 only when the plants have been removed from the 

 fields, which it is necessary to do in preparation for 

 replanting every four or five years. 



Another problem of the pineapple-planter is to avoid 

 excessive manganese in the soil, for the plant is very 

 sensitive to an excess of this element. A few places in 

 the pineapple region have been found where soils, 

 otherwise excellent, have proved useless for this crop. 

 It is easy to discover its presence by chemical analysis 

 and usually by the appearance of the soil which, there- 



1986. Hawaiian vegetation. Showing the royal palm as it grows in Honolulu. 



fore, can be avoided or devoted to other crops less 

 sensitive to manganese. 



The method of culture is to set the plants in single, 

 double or triple rows and cultivate thoroughly between 

 them by mules and with hoes. Sheds are not thought 

 of in Hawaii for there is never frost in the pineapple 

 area. The first crop matures in sixteen to twenty-four 

 months and is followed by a rattoon crop a year later. 

 A second rattoon and occasionally a third may be 

 taken from the field before plowing up the old plants 

 and replanting. The Smooth Cayenne is the chief 

 variety in cultivation, but another smooth-leaf variety 

 has become somewhat mixed with the stock and all 

 have passed usually for Cayenne. These are the only 

 varieties now in commercial cultivation in Hawaii, 

 although very many kinds have been tested and some 

 continue in gardens. 



Banana-growing is an older industry but it has not 

 made as rapid progress as the pineapple. For several 

 years the export trade has run from about 180,000 

 to 200,000 bunches a year, netting the growers about 

 50 cents a bunch when prices are good. Banana-grow- 

 ing for export is confined almost entirely to Oahu, 

 since this is the only island which enjoys frequent and 

 direct steamship communication with the mainland. 

 The island of Hawaii ships a few bananas on its regular 

 boats but these do not run with sufficient frequency 

 to encourage extensive plantings. The fruits are 



