1694 ISLAND DEPENDENCIES 



ISLAND DEPENDENCIES 



shipped to San Francisco and practically all are con- 

 sumed in that market or those immediately around the 

 Bay. The bananas are grown in small plantations 

 varying in size from 2 to 50 or more acres. They are 

 owned and operated chiefly by the Chinese who unite 

 in companies for the purpose. The lands occupied are 

 generally at a low elevation, for the commercial banana 

 does not prosper, in most parts of Hawaii, above 

 1,000 feet, and it is important, with so bulky a product, 

 to be near the shipping port or a connecting railway. 

 Most of the bananas, therefore, are grown along the 

 line of the railway which circles one end of Oahu, 

 or in the immediate vicinity of Honolulu. The plants 

 are set at distances varying from 8 by 8 feet to 12 by 

 12 feet and receive water by irrigation, by natural 

 rainfall or by capillarity when the plants are grown on 

 ridges thrown up in swamp-lands with wide canals 

 between the ridges. The Chinese or Cavendish banana 

 (Musa Cavendishii), almost exclusively, is grown for 

 export, although the Jamaica or Martinique variety, 

 common in all the American markets, has been intro- 

 duced and distributed. There are many varieties of 

 bananas that are indigenous to Hawaii, and some of 

 these are being cultivated in yards and gardens. One 

 class of these varieties, known as the Maoli group, is 

 grown in a small way commercially and finds a ready 

 sale in the local market as a banana for cooking. 

 These, when well baked or fried, are far more delicious 

 than any of the bananas found in the American mar- 

 kets and a trade in them should be developed, for they 

 are well adapted for shipping. 



Coffee-growing is conducted as a small industry and 

 there are a few rather large plantations. About fifteen 

 years ago the trees were planted quite extensively and 

 it appeared as though the crop would be exceedingly 

 profitable; but cheap coffee imported from Brazil 

 depressed prices in the American markets to a degree 

 which caused the uprooting or abandonment of most 

 of the plantings. A few of the original planters continue 

 in the business and produce a high grade of coffee 

 which has made a good reputation. The name "Kona" 

 coffee has been applied to much of the product because 

 the district of Kona on the island of Hawaii is one of 

 the leading coffee districts. The total output for the 

 year ending August 15, 1911, was about 5,200,000 

 pounds. The coffee-growing districts lie chiefly above 

 the cane in localities which are well supplied with rain, 

 as along the northeast side of Hawaii and in Kona on 

 the west side. 



Citrous fruits are found in yards and gardens in 

 many varieties of orange, lemon, lime, pomelo, shad- 

 dock and other species, but there are few citrous 

 orchards. Seedling oranges are shipped to Honolulu, 

 in fifty-gallon casks, from Kona, where they grow in a 

 half-wild and uncultivated condition. A few limes are 

 also sent to this market. The oranges are of excellent 

 flavor but because of inferiority in appearance and 

 packing they sell at low prices. 



The avocado, sometimes erroneously called the 

 alligator pear, is found in nearly every dooryard and 

 garden and recently a few orchards have been planted. 

 The fruit is always in demand and sells at high prices 

 even in the local market, good fruits bringing from 8 

 to 15 cents each at retail or from 60 cents to $1 a dozen 

 on the trees. Previous to the advent of the Mediter- 

 ranean fruit-fly (Ceratitis capitata), avocados were 

 shipped to California and in experiments conducted 

 by the Hawaii Experiment Station, these fruits were 

 sent in refrigeration to Chicago and arrived in good 

 condition. They sold at wholesale in San Francisco 

 for about $2.50 a dozen. Satisfactory methods of 

 propagating the best varieties and of handling the 

 fruit were completed only a short time before the 

 Mediterranean fly made its appearance and interest 

 was being manifested in the planting of orchards of 

 avocados for the marketing of the fruit on the main- 



land. Although the insect infests the avocado very 

 rarely, it has been found in a few instances, which fact 

 has placed this fruit on the quarantine list at the 

 California ports. For these reasons, the growing of 

 avocados, which at one time seemed likely to develop 

 into an important industry may not be widely extended 

 until the status of the pest is changed. There is room, 

 however, for considerable extension to supply the 

 growing local market and the culinary departments of 

 ocean liners. 



The mango is even more widely distributed than the 

 avocado and prospers in a great variety of soils up to 

 500 or 600 feet. It is found even higher than this but 

 does its best in the warm and dry lowlands if irrigated. 

 There are many varieties, including some superb sorts 

 of local origin as well as the renowned East Indian 

 kinds and Cochin-China type. Of the Indian varie- 

 ties, the Pirie gives most promise, but several others, as 

 Mulgoa, Alphonse, Jemshedi and Brindabani, have 

 done well. The Smith and the Wooten are two of the 



1937. A banana plantation in the Hawaiian Islands. 



best of local origin. None of these better varieties is 

 widely disseminated, partly on account of their recent 

 introduction and partly because ready methods of rapid 

 multiplication have not long been developed. For this 

 reason, it is impossible to find any choice mangoes in 

 the local markets, the few that are sold being disposed 

 of privately at about 5 cents a fruit. This condition 

 will not continue for many years, for the choice sorts 

 are now being disseminated. The mango also is under 

 quarantine on the mainland because of the Mediter- 

 ranean fruit-fly, but the best varieties could be profi- 

 tably grown for the local markets and for supplies to 

 passenger ships. Certain fine varieties are quite resist- 

 ant to the attacks of the fly. 



Guavas (Psidium Guajava) cover the hillsides, the 

 jungles in many places being composed chiefly or wholly 

 of this tree. The wild fruit is gathered and used in the 

 making of guava-jelly and jam, the greater part of 

 which is consumed locally. A few selected varieties 

 of this species and of the strawberry guava (P. Cattlei- 

 anum) are cultivated in gardens. 



