u 



quirements of sisal are very simple. It grows and pro- 

 duces a satisfactory crop where the rainfall is as low 

 as two inches, or even less, per year. Cultivation may 

 be confined to simply keeping the brush and weeds out 

 ©f the rows. The growth of the sisal is much better, 

 however, if the ground is plowed previous to planting 

 than when the sisal is merely set in holes without plow- 

 ing. The leaves are harvested when they assume a 

 horizontal position, the work being done under contract, 

 at a given price per hundred leaves. The largest sisal 

 company on the Islands has perfected milling machinery 

 for sisal, which removes the fiber so completely that the 

 waste from the mill is valueless, except perhaps for 

 feeding purposes. Before the most recent improvements 

 were made, a considerable amount of fiber was lost in 

 the waste and this was later recovered and baled as a 

 coarse fiber material. Drying is accomplished by spread- 

 ing the fiber out on clean coral sand, and since the mill 

 is located in a region where rain very seldom occurs, a 

 bright and clean fiber is obtained. The fiber is baled by 

 machine in bales weighing 400 to 500 pounds. 



The prospects for the development of the sisal indus- 

 try in these Islands are excellent. The United States 

 imports nearly $15,000,000 worth annually. Of this 

 quantity, Mexico supplies 98%. The quality of Hawaiian 

 grown fiber is superior to that of any other part of the 

 world, except German East Africa, which it equals. The 

 San Francisco markets alone would take 10,000 tons of 

 our fiber, and at present we produce only 200 tons. There 

 are numerous arid regions in the Islands where at present 

 almost nothing else could be grown successfully as a 

 commercial venture. Undoubtedly some of these areas 

 will be planted to sisal in the near future. It obviously 

 requires a company with some capital to engage in the 

 sisal business, since it is necessary to wait three years 

 for the first crop. The expense for agricultural and mill- 

 ing machinery, however, is not very great. It is not 

 necessary to use the more expensive steam plow outfits, 

 since in many localities, gasoline power can be used 

 successfully. 



RUBBER. 



Rubber trees,, particularly the Ceara rubber, were 

 planted at various points in the Islands twenty years ago 

 or more. The first regular companies, however, were 



