286 RUBBER CULTURE IN HAWAII 



agricultural pests. For example, the fruit industry suffers from scale 

 and mealy bugs and sugar planters are obliged to fight the borer and 

 all his kin. Then, too, there are cut worms, plant lice, Japanese rose 

 beetles, and lots of others of the same sort. Whether there is anything 

 that will be injurious to rubber no one knows yet, but it is quite likely 

 that some of the existing insects will adapt themselves to the rubber 

 situation as it develops. 



My interest in rubber in Hawaii dates back to 1890, during the 

 reign of King Kalakua, with whom I had a most interesting correspon- 

 dence. That is, I wrote him some very interesting letters and got no 

 replies. I don't say specifically that that is why he lost his throne, but 

 any student of history knows what has happened to the islands since I 

 received the royal snub. 



The defunct ruler, however, went on record as believing that some- 

 thing might be done with the Ficus religiosa and the Ficus Indica which 

 grow there in "prolific profusion." He also noted that the bread fruit 

 tree (Artocarpos incisa) produced a gum that for centuries had been 

 used by his subjects for waterproofing purposes, and which he believed 

 might contain a percentage of rubber. With regard to the cultivation of 

 rubber, he promised his royal sanction to anybody with money to spend 

 to come there and spend it for rubber or anything else. 



Somewhere in 1900 the papers in the Far East claimed that the 

 United States government was going at once to save $30,000,000 that it 

 was then paying for imported rubber, by booming cultivation in Hawaii. 

 The story was, that the nucleus was to be 100,000 rubber trees trans- 

 planted from Brazil to the newly acquired territory. Nothing, however, 

 came of this. 



It was on the island of Maui that the first real start at rubber 

 planting was made. Seven hundred and sixty square miles has Maui. 

 and a most romantic island it is. It is really two mountains connected 

 by a sandy isthmus, and is wonderfully varied both in climate and 

 scenery. For example, speaking of climate, one side of the island is 

 dry and barren, but the other, the windward, is exceedingly fertile. 

 This portion, which consists on the lower levels of picturesque valleys. 

 has plenty of rain and rich soil, and it is here that the rubber is being 

 planted, and Ceara (Manihot) was the first tree selected. Rumor has 

 it also that there was something like two hundred acres, part Herea 

 and part Ficus, planted about the same time, but no record of this plant- 

 ing is at present available. In 1905, how r ever, there was formed the 

 Nahiku Rubber C<>., Limited, which took over the plantation containing 



