HAWAII EXPERIMENT STATION. 371 



PREPARING LAND FOR PLANTING. 



After a forest is felled and cut into lengths, the timber should be placed in rows 

 from 8 to 10 feet apart; holes to be dug in the space thus cleared for the young coffee 

 trees. The best distance to space the rows is still a matter of discussion. Eight or 

 nine feet is the most common practice. 



PLANTING AND CULTIVATION. 



This is a most important process, and should be done only by men who have been 

 carefully taught this work. A peculiarity of the coffee tree is that if the taproot 

 be not planted straight the tree will not flourish, and replanting is inevitable. 



VARIETIES. 



The best results have been obtained from seed known as Horner Guatemala. 

 The origin of this seed is obscure. The variety is identical with the best grade of 

 Java coffee. I have imported the best varieties of Java, but the Horner seed pro- 

 duces a coffee in every way equal to the Java in appearance, while the flavor is supe- 

 rior. Both the Java and the Horner coffees give trees which send out branches straight 

 from the trunk. The Hawaiian coffee droops, and in consequence pruning and pick- 

 ing from the Hawaiian trees are more expensive. The quality is also inferior to either 

 of the above varieties. 



In planting coffee a great many " sports" are found, and there is no doubt that, 

 under judicious experimental cultivation improved varieties would be discovered. 



After the plantation is started, the care required for the first year is very slight. 

 In the Hamakua district, in forest land, one man can easily look after 15 acres, the 

 work consisting in weeding and replanting. Ten per cent is a fair estimate for 

 replanting. 



Estimates as to what cultivation ought to cost are of very little value. With the 

 most careful management, and without making any mistakes, it costs $200 to clear an 

 acre of land and maintain it until the trees are four years old, when the first crop is 

 taken off. 



COST OF PICKING AND MAINTENANCE. 



Having never cultivated coffee over four years old, the cost of keeping up a planta- 

 tion after this time is unknown to me, but it should not exceed $3 per acre per month 

 exclusive of picking and interest on the investment. 



The cost of picking, I know from experience, will amount to between 5 and 10 

 cents per pound of market coffee, 7£ cents per pound being a fair average. (PI. 

 XXVIII, fig. 2.) 



Cleaning, drying, and transportation will amount to about 3 cents per pound more. 

 In other words, figuring an acre of coffee ready to bear at $200, it costs 12 cents to 

 produce 1 pound of marketable coffee laid down in Honolulu. 



Our coffee is divided into several grades. The best brings about 13 cents; the 

 poorer grades, about 9 cents per pound, the above figures representing a crop whose 

 average value is 12 cents per pound. In the figures given as to the cost of bringing an 

 acre of coffee into bearing the cost of superintendence has not been taken into consid- 

 eration. A man cultivating his own crop would make this item nominal, whereas an 

 expensive manager on a small plantation would make this cost greater than all others. 

 On a well-managed plantation of 100 acres, a fair estimate for the manager's time, 

 and the cost of a residence, would increase the price per acre $100, making the total 

 cost of 4-year-old coffee $300 per acre. 



Rainfall has a very decided bearing on the selling price of coffee. Where the rain- 

 fall is regular throughout the year a large berry of regular shape is produced; where 

 the rainfall is spasmodic the berry is small and irregular in shape. A large regular- 



