436 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



Hawaiian farmers were much discouraged. In con- 

 sequence, much less was sown in 1861. Only some 

 10,000 bushels were raised, but this was of a su- 

 perior quality, and sold for one dollar per bushel. 

 More was needed than could be obtained, and seed 

 this spring sold readily for $1.50 per bushel. A 

 good many oats and some barley and buckwheat 

 were raised, and found a market. In 1861 consid- 

 erable Indian corn was raised, and it sold for a fair 

 price. The prospect of obtaining a higher price for 

 wheat the present year than had been offered the 

 past two years, stimulated our people to sow more 

 than they had done. In February and March a good 

 deal was sown, and but for the cut worm the crop 

 would have been lai'ge. The earliest sown, some 

 of which is nearly ready to be cut, looks very well, 

 the latest sown is nearly destroyed by the worm. 

 This is very discouraging, but there seems to be 

 no help for it. "Long patience" becomes the hus- 

 bandman. 



Of the crop for the present year I will speak 

 again, if spared, after the harvest shall have been 

 gathered. We are now having gentle rains which, 

 may bring forward the late sown wheat so that 

 ■what remains of it will be stout and of good qual- 

 ity. More than usual Indian corn was raised last 

 year, and our farmers are planting again this spring. 

 As there are but few whaleships remaining, the cul- 

 tivation of the Irish potato has greatly diminished. 

 Indeed, there is likely to be a great change in the 

 agricultural products of the islands. 



The cultivation of sugar cane and the manufac- 

 ture of sugar are decidedly successful, and this 

 branch of business is rapidly increasing. In my 

 own vicinity there are already three large plan- 

 tations, with houses and machinery of improved 

 pattern for manufacturing. Several landholders in 

 the vicinity of these plantations are now turning 

 their attention to the raising of cane, so that the 

 prospect of a great increase of the amount of sugar 

 is very fair. At Ulupalakua, some twenty-five miles 

 distant, there is a plantation of several hundreds 

 of acres of cane of promising growth. A mill of 

 superior construction has lately arrived from Bos- 

 ton for this plantation. Wailuku, fifteen miles dis- 

 tant, and Waitepu, a neighboring village, are lands 

 well adapted to sugar cane, and they will both be 

 appi-opriated ere long to this product. The late 

 King, Ivamehameha III., several years ago, and 

 while I resided there, caused a large tract to be 

 planted at Wailuku, and erected a water mill to 

 grind his cane. The experiment proved a failure, 

 however, through the unfaithfulness of the man — 

 a Chinaman, whom he employed as superintend- 

 ent. Lahaina, Avhich you will recollect as the me- 

 tropolis of this island, is nearly deserted by whale- 

 ships, and there is scarcely anything doing in 

 the shape of trade. But it is probable that all the 

 land that can be spared from kalo, the native sta- 

 ple, will be filled with cane. Much is already 

 planted, and sugar is being manufactured on a 

 small scale. I doubt not that Lahaina will more 

 than recover its importance in consequence of this 

 new business, and I am sure there will be great 

 gain. ^ 



Another enterprise has begun to be urged among 

 us, which promises large results. I allude to rice 

 growing. The experiment of growing rice was made 

 some twenty years ago at Wailuku, and succeeded 

 so far as to satisfy all of us that rice could be 

 raised at the islands without any difficulty. But 



it was given up because it was doubtful whether 

 it would be as valuable a product as the kalo. I 

 see I'm spinning out my letter too long. Let me 

 pause. Thine with respect, 



J. S. Green. 



For the New Ensland Farmer. 

 LITTLE THINGS: 

 Or a Walk in My Garben. 



Among the little things that most men despise, 

 and do not consider worth their study, is that of 



INSECTS injurious TO VEGETATION. 



Insects are among the greatest enemies to the 

 gardener and farmer, and it is gratifying to know 

 that we can, to a certain extent, avoid their dep- 

 redations as soon as we become familiar with their 

 habits. 



Farmers who sow their wheat as early as pos-, 

 sible succeed in avoiding, to a great extent, the 

 ravages of the weevil. Many prepare their ground 

 in the fall, so as to harrow it as early as they can 

 in spring. It may now be pretty safely predicted 

 what will be the wheat crop by the time farmers 

 are able to sow it. 



The apple tree borer, which but few farmers 

 knew anything about twenty years ago, while they 

 Mere destroying their orchards, is now known to 

 every good farmer, and his ravages prevented, 

 simply by cutting them out, or what is better, us- 

 ing a straight awl and mallet and by keeping the 

 ground clear around the trunks of the trees, and 

 applying some wash to young orchards in the month 

 of June, made of soda, Ume, salt or potash, either 

 of which will prevent them from depositing their 

 eggs. 



If we step into the garden we shall there find 

 enough to try our patience. But let us see. I 

 have been overrun with the grub worm, but I have 

 stopped him from eating down my cabbages, simp- 

 ly by tearing a slit in a piece of paper eight inches 

 square and slipping the ])lant through it, thus 

 making a paper platform around the plant, which 

 must be kept down by a lump of earth or a stone. 

 Care should be taken to have the paper close 

 round the plant, as they will sometimes crawl up 

 through the paper. I have had complete success 

 the present year in saving my cabbage plants. 



To save vines from the striped bug, nothing is 

 easier than to place half of a common-sized news- 

 paper over the plant, and hoe a little earth on the 

 edge of the paper. The plants will grow faster in 

 ]May and June than if exposed to the air, and it is 

 a perfect protection. 



The curculio is still a troublesome insect, but 

 I am inclined to think that in fruit-bearing years 

 most northern localities can obtain a good crop by 

 cultivating highly so as to cause as many blossoms 

 to set as possible. It has occurred to me that if a 

 few of the Canada plum tree should be allowed to 

 bear near by, that they would furnish a more de- 

 sirable treat to the curculio. They bite those 

 much more readily than the ordinary plum. I 

 shall get a good crop tliis year, though many of 

 them have been destroyed by this pest. 



Our gardeners in this vicinity cannot raise on- 

 ions from the seed on account of the maggot, but 

 they obviate this by planting the potato and top 

 onions, which do not seriously suffer from its rav- 

 ages. Fine beds may now be seen in most gardens 



