246 



COFFEE 



COFFEE 



should be. The changed political relations of the 

 island, with the attendant effect on its commerce, 

 the general decrease in the price of coffee on the 

 market, and the destructive hurricane of 1899, 

 from which many plantations have not recovered, 

 have all tended to depress the industry. The 

 average production per acre had fallen in 1903 to 

 250 pounds. This could be increased to 1,000 

 pounds with improved methods. Selection for 

 quality or yield has been little practiced, and the 

 planting methods are careless. It is gratifying to 

 note, however, that modern methods of cultiva- 

 tion are finding a place. A project for the estab- 

 lishment of a school for coffee-growers is under 

 consideration by the government. 



According to the census of 1899, the average 

 size of coffee plantations was nine acres. A few 

 have 1,000 acres and more. A considerable number 

 have 100 to 1,000 acres, but the majority consist 



Fig. 353. Coffee miU In Hawaii. 



of less than 100 acres, even going so low as a 

 fraction of an acre. The larger plantations, as a- 

 rule, have their own population, who live in houses 

 or huts provided for them by the plantation, free 

 of rent. Usually they live in families, of which 

 only the male members work in the fields, except 

 in harvest time, when the entire family goes to 

 pick coffee. This help may be supplemented, when 

 necessary, by laborers from the smaller towns in 

 the interior, or by small proprietors. Full-grown 

 laborers get thirty-five cents and boys ten cents 

 and up for a day's work of about eleven hours. 

 Much work, however, is done by contract, which 

 nets the workers more. The quality of the labor 

 is very satisfactory, and is mostly white. 



Coffee in Hawaii. 



Coffee has been cultivated in the Hawaiian 

 islands for eighty years or more. The conditions 

 for producing this crop are almost unexcelled. 

 There are over 300,000 acres of land adapted both 

 by soil and location to the production of a high- 

 grade product. The climate is equable, the tem- 

 perature seldom dropping below 50° or rising above 

 85°. Some experiments are being made with 

 rubber trees as a coffee shade, and indications are 

 that their success will materially add to the 



value of the coffee land in Hawaii. The low prices 

 now paid for coffee, however, are discouraging new 

 plantings. The annual production is about 3,000,- 

 000 pounds. Yields of 750 pounds of marketable 

 coffee per acre are secured in Kona and Hamakua 

 on fields that receive proper attention. The coffees 

 are mild, and of high fiavor, and frequently sell 

 above the average market prices. The bean is large 

 and flat, resembling Javan rather than Brazilian 

 coffees. All of the coffee produced in Hawaii is 

 milled and graded before being sent to market. 

 Practically no parchment is exported. The average 

 cost of production is about nine and one-half cents 

 per pound. The picking season in the Kona or lee- 

 ward districts runs from November to January, 

 and in the windward districts from January to May. 

 Pig. 353 is a Hawaiian coffee mill. 



There are three types of coffee in cultivation,— 

 the so-called native Hawaiian of unknown source, 

 introduced into the islands about eighty years 

 ago, a hardy form which stands neglect and 

 hard usage and lack of care better than any 

 other cultural form in Hawaii ; the Java, in- 

 troduced directly from Java about fifteen 

 years ago; and Horner's Guatemala, said to 

 have been introduced from Guatemala about 

 1890, but its exact source is uncertain, proba- 

 bly Javan. The last is the one most largely 

 cultivated in Hawaii. It is a hardy tree that 

 bears heavily, and is not very subject to dis- 

 ease. The berry is large and flat like the best 

 grades of imported Java. 



The industry is suffering because of the 

 low prices for doffee. The hope for reviving 

 the industry lies in the creation of a market 

 in the United States for Hawaiian coffees in- 

 dividually. Growers assert that the industry 

 will soon be ruined unless the United States 

 government protects it by tariff. 



Literature. 



Coffee, Its Culture and Commerce, C. G. Warn- 

 ford Loch, editor, 1888, contains a compilation 

 of nearly all the literature then existing. Other 

 works are : Colonial Reports, Darling & Sons, Lon 

 don ; The Improvement of Indian Agriculture, Dr, 

 J. A. Voelcker, London ; Tropical Agriculture, P, 

 L. Simmonds,' London; Ceylon Soils and Manures 

 John Hughes, London ; Tropische Agrikultur, Sem- 

 ler ; Culture du Cafeier, C. Raoul, Paris, 1899 

 Shade in Coffee Culture, 0. F. Cook, Bulletin No. 25| 

 Division of Botany, United States Department of 

 Agriculture. Various German, French and Dutch 

 publications contain valuable discussions of coffee. 

 For a discussion of the industry in Porto Rico, the 

 reader should consult Coffee Planting in Porto Rico, 

 J. W. Van Leenhoff, Circular No. 5, Porto Rico 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, from which parts 

 of this 'article are adapted. For Hawaii, see the 

 Annual Reports of the Hawaii Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, 1901, 1902, 1903. See list of publi- 

 cations on tropical agriculture. Vol. I, page 99. Ref- 

 erences on the industry in Porto Rico and Hawaii 

 will also be found in the articles on these countries 

 in Vol. I (pages 109, 114). 



