459 
thrived  here,  and  we  have  turned  to  annual  crops  with  the  result 
above  mentioned.  Recent  developments  in  the  cotton  industry, 
together  with  a very  small  trial  planting  on  the  Nahiku  Rubber 
Co.,  lead  to  a belief  that  this  may  be  the  crop  that  will  solve  the 
problem,  as  the  perennial  character  cotton  takes  on  in  the  Ter- 
ritory gives  it  the  advantage  desired  from  cacao,  that  of  a crop 
which  would  not  require  repeated  planting.  By  the  time  the  cot- 
ton plant  will  have  run  out  to  a point  where  picking  is  no  longer 
profitable,  the  rubber  trees  will  have  reached  the  stage  where  the 
inter-crop  will  not  seem  advisable. 
Anyway,  it  has  been  proven  beyond  question  that  inter-crops 
can  be  raised,  and  hence  forth  there  remains  only  the  choosing 
of  such  as  will  to  the  greatest  extent  diminish  the  net  cost  of 
cultivation.  The  rubber  plantations  occupy  a position  perhaps  not 
held  by  any  other  agricultural  enterprise  in  the  islands.  They  can 
afford  to  raise  crops  between  the  rubber  trees  at  an  actual  loss  so 
far  as  the  particular  crop  is  concerned,  provided  they  can  realize 
from  these  anything  over  and  above  the  cost  of  seed,  actual 
planting  and  harvesting,  as  all  in  excess  of  this  will  lessen  the 
cost  of  cultivating  the  rubber  trees  on  which  their  hope  of  profit 
depends. 
Among  the  older  trees,  where  intercrops  can  not  be  grown  to 
advantage  because  of  the  size  of  the  trees,  it  will  be  possible  hence 
forth  as  indicated  by  experiments  covering  several  months,  and 
about  100  acres  on  the  Nahiku  Rubber  Company  lands,  to  keep 
down  weeds  and  grasses  more  cheaply  with  the  spray  pump  than 
by  the  old  method. 
On  the  whole,  it  seems  reasonably  certain  that  development  will 
be  cheaper  henceforth  than  it  has  been  up  to  this  time,  even  with 
more  thorough  cultivation,  and  it  would  not  be  surprising  to  see 
it  reduced  to  the  figures  of  the  estimates  made  in  the  beginning. 
It  will  be  at  least  four  years  more  before  a crop  will  be  obtained 
from  Hevea  trees.  Our  only  hope  of  returns  until  the  end  of  that 
time  is  in  the  Ceara.  This  tree  has  been  growing  in  favor  during 
the  last  five  years,  and  indications  point  to  the  planting  of  it  on 
considerable  scale  in  Ceylon,  East  Africa  and  South  America.  It 
has  proven  by  far  best  suited  to  Nahiku  general  conditions  as 
regards  growth  and  with  necessity  staring  us  in  the  face,  I am 
sure  that  it  will  be  made  to  give  rubber  profitably. 
We  find  ourselves,  then,  at  this  time,  with  development  less 
advanced  than  was  expected  five  years  ago,  decidedly  so  in  the 
case  of  the  Hevea,  with  fewer  trees  of  tapping  age,  but  with  the 
estimated  collection  cost,  after  experiment,  about  the  same,  esti- 
mated cost  of  development  for  the  future,  perhaps  about  the  same, 
and  the  price  of  rubber  about  70  per  cent,  higher.  On  the  whole, 
I believe  we  may  say,  with  a contemporary  writing  from  East 
Africa  concerning  the  Ceara  planters  there  : “One  does  not  care  to 
make  too  many  roseate  prophesies,  but  the  planters  here  can  at 
