PAPAYA CULTURE IX HAWAII 31 
on the lowland plains. There are few, if any, soils in Hawaii in 
which the papaya will not grow, but the plant is insistent in matters 
of adequate underdrainage and aeration. In water-logged soil the 
papaya makes spindling growth and drops its lower leaves prema- 
turely, while the remaining foliage turns yellow and the whole plant 
becomes unhealthy. The papaya, like practically all other cultivated 
fruit trees, gives better results if it is grown in a deep, rich well- 
drained soil. 
PLANTING 
Before the papaya is planted in commercial orchards, the land 
should be cleared, thoroughly plowed, and harrowed. It should 
then be staked for rows at right angles 10 feet apart each way. Set- 
ting the plants at the intersections will permit of planting 435 to 
the acre. 5 Holes for planting should be dug about 3 feet across and 
18 inches deep to allow the young plants to make their early and 
most delicate root growth in a properly made-up soil. The holes 
should then be filled with thoroughly mixed surface soil which has 
been incorporated with one-fourth part of well-decomposed barn- 
yard manure. The latter adds organic matter, nitrogen, and some 
other essentials which stimulate vigorous growth. The small plants 
of sturdy growth, 6 to 10 inches high, should be removed from the 
individual containers and set in the made-up soil, two plants being 
placed 18 inches apart in each hole. In this planting the soil is 
firmed around each plant so that the immediate surface will be 1 or 
2 inches below that of the field. Immediately after planting is done 
the plants should be moderately watered. They should be watered 
every day or two for a few weeks and then given a liberal watering 
once a week whenever the rainfall is insufficient for growth. The 
plants must be kept growing vigorously. Such short-period crops 
as peanuts, onions, and tomatoes, may be grown between the papaya 
rows during the first six months. In five to seven months from the 
time the plants are set they will begin to blossom, and the sex can 
then be determined. Most of the staminate plants should be re- 
moved and only one pistillate plant left in each hole. The method 
of planting two plants to the hole reduces the probable production 
of too many nonbearing or staminate plants. Some plants should 
be kept in reserve for use when both plants in a hole prove to be 
staminate or otherwise undesirable. At least one staminate plant 
should be left to each 50 pistillate plants in the grove to assure 
sufficient pollination to set fruit. 
Where the monoecious type of papaya is grown it is not necessary 
to set two plants in each hole, but extra plants should be held in re- 
serve to replace undesirable plants or misses. The monoecious type 
nearly always produces some plants which either are sterile or 
produce poorly shaped fruit. Proper pollination is necessary to 
develop an abundance of well-formed and good-flavored fruit. To 
assist in establishing these qualities, even in groves of the monoecious 
type, growers in Hawaii usually maintain several staminate-flowered 
plants on the windward side of the grove. Papaya plants when set 
5 In some parts of the Territory where the moisture supply is limited and vegetative 
growth is less vigorous, growers set the plants 8 feet apart, which permits of planting 
680 plants per acre. 
