THE PAPAYA IN HAWAII 
INTRODUCTION. 
Excepting the banana, there is no fruit grown in the Hawaiian 
Islands that means more to the people of this Territory than the 
papaya, if measured in terms of the comfort and enjoyment furnished 
to the people as a whole. The papaya is the almost universal breakfast 
fruit in Hawaii, enjoyed alike by rich and poor, and is recognized as 
one of the most wholesome fruits wherever it abounds. It grows so 
readily, with so little care, in such variety of soils and conditions, 
with no serious diseases or insect pests; it occupies so little space and 
matures a crop so quickly that it is to be found in nearly every door- 
yard and garden. The taste for the papaya seldom needs to be ac- 
quired, although appreciation for it increases with familiarity, and 
there are few fruits which can be indulged in so regularly without 
wearying the taste. All this applies to the really good papaya, for 
there are few fruits which vary more widely in flavor than these. 
Because of its importance as a home fruit as well as one for local 
market in Hawaii; because of its possibilities in manufactured pro- 
ducts, and, for some countries, in export; because of the need of 
establishing good varieties that can be depended upon to reproduce 
themselves; because of inquiries relating to methods of culture and 
to the possibilities of papain production; and because of the import- 
ance of certain scientific problems which are referred to in the last 
part of this publication, the Hawaii Experiment Station has been 
pursuing certain investigations of this plant and offers this paper as a 
contribution to the limited literature of the papaya. 
PART I. CULTURE AND USES. 
NATURAL REQUIREMENTS. 
The papaya is a tropical plant and does not prosper under any 
other than tropical conditions. Just outside the Tropics it is grown as 
a beautiful ornamental that occasionally yields fruit, but it is never a 
success as a fruit producer. In Hawaii it thrives best below 1,200 
feet altitude, luxuriating and producing its best fruits in the warmest 
localities. The effect of the lack of heat in the cool season is marked 
by a retarding of the process of maturing and ripening fruit and to 
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