Discussion on Tropical Fruits 
Mr. Hume: We will now take up the 
next topic; that is the subject of tropical 
fruits. In looking over the audience, I 
do not believe there is a single member 
of the committee here. Isn’t Mr. Gurney 
here? Mr. Painter says he was here a 
minute ago. 
Mr. Gurney: I am not posted along 
the line you asked from me. I asked 
Mr. Painter not to “Jack” nie up about 
it, but he doesn’t tote fair. I wrote to 
Mr. White^ of Hawaii, and told him if 
he would write a paper and send it to 
us, the Society would rise up and call 
him blessed. 
Mr. Hume: I have a few notes from 
Mr. C. G. White, which I shall read: 
NOTES FROM MR. WHITE. 
Being in Hawaii, perhaps I ought to 
know something of tropical fruits; but I 
know little actually outside of pineapples, 
and so cannot help the Tropical Fruit 
Committee as much as I would like. 
The Experiment Station here is per¬ 
fecting some self-pollinating strains of 
dwarf pawpaws that are very nice. 
We have all been scared about the 
Mediterranean fruit fly—but we are in 
hopes now that it was mostly scare. Sev¬ 
eral places on this island have been bad¬ 
ly infested for a season, and then the in¬ 
fliction has almost passed. Just why is 
not definitely known, but it looks as 
though the ants like fly diet, and clean 
out the fallen fruit. 
Some years ago one of the members re¬ 
ported that no really satisfactory tree- 
wound paint was known. The best thing 
I have found in my yard has been a thick 
bath-tub enamel. I am not prepared to 
say that it can’t be beat, but I mention 
it. 
I understand that last year’s pack of 
Hawaiian pines was over eleven hundred 
thousand cases, and the expectation is 
that it will be half a million cases more 
in two years. The business is in good 
shape. 
The best peach that I have tried here is 
Hall’s Yellow. 
California peaches are failures here. 
Mr. Gurney: I have not had much 
experience except along a line which I 
do not recall seeing mentioned in this 
Society in the last ten years; that is, 
guavas. 
Mr. Hume: That is why you were put 
on the committee, because we thought 
you could tell us about that fruit. 
Mr. Gurney: I don’t suppose many 
of you remember, but fifty or sixty years 
ago the guava jelly that was sold was 
solid and black like tar, and tasted some¬ 
thing like it. I picked up a few points 
from Mrs. Jameson and from the lady 
who took the premium at the Paris Exhi¬ 
bition, and I got some information to help 
me out from Professor Van Deman, 
then at the head of the Agricultural De¬ 
partment. He gave me not only infor¬ 
mation, but help. 
