CHAPTER V._The Hawaiian Islands Their Resources, Agricultural, Commercial and Financial

AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES.

While the coffee trees are growing and during the time that will elapse

before the planter receives returns from his investment, it would be a

wise thing for him to plant such things, as will not only provide the

greater part of the food for himself and family, but may also yield a

moderate return in money. The soil and climate of the Hawaiian Islands

will grow almost anything that grows in any other country. All Northern

fruits can be grown if one will only go high enough on the mountain

slopes of Maui and Hawaii. But the coffee planter must confine himself

to such things as will thrive in the vicinity in which his coffee trees

are planted, and it is for the information of intending planters that

this chapter is written.

In the first place, almost all kinds of vegetables will grow in such

profusion as will astonish those who have lived only in Northern climes.

Green and sweet corn, potatoes, Irish and sweet, cabbages, tomatoes,

beans, lettuce, radishes and many other kinds of vegetables, all of the

finest quality and in the greatest profusion, can be had every day in

the year. Strawberries and raspberries can also be had all the year

round. In addition to oranges and limes, which grow to perfection in

this country, many fruits peculiar to tropical and semi-tropical

climates grow well and flourish in these Islands. Among the more

important is the Avocado Pear (Persea Gratissima), commonly called the

Alligator Pear. This tree grows well and bears fruit, of splendid

quality, in from 3 to 5 years from seed. The fruit is much esteemed by

all classes. A small quantity of the fruit is shipped to California;

what reaches there in good condition is quickly bought at high prices.

It can only be carried safely in cold storage, and this is very

expensive freight. A native peach does well, and will bear fruit in two

years from seed. The fruit is much smaller than the American peach,

which by the way does not do well on elevations below 4000 feet, but

very sweet and juicy and makes excellent preserves and pies. Without

doubt this peach could in a few years be improved so as to rival peaches

of any other country. The Mango (Mangifera Indica) is a tropical fruit

tree that grows in the greatest profusion and bears enormous crops of

delicious fruit. It comes into bearing in 5 or 6 years from seed and

does well from sea level to an elevation of 2000 feet. The fruit is much

liked by every one; the green fruit is made into a sauce resembling, but

much superior to, apple butter.

The Guava (Psidium Guayava) grows wild in all parts of the Islands

below 3000 feet. The fruit, of which there is a great abundance, is

made into jam and the very finest jelly in the world. In the fruiting

season large quantities of the jelly can be made, and without doubt,

exported at a profit.

The Poha (Physalis edulis) is a quick growing shrub bearing a berry that

makes excellent jelly and jam. The shrub grows wild on elevations

between 1000 and 4000 feet. A patch of pohas planted in a corner of a

garden, will grow and yield a bountiful supply of fruit almost without

cultivation.

Pineapples are at home on these Islands; a small plot planted with the

best varieties of this king of fruits will keep the table supplied the

year round.

Another valuable fruit indigenous to this country is the Papaia (Carica

papaya). This fine fruit can be raised in enormous quantities and is a

most fattening food for pigs and chickens. The tree fruits in eight or

nine months from the seed, and thence forward for years it yields ripe

fruit every month in the year. The fruit is of the size of a small

melon and is very rich in sugar. The unripe fruit contains a milky juice

that, even when diluted with water, renders any tough meat, that is

washed in it, quite tender. A small piece of the unripe fruit placed in

the water in which meat or tough chicken is boiled makes it tender and

easily digestible.

A very valuable food plant, indigenous to these Islands, is the taro

(Colocasia esculenta). The variety known as dry land taro will grow on

land that is moist enough for the coffee trees. The taro is a grand food

plant, the tubers containing more nutriment for a given weight than any

other vegetable food. The young tops when cooked are hard to distinguish

from spinach. The tubers must be cooked before they can be used for

food, in order to dissipate a very acrid principle that exists in both

leaves and root.

Another important food plant that has been introduced and yields

abundantly is the Cassava (Manihot utilissima). This plant furnishes the

staple food for the population of Brazil. It is easily propagated by the

planting pieces of the woody portions of the stems and branches. The

tubers are available in nine or ten months after planting. There are two

kinds, the sweet and the bitter; the latter being the more prolific. The

sweet kind can be fed to pigs without cooking. The bitter kind contains

a poisonous substance which is entirely destroyed by cooking. There is

no danger of animals eating the bitter kind in a raw state, for no stock

will touch it, while the sweet kind is eagerly eaten in the raw state by

pigs, horses, cows, etc. The tubers are prepared for human food by

grating them. The juice is then expelled by pressure, and the residue

pounded into a coarse meal, which is made into thin cakes. It is an

excellent food, and said to be much more digestible than bread and other

foods made from wheat. Pigs can be very cheaply raised on the sweet

variety of this plant. A field of the plant being ready to gather, a

portion is fenced off, and the pigs turned into it. They will continue

to feed until every vestige of the tubers is eaten, leaving the ground

in a fine condition for replanting. The tubers never spoil in the

ground, in fact the soil is the very best storehouse for them. However

if left for two or three years the tubers grow very large and tough.

Bananas, in great variety, are grown in all parts of the Islands where

there is sufficient moisture. Any land that will grow coffee will grow

bananas. The yield of fruit from this remarkable plant is something

astonishing. It commences to bear fruit in a little over one year from

the time of planting. The stem decays after the formation of a bunch

of fruit; this will weigh from 50 to 100 pounds and upwards. Numerous

suckers spring up from around the decaying stem and bear fruit in

their turn. One-half an acre planted with bananas would not only

furnish a large family with an abundance of delicious and nutritious

fruit, but would also yield a large supply of feed for pigs, chickens

and other stock.

The tea plant (Camellia Thea) grows well in this country and yields

a tea of good quality. It is hardly likely that it will become an

article of export from this country, as we cannot compete with the

very low prices paid for labor in the great tea countries, India,

Ceylon, and China. But it can be grown for home consumption, and

there is no reason why every coffee planter should not have a patch

of tea growing on his land. An eighth of an acre, planted out in tea

plants, would yield more tea than could be consumed by a large family;

the work of cultivation and preparation is light and easy and could be

done by women and children.

The coffee lands are situated in forested tracts in which there is

little or no pasturage for animals. Every coffee planter should keep one

or more cows to obtain the milk and butter which will furnish a large

addition to the food supply for himself and family. In order to do this,

it will be necessary to plant such things as will furnish food for

the animals. We have several fodder plants that will yield a large

quantity of feed and which will only grow in tropical and semi-tropical

countries.

[Illustration: OCEANIC STEAMSHIP AUSTRALIA.]

[Illustration: VOLCANO HOUSE.]

First among these is the Teosinte Reana (Euchlacna luxurians). This

plant is a native of Guatamala, and grows splendidly in this country;

each plant requires sixteen feet of ground for its full development. It

is an annual if allowed to run to seed; but its growth can be continued

by cutting when four or five feet high, and green feed obtained all the

year round.

Guinea grass (Panicum Maximum), one of the grandest of fodder plants,

has been introduced and finds a congenial home in this country. It is

purely a tropical grass, it grows to a height of eight feet forming

large bunches which, when cut young, furnish an abundance of sweet and

tender feed. In districts when there is sufficient moisture, it can be

cut every two months. Caffir corn, Egyptian millet and Sorghum grow

well, and should be planted in order to have a change of feed.

Pumpkins and squash grow to an enormous size and yield an immense

quantity of feed, much relished by cows and pigs.

A dry land rice is being tried in the coffee districts of Olaa and Kona,

on the Island of Hawaii, and there is every reason to believe that it

will be successful. Nearly all the laborers on the coffee plantations

use rice as their staple food and it has to be brought from the Island

of Oahu to the Islands of Hawaii and Maui. There is no doubt but that

the rice used by the labor on the coffee plantations, can be raised on

the spot, reducing the cost of living to the laborers, and making them