iGRAD i451ii i1903 1 1... I... H 1 N 111. '"~'"~~~""""""~"""'"'i:":i"~;" ~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~Sl l g AGRICULTURE DNIN HAWAII JARED G. SMITH Special Agent in Charge of Hawaii Experiment Station. With Digest of the Land Laws of the Territory jIf' HAWAII PROMOTION COMMITTEE REPRESENTING The Territory of Hawaii, The Chamber of Commerce, The Merchants' Association. HONOLULU, T. H., 1903 )I AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES v7 /o of the,!-3 TERRITORY OF HAWAII. h Although the Hawaiian Islands are within the tropics, the climate is sub-tropical, rather than tropical. Sunimer max/ m, ium temperatures seldom range above 85 degrees Fahrenhleit, while at sea level, winter minimum temperatures selodom reach 50 degrees.. The climate is characterized by equality of temperature. The daily range averages about thirteen degrees and seldom exceeds twenty degrees. At Honolulu the average temprature is 74 degrees Fahrenheit, "with a daily range of eleven degrees. The daily range usually increases toward the higher elevations, ranging T'I from 16 to 20 degrees. The average relative humidity is 72 er cent, which is low for the tropics, and to this fact may Z= ' be attributed much of the salubrity of the climate. The climate is insular, that is, the rainfall, the number of cloudy, or clear days per month, the amount of wind and the; humidity of the air, vary according to the location of the C1 *'land in relation to the mountain ranges of the islands, or ' In relation to the altitude: above the sea level. Frequent ight local showers are characteristic of the Hawaiian. climate. They often seem to come from a clear sky, and. it frequently happens that one locality may be drenched Iby a sudden shower, while a few hundred yards distant there has not been a drop. The prevailing wind is the C"L ''Northeast trade. It blows on an average 260 days in the. year. Devastating winds are of rare occurrence. There g73 are light sea breezes and occasionally a "Kona", which is 3C:D a severe Southwest wind. November is the special season,for the Kona, which, in some sections and at long intervals, causes considerable damage. The rainy season extends hopi from November to the end of March. Electrical disturbances are occasional but not serious. The rainfall varies 3;3 " according to the seasons of the year and location. The;i:.Northeast and East sides of each of the Islands are wet, Im 2 0) z2 j ^ ~. r ^S ~ JAN 1 7 1945 the opposite sides of the islands dry. The rainfall in certain districts on the dry sides of the Islands may not exceed twenty inches per annum, while on the wet side it may average as high as thirty inches per month. The valleys, plains, plateaus, gulches and mountains all have a climate peculiar to themselves. SOILS The soils of the Hawaiian Islands are mostly volcanic, the only exception being certain low lying coastal plains, which are of a coral origin. The soils differ widely from most of the agricultural soils on the, Mainland. They require different treatment. Their chief characteristics are their acidity, the exceptionally high percentage of iron and their high percentage of nitrogen. Most of the soils are also rich in phosphoric acid and potash, but the phosphoric acid is to a large extent locked up with the iron in an unavailable condition. As a general rule ail of our soils require the use of fertilizers to secure the best results. The physical condition of the soils is such, and the prevailing slope of the agricultural lands is so high, cn many of the islands averaging 500 feet per mile, that irrigation is required, except in regions with a high average monthly rainfall. Our soils do not retain moisture. The average content of nitrogen exceeds 0.3%, or six tons in the soil to the depth of one foot on an acre' of land. To reply to numerous queries in regard to what can be grown by prospective settlers in the Hawaiian Islands, the following notes in regard to some of the chief agricultural products are given. SUGAR Sugar cane is the principal crop. There are about two hundred thousand acres planted, one-half of which is cropped each year. The average yield is a little over four tons of sugar per acre. While sugar cane is mostly cultivated by large corporations under the plantation system, there are a number of farmers who grow sugar on their own account to sell to the sugar mills. Sugar land can be obtained at from $50 to $60 per acre. If new land must be 3 cleared for planting it requires two and a half to three years to mature the first crop and market it; or, an average of about eighteen months if land can be obtained which has been cleared or previously planted to this or some other crop. After the first plant crop is taken off, a ratoon crop follows in about fourteen months. It requires a capital of at least $100 per acre to grow sugar cane. With proper cultivation, fertilization and good seasons, a larger profit can be obtained from sugar cane than from most agricultural crops in temperate climates. Anyone coming here to grow sugar cane should have, not only enough capital to carry the crop from planting to maturity, but also other resources. At the proper elevation, say above 1000 feet above sea level, white farmers can perform all of the labor in the cane field. A number of farmers in the Olaa district are profitably engaged in this industry, and other lands are available there. APILES There are two pineapple canneries in operation, and sevAPPLES eral planned or in process of construction on the Island of Oahu. About 3000 acres are now in pines and this area will probably be trebled within the next twelve months. The pineapple lands are at an elevation of from eight hundred to fifteen hundred feet on the dry side of the islands. This plant requires a rain fall of from 40 to 60 inches. It is especially benefited by frequent light showers rather than heavy rainfall or irrigation. Pineapples are grown without shelter. They have been exceptionally free from diseases or insect pests, the few present being easily controlled, and have been quite profitable. The land for pines is plowed to the depth of ten or twelve inches, thoroughly stirred and cultivated. Plants are set out in rows averaging about four feet apart, two feet apart in the row. Cultivation consists in keeping the soil between the rows in good condition and free from weeds, which may be mostly performed by horse labor. It requires two years to mature the first crop, after that a ratoon crop matures the next year, and in some cases a third crop.,The pines are shipped to the San Francisco 4 market, or are canned. The variety cultivated is the Smooth Cayenne. The quality of the fruit is superior to that of any other pineapples grown in the United States. The demand for the canned fruit is greater than it has been possible to supply. There is still a great deal of pineapple lands available on the Islands of Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai. SISAL There is one plantation of seven hundred acres of sisal on the Island of Oahu, which markets a considerable tonnage of this valuable rope and binding fibre every year. Fully 10,000 acres of sisal have been planted and there is much land still available for the extension of its cultivation. Sisal grows best on the dry lands or the low lands of the dry side of the Islands, from the sea level to an elevation of from 1500 to 2000 feet. It is a crop that will grow almost absolutely without water, and it is therefore adapted for cultivation in districts where the rain fall does not exceed twenty inches per annum. Sisal is propagated from suckers or bulbs (pole plants). These are set out in a nursery where they must be well cared for for about one year. It is not necessary that the land on which sisal is grown should be plowed but it should be cleared of brush and stones, roadways laid out and a medium amount of work of this character performed. The suckers of these plants brought from the nursery are set in rows eight feet apart each way. The crop requires no cultivation, except the removal of brush and lantana which may spring up among the plants. The crop is ready to harvest at the end of three years. From twelve to twenty of the lower leaves, which have fallen down until they are horizontal, are cut from each plant. These leaves are transported to the mill and the fibre is extracted by high power modern machinery. The fibre is then carefully dried in the sun, baled and is ready for market. After the first cutting, a crop may be harvested every six months during four to six years or until the plant throws up its flower stalk. As soon as the plant flowers and all of its leaves have been taken for fibre, it is uprooted and another sucker set out 5 in its place. There are several hundred thousand acres of land which can be obtained for the cultivation of sisal. BANANAS Bananas require a rich soil, high temperature and abundant rain fall or irrigation. There are several varieties cultivated, some of which are native and some imported, but that known as the Chinese is the chief export variety. The banana is propagated by means of suckers or off-shoots from the base of the plants. These in the case of the Chinese banana are set at intervals of about ten feet each way. The ground between them should be cultivated, fertilized and kept free from weeds. The plant fruits in from eighteen to twenty-four months from the time of planting. Each plant bears only one bunch and is then cut down, but each plant throws out a great many suckers, and these develop in succession, so that the bananas may be harvested almost continuously, from the time they first come into bearing, for a number of years. Bananas sell in the San Francisco market for from $1.25 to $2.50 per bunch. Even at the lower price there is a very good margin of profit. The acreage of this crop, although already large, is being rapidly extended. Good banana land may be obtained in the vicinity of Honolulu where the bananas must be grown by irrigation, or in the vicinity of Hilo, where the conditions for the development of this industry are exceptionally favorable. There are about ten freight carrying steamers from Honolulu to San Francisco or other Pacific Coast ports and one direct from Hilo. COFFEE The annual exports of coffee at the present time amount to one thousand tons per annum, worth on an avearge $235 per ton. While there are fully 10,000 acres planted in coffee, the amount exported is mostly supplied by not over one-fifth of this area. A market is gradually being developed for Hawaiian coffee in the United States on its own merits, and although the coffee market is now at the lowest that it has ever been, the demand for the Hawaiian product is increasing and at better prices than a year ago. The 6 Hamakua and Kona districts of the Island of Hawaii produce a quality of coffee which is marketed at the price of; the best Mocha and Java. It takes five years for a coffee plantation to come into full bearing. The yields obtained in the islands have been of the best, often reaching 11/4 tons per acre per annum. The amount exported would indicate an average of only one-tenth of a ton per acre, but there are many thousand acres which were planted during the coffee boom that have been deserted by their owners. The coffee market is a little better this year than it was last, and those who are still in the business believe that the man who plants coffee now or increases the area he already holds will not go amiss. There are at least three hundred thousand acres of coffee lands in these islands, most of them absolutely undeveloped. This land may be obtained direct from the government or by purchase or lease from its present holders at reasonable rates. To successfully engage in the cultivation of coffee, as well as sugar, bananas, sisal and other tropical products, a man must have a much larger capital than would be required for the cultivation of annual crops in a temperate zone. To plant any of these crops a man should have, besides money enough to buy his land and put it in shape for cultivation. at least $100.00 per acre to carry the crop to maturity. FRUITS There is a small export trade in the alligator pear, which is a fruit that can be shipped in cold storage. There is a very large local demand for this product, and the demand. is growing in San Fran-isco and other Coast ports. Ship — ments of selected fruit bring from $4.00 to $6.00 per dozen in San Francisco. The local demand is also quite large,. and local-prices are quite satisfactory. The alligator pear is a tree susceptible to orchard cultivation. It requires very little water and grows better at the lower than at the higher elevations. Another fruit for which there is a large local and a growing export demand is the mango. There are several varieties already in cultivation in the islands. Grapes are raised by the Portuguese settlers. The Isabella is the variety chiefly grown, but all of the 7 European wine and table grapes also thrive. The lower lands of the Kona coast of Hawaii and Oahu are especially suited to the cultivation of grapes. Some wine is made but the local market does and will for some time to come absorb all the good table grapes that can be produced. Other fruits which grow well are the Cherimoya, the orange, especially the seedling varieties, the mandarin, lemon, lime, vi, strawberry, papaia, fig and many others. The papaia is the best breakfast fruit. It stands on about the same basis in the islands as the grape fruit on the Mainland. There are a good many hundred acres devoted to its cultivation. RICE The cultivation of rice is almost entirely in the hands of the Chinese, who grow it by the Oriental rather than the American methods, that is, the seed is sowed in an irrigated nursery and the individual plants transplanted in rows in the fields. The local market for rice is very good, prices ranging throughout the year from 4~ to 5i cents per pound. Rice growers obtain five crops in two years. As soon as one crop is off the field, the land is ploughed and another is planted. CASTOR CBEANST There is one castor-oil mill on the Island of Oahu for the BEANS manufacture of castor oil from beans locally grown. The returns from' this industry have been very good and the area planted to this crop is being rapidly extended. The advantage in the cultivation of this crop in the tropics is that the beans bear at about eight months from the time the seed is planted, and continue to bear perennially for from about five to seven years, the ripening being continuous, with crops at monthly intervals during that time. The seed is planted on well cultivated land in rows eighteen to twenty-four feet apart, from eight to twelve feet apart in the row. As soon as the beans are two or three feet high the terminal bud is nipped and as lateral branches are produced these are again nipped. Plants in this way are forced into a broad shape and spread out so as to almost 8 completely fill the rows. Castor beans sell in the Honolulu market at from $50 to $65 per ton. The yield averages about a half ton per acre per annum and the plants come into full bearing at the end of three or four years. GARDEN The production of garden vegetables for the supply of the VEGETABLES home market is entirely in the hands of the Chinese. With the exception of what might be called staple crops, like cabbage, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, etc., which will stand shipment, there is little opening for white market gardeners in the Hawaiian Islands at the present time. DAIRY There are about fifty dairies on the Island of Oahu, and many dairies on all of the other larger islands. While there are many individual herds, headed by registered bulls, and also many fine cows of the best dairy breeds, the average quality of the cattle is rather low. Sorghum is the principal forage crop. This ratoons and may be cut every three months or more frequently for sometimes six or seven years. All that it requires is fertilization and cultivation. It is without exception the best forage plant that we have in the Islands. Most of the dairy cows are fed sorghum with grain rations or milled feeds such as bran, middlings, shorts, all of which are imported from the Mainland, or with the algeroba bean, a local product similar to the mesquite bean of Texas and the Southwest. Milk sells at retail from 71/2 to 15 cents per quart and butter for from 30 to 60 cents per pound. There are enough local dairies to supply milk and cream for all the population now in the islnads, but the monthly import of butter is still quite large. It is considered difficult to make good butter at the lower elevations. Most of the large ranches and dairies are located on the mountain slopes at elevations of 3000 to 7000 feet. POULTRY There is a good local market for eggs and live poultry, especially the production of chickens and turkeys. The duck industry is entirely in the hands of the Chinese. Eggs 9 sell for from 30 to 60 cents per dozen, and live chickens for from $12.00 to $15.00 per dozen. There are a great many tropical diseases of poultry. The losses from "sore head" are very high among chickens, especially during the summer months. All of the islands, with the exception of Kauai are over run with the mongoose, which has an especial liking for eggs and young chickens. There are a great many openings for poultry raisers who understand the business, ether in the vicinity of Honolulu or on the other Islands. DISADVANT- The farmers of Hawaii, in common with the farmers of AGES other countries, must meet and, to be successful, overcome AND DRAW- certain difficulties. The great advantage of climate and BACKS geographical position offset, however, many of these difficulties. Perhaps the most serious problem is the question of controlling the many injurious insects. This, however, is true wherever agricultural products are raised. The injurious insects are almost entirely introduced forms and their greatest injury is to field crops since the fruit industry is not as yet developed to any extent. The principal insects injurious to fruits are the many scale-insects, mealybugs and related species. The sugar planters have to contend with a borer (the larva of a beetle), a leaf-hopper, and several others more or less serious. Plant-lice, cutworms, a melon-fly, and other insects attack garden and field crops. Ornamental trees, shrubs and vines are attacked by a so-called Japanese "rose" beetle, and Fuller's, rose beetle. The general use of direct, active measures of control will keep these pests in check as is done by such methods in other parts of the United States. It is certain that precautionary measures, the use of insecticides, and cultivation based on the habits and life-history of the insects, together with the use of fertilizers, will control these injurious pests. High winds during the winter, which is also the rainy season of the year, constitute a serious drawback to the cultivation of many vegetables and annual crops but are 10 not considered serious in relation to the cultivation of periennials. Inter-island freight rates are high and methods of communication by land not of the best. Whatever drawbacks there may be, those who now live in the Islands have faith that they are such as can be overcome. There is as yet no agricultural college in the Islands. The United States Department of Agriculture has established an experiment station similar to the stations existing in each of the Mainland States and Territories. This station is located in the vicinity of Honolulu. There are two agricultural societies in operation, one at Hilo and one at Wahiawa. These bodies both have quite a large local membership. There are quarterly institutes or public meetings held at which papers are read, so that there is opportunity for discussion of the local problems confronting the farmer in Hawaii. The Hawaiian Planters Association maintains, at its own expense, an experiment station which is devoted to the interests of sugar cane. JARED G. SMITH, Special Agent in Charge of Hawaii Experiment Station. Honolulu, H. T., Nov. 1, 1903. Ir 11 LAND LAWS AND OPEN AREAS The Public Lands of the Territory of Hawaii comprise about 1,720,000 acres. Of this total there are some 500,000 acres which may be classed as barren, owing to the fact that they are rugged and inaccessible mountain tracts, hopeless in the extreme as homesteads. Under the classification of grazing or forest lands there are included one million acres, leaving, according to the present division, only about 220,000 acres of so-called first-class agricultural land. Of this there are 25,000 acres which are classed as kula or rice and taro lands and sugar lands. It is not a close classification this, for of the million acres of forest lands the past has shown that probably 10 per cent. are as highly productive as any of the lower areas. The higher lands, those which have heretofore been known only as cattle lands and more recently as forest reserves, are now being made more easy of access through the building of roads, where formerly only trails were used, and the value of the acreage will increase in proportion as they are opened. The lands are often so situated that cultivation will make them as great conservers of rainfalls as if they are kept in forests, and thus there is a consequent prospect that the near future will see many hundreds of acres added to the arable areas. Among the lands classed as agricultural there are acres which are in close contiguity to sugar plantations, and some of these of course are not available for general agriculture, except where special arrangements have been made with the plantations for the use of water for irrigating purposes. The expense of putting water upon the dry lands is heavy, and this precludes any other than action in concert, or through large corporations, which are able to put hundreds of thousands of dollars into pumps and pipe lines. 12 The average price of sugar lands from private owners is from $25 to $60 an acre but from the government to homesteaders the average is $10 to $15. Coffee lands range at from $10 to $15 an acre under homestead agreement. Grazing lands run from $1.25 up. The Public Lands of Hawaii are under control of a Commissioner, whose office is at Honolulu, but who has representatives on each of the islands. These officials are always at the disposal of seekers after facts, as they are of the general opinion that there is room for thousands of small and general farmers upon whom rest the hope of the Territory, and hold themselves at the service of intending settlers. The lands are classified as follows: CLASSIFICATIONS I. Agricultural Lands. First class: Land suitable for the cultivation of Fruit, Coffee, Sugar or other perennial crops with or without irrigation. Second Class: Land suitable for the cultivation of annual crops only. Third Class: Wet lands such as kalo and rice lands. II. Pastoral Land. First class: Land not in the description of Agricultural land but capable of carrying livestock the year through. Second Class: Land capable of carrying livestock onmy part of the year, or otherwise inferior to First Class Pastoral land. III. Pastoral Agricultural Land. Land adapted in part for pasturage and in part for cultivation. IV. Forest Land. Land producing forest trees but unsuitable for cultivation. V. Waste Land. Land not included in the other classes. The Act provides three principal methods for the acquirement of Public Lands, under systems known as I. Homestead Lease. II. Right of Purchase Lease. III. Cash Freehold. GENERAL QUALIFICATION OF APPLICANTS Applicants for land must be over eighteen years of age, must be citizens by birth or naturalization or have received 13 a certificate of declaration of intention to become a citizen, be under no civil disability for any offense; nor delinquent in the payment of taxes. Special qualifications are named under the respective systems. HOMESTEAD LEASE SYSTEM The Homestead Lease system permits the acquirement of Public Land by qualified persons without other payments than a fee of two dollars upon application and a fee of five dollars upon issuance of Homestead Lease. The limit of area in the different classes of land which may be acquired under Homestead Lease is: 8 acres first-class agricultural land; 16 acres second-class agricultural land; 1 acre wet (rice or taro) land; 30 acres first-class pastoral land; 60 acres second-class pastoral land; 45 acres pastoral-agricultural land. The successful applicant receives a certificate of occupation which entitles him to occupy the described premises and to receive a homestead lease for Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine Years, if conditions of certificate of occupation have been fulfilled, the conditions being: That the occupier shall, before the end of two years, build a dwelling house and reside on the premises. He shall maintain his home on the premises from and after the end of two years from date of certificate. He shall before the end of six years from date of certificate have in cultivation not less than 10 per cent. of the land, or have in cultivation 5 per cent. of the land and, in good growing condition, not less than ten timber, shade or fruit trees per acre on agricultural land and must fence pastoral land.within six years. The lessee or his successors must maintain his home on the premises. RIGHT OF PURCHASE LEASES Right of Purchase Leases, for the term of twenty-one years, may be issued to qualified applicants, with the privilege to the Lessee of purchasing at the end of three years and upon fulfillment of special conditions. 14 Any person who is over eighteen years of age, who is a citizen by birth or naturalization of the United States or who has received a certificate of declaration of intention to become a citizen, who is under no civil disability for any offense, who is not delinquent in the payment of taxes, and who does not own any agricultural or pastoral land in the Territory of Hawaii, may apply for Right of Purchase Lease, the limit of areas which may be acquired being: 100 acres first-class agricultural land; 200 acres second-class agricultural land; 2 acres wet (rice or taro) land; 600 acres first-class pastoral land; 1200 acres second-class pastoral land; 400 acres mixed agricultural and pastoral land. CONDITIONS OF RIGHTS OF PURCHASE LEASE Term: Twenty-one years. Rental: Eight per cent. on the appraised value given in lease, payable semi-annually. The Lessee must from the end of the first to the end of the fifth year continuously maintain his home on the leased premises. The Lessee must have in cultivation at the end of three years five per cent. and at the end of five years ten per cent. of his holding, and maintain on agricultural land an average of ten trees to the acre. Pastoral land must be fenced. At any time after third year of leasehold term, the Lessee is entitled to a Land Patent giving fee simple title, upon his payment of the appraised value set forth in lease, if he has reduced to cultivation twenty-five per cent. of his leased premises, and has substantially performed all other conditions of his lease. CASH FREEHOLDS Cash Freehold Lots are sold at auction to the highest qualified bidder, at appraised value as upset price. The qualification of applicants for Cash Freeholds and the areas of land which may be acquired are the same as ~those under Right of Purchase Lease system. 15 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 3 9015 02918 1149 He < s... Y_ ~- * - APPLICATIONS Applications must be made to Sub-Agent of District in writing with sworn declaration as to qualifications, and a fee of ten per cent. of appraised value of lot, which fee is forfeited if applicant declines to take the premises at the appraised value, and is credited to him if he becomes the purchaser of the lot. If such applicant, however, is outbid, his fee is returned to him. If two or more applications are made and there is no bid above the upset price, the first application takes precedence. The purchaser at auction sale must pay immediately thereafter one-fourth of purchase price and thereupon receive a "Freehold Agreement." CONDITIONS OF FREEHOLD AGREEMENT The freeholder shall pay the balance of purchase price in equal installments in one, two and three years, with interest at 6 per cent., but may pay any installment before it is due and stop corresponding interest. Twenty-five per cent. of agricultural land must be cultivated, and pastoral land fenced before the end of third year. Freeholder must maintain his home on the premises, from end of first to end of third year. SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATIONS Six or more qualified persons may form a "Settlement Association" and apply for holdings in one block. The provisions for cash freehold and Right of Purchase Leases apply to the settlement of such blocks. CASH SALES AND SPECIAL AGREEMENTS With consent of the Governor, public lands not under lease may be sold in parcels of not over one thousand acres, at public auction for cash, and upon such sale and payment of full consideration, a land patent will issue. Parcels of land of not over six hundred acres, may, with consent of Governor, be sold at public auction upon part credit and part cash, and upon such terms and conditions of improvement, residence, etc., as may be imposed. Upon fulfillment of all conditions a Land Patent will issue. 16 PARADISE OF THE PACIFIC PRINT — M HU g... I