The Hawaiian Islands: Their Resources, Agricultural, Commercial and FinancialHawaii. Department of Foreign Affairs
History
The Hawaiian Islands: Their Resources, Agricultural, Commercial and Financial
Hawaii. Department of Foreign Affairs
Hawaii; Hawaii -- Economic conditions
It is very evident that coffee will thrive and give good results in
varying conditions of soil and degrees of heat. In these Islands it grows
and produces from very nearly at the sea level to the elevation of 2,600
feet. The highest elevation of bearing coffee, known here, is twenty-five
miles from the town of Hilo and in the celebrated Olaa district.
[Illustration: EWA MILL.]
[Illustration: VALLEY SCENE, HAWAII.]
With such a range it is evident that, in a tropical climate, the
cultivation of coffee presents greater opportunities for an investor
than other tropical products.
For years it was thought that coffee would only grow to advantage in the
Kona district of Hawaii. Practical experiment has shown that it can be
grown with success in almost any part of the Islands.
The opening up of the Olaa portion of the Puna district, by a well
macadamized road leading from Hilo to the Volcano, may be regarded as
the commencement of the coffee industry on a large scale on the Hawaiian
Islands. There are now over fifty plantations where six years ago there
was nothing but tangled and dense forest. The Olaa land is Government
property and can be acquired under the land law. There are still 10,000
acres not taken up. The location is very desirable as there is direct
communication with Hilo by an excellent road and the crop can be readily
taken to the shipping point. Indeed it can not be long before a railroad
will be built; when this takes place a far larger extent of land will be
available for coffee growing in this section of the country. The soil in
the Olaa district is deep and wonderfully prolific.
Other portions of Puna also present many fertile lands, and coffee
plantations in those parts are coming to the front showing excellent
results. A considerable number of investors have opened up coffee
plantations in them, all of which are doing excellently. These
plantations, to the knowledge of the writer are, many of them, carried
on out of the savings made by workers in Honolulu, who are thus
preparing for themselves a provision for their early middle age. On the
Island of Hawaii are the great coffee districts of Olaa, Puna, Kona and
Hamakua, in each of which thriving coffee plantations are established,
while tens of thousands of acres of the very finest lands are yet
undisturbed. Government lands in these districts are being opened up for
settlement as fast as circumstances will permit.
On the Island of Maui there is a large area of splendid coffee lands.
The extensive land of Keanae belonging to the Government will be opened
for settlement as soon as the preliminary work of surveying is completed.
On the Island of Molokai the industry is making progress and there are
several plantations along the leeward valleys.
So also on the Island of Oahu there is much good coffee land, which is
being experimented upon, and considerable capital invested in the
undertaking.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account