Fruits can also be cultivated to advantage. At present the banana trade of the Islands amounts to over 100,000 bunches per annum, valued at over $100,000, and the quantity might be very easily quadrupled. The banana industry may be regarded as in its infancy. The export of the fruit is only from the Island of Oahu, but there are thousands of acres on the other Islands of the group which could be profitably used for this cultivation and for nothing else. The whole question of the banana industry hinges on the market. At present the market is limited.
Limes and oranges can be cultivated and the fruit can be easily packed for export; at present the production does not meet the local market. The fruits can be raised to perfection. The Hawaiian orange has a fine flavor and the Hawaiian lime has an aroma and flavor far superior to that cultivated in Mexico and Central America. In the uplands of Hawaii and Maui potatoes can be and are raised. Their quality is good. Corn is also raised. In these industries many Portuguese, Norwegians and others have embarked. Both these products find an ample local market. The corn is used largely for feed on the plantations. The corn is ground with the cob and makes an excellent feed for working cattle, horses and mules.
In the uplands, where the climate is temperate, as at Waimea, Hawaii, vegetables of all kinds can be raised; excellent cauliflowers, cabbages and every product of the temperate zone can be grown to perfection.
Cattle raising in so small a place as the Hawaiian Islands does not present great opportunities except for local consumption. Pigs are profitable to the small farmer. In the Kula district of Maui pigs are fattened upon the corn and potatoes raised in the district. The price of pork, dressed, is 25 cents per pound in Honolulu and about 15 cents per pound in the
outside districts. The Chinese, of whom there are some 15,000 resident on the various Islands, are extremely fond of pork, so that there is a large local market, which has to be supplemented by importations from California.
Attention has lately been given to fiber plants, for which there are many suitable locations. Ramie grows luxuriantly, but the lack of proper decorticating and cleaning machinery has prevented any advance in this cultivation.
Sisal hemp and Sansevieria
have been experimented with, but without any distinct influence upon the trade output.
The cultivation of pineapples is a very growing industry. In 1895 pines were exported from the Islands to San Francisco to the value of nearly $9,000. This has grown up in the last half dozen years. There is every reason to think that canning pineapples for the Coast and other markets can be made profitable.
The guava, which grows wild, can also be put up to profit, for the manufacture of guava jelly. It has never been entered upon on a large scale, but to the thrifty farmer it would add a convenient slice to his income, just as the juice of the maple adds an increase to the farmer of the Eastern States. Well made guava jelly will find a market anywhere. In England it is regarded as a great delicacy, being imported from the West India Islands. Besides the guava there are other fruits which can be put up to commercial profit, notably the poha or Cape gooseberry (Physalis Edulis). This has been successfully made into jams and jelly, which command an extensive local sale and should find their way into larger markets.