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THE WEEKLY HILO TRIBUNE, HILO, HAWAII, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY, at, 1905.
II
uwk
H LLKa f'H
Eg3jpy
Ask for and
iusist upon getting
PRIMO LAGER
Its purity is guaranteed.
It is made of the finest
hops and barley malt,
combined with pure arte
sian water.
Sold everywhere in bottle and keg
DEMOSTHENES' CAFE
Comfortable Rooms ... Hot and Cold Baths ... A Well
Stocked Buffet ... Mixed Brinks and Fine Wines ... A
Cold Storage Plant on premises with all the Delicacies
of the Season ... Open Till Midnight
WAIANUENUE STREET, HILO
CUISINE UNEXCELLED FIRST-CLASS SERVICE
SVEA
INSURANCE
COMPANY
Of Oothenburg, Sweden
Assets (Home Office) .... f713sJ.063.36
Assets In U. S. (for Additional Security of American Policy Holders) 656,678.43
Pacific Coast Department: EDWARD BROWN & SONS, General Agents
411-413 California St., San Francisco.
H. HACKFELD & CO., Ltd., Resident Agents, HILO
The Doctor's
Prescription
May have a number
of high sounding names
in it, but if it is a tonic you jet the same
ingredients with a good flavor in
RAINIER BEER
It makes rich, red blood and is liked by
everyone, from baby to grandpa.
RAINIER BOTTLING WORKS
AGENTS, HONOLULU
I WHILE IT LASTS 1
I Wills' English Smoking Tobaccos 1
&
&
&
&
"Pure Latakia," - - 50c a Tin J
"Best Birdseye," - - 40c a Tin j
"Travellers' Mixture" 35c a Tin
FRMlGf1 QUAUUNGLESAM'S i
tjm 0. U. On ft II CIGAR STORE I
cum:i: (,'ui.TUiti: in oua.
Dr. Knurl Thinks There Ik Still a
Climiro for C'oirrn Culture.
Kimtok Trihunk:
After n long period of low prices
in coffee, which is not over yet, one
must rcn.sonnblv expect a period of
high ones. This law, familiar to
every student of the world market,
is applicable to all ptodttcts, espe
cially those that ate the object of
consumption of the masses. Re
cently we had a new illustration of
that law in reference to sugar prices.
In view of such probability it is
opportune to review once more the
question of the causes of failure to
raise coffee in Olaa district. The
coffee industry in this district has
already proved to Le of consider
able consequence to Ililo town, and
Ililo citizens are not less interested
in it than the planters themselves.
A few years ago Mr. R. Rycroft
was visiting Olaa inquiring into the
causes of failure for the benefit of a
large firm, that had large interests
in coffee here. My answer to that
query was that failure is due to
chemical composition of our red and
yellow subsoils, containing consid
erable iron in the shape of the pois
onous suboxide. This opinion was
based on the observations made
upon my forty acre field of 4 to 5
year old coffee, which had a prom
ising appearance in the beginning,
but at the lime stated looked as
poorly as the most of coffee planta
tions around. I have pulled twenty
five acres on that field, in order to
plant cane, but have left one row
for further experiments. In pull
ing the trees, I have noticed that
almost without exception they had
their tap roots turned up. It looked
as if those roots, after reaching the
subsoil, could not sink any farther
and have reverted to the surface
soil again. Trees prospered as
long as their roots have remained
in the surface soil, where they, had
something to feed upon. When
this small, thin layer became ex
hausted, trees gave out, began to
spindle and dry, losing their pri
maries. Evidently the subsoil
cither did not contain. any nutritious
elements essential for coffee trees,
or contained some substance poison
ous to that plant. The first theory
could not hold, considering that
many other trees and plants with
deep roots, like all conifers, bam
boo, silver oaks, etc., grew luxur
iantly in the same subsoil. The
theory of the poisonous substance
was more probable, and the only
such substance found in the soil
was the suboxide of iron. While
oxide of iron is considered either
indifferent or even useful and neces
sary to the plant life, suboxide is
decidedly injurious great many
plants cannot grow even with a
slight percentage of it in the soil.
The third theory of "acid" soil
was altogether untenable. First,
because I could not detect any free
acid in the subsoil in question.
Second, because such acids (in
other soils) being humic acids, pro
duct of rotting vegetation, are the
most abundant in black, superficial
humus. With us this humus proved
to be an excellent nutritious ground
as long as it lasted. Third, be
cause all those acids are easily sol
uble, and with the abundant rain
fall in this district, every trace of
them would have been dissolved
and carried away.
The only remedy against the sub
oxide is the repeated turning up
and aerating of the subsoil by
plowing.
But at this juncture another
question arose: Coffee has two
systems of roots, surface ones and
the tap root. While plowing could
provide abundantly of available
soil for the surface roots, it evi
dently could not do it for the tap
root, sinking several feet down,
cannot be plowed so deep.
In such circumstances we have
been compeled to give up our coffee
plantations, price or no price, and
pass to banana and cane planting.
The difficulty was insurmountable.
Having still fifteen acres of coffee
on my homestead, which I was re
luctant to sacrifice, I concentrated
my attention upon the one row left
for experimenting upon in the sac
rificed twenty five acre field. This
bananas, was cleared of -stumps,
plowed and cross-plowed several
times in the way, as If there was no
row of coffee trees left. The plow
was run very close to the coffee
trees, that looked as poorly and
dying as was the rest of the field.
Thus the roots have been heavily
pruned.
A year after plowing, and with
out the use of fertilizers, to my
sut pride the row of coffee trees has
recovered entirely, has resumed its
luxuriant appearance, sent off new
sets of primaries, blossomed tind is
bearing now a moderate amount of
berries. It promises a full next
crop. This was encouraging, and
recently I applied a mixture of
potash and bone meal around every
tree.
This experiment makes me think
that the part the tap-root plays with
coffee is only to ecure water from
the depth, where it has to go after
it in its native dry and arid country.
In a rainy district like outs, where
soil is always moist, this root is
unnecessary and its fate immaterial.
Important alone is the system of sur
face roots, whose function is the
providing of food. Therefore all
that is necessary to insure the lon
gevity and prosperous condition of
a coffee tree in Olaa is to improve
r-i foot of the upper soil to feed
the tree. This can be effected by
plowing, which transforms the
poisonous suboxide into an indiffer
ent oxide, and by superficial fertil
izing with potash, bone meal and
lime around each tree. On the
ground of this I would suggest
that those, who still own coffee
plantations in our district, should
repeat my experiment on a few
rows of their worst coffee trees,
where soil is not rocky and admits
plowing.
Of course, the first expenses con
nected with pulling stumps and re
peated plowing will be larger, but
the keeping of the plantation clean
with the harrow is so much cheaper
than by hoc and hand, and what is
the most important the results may
be entirely different.
As for the question of shade,
while I believe in its good effects, I
do not think it is essential. The
irritant effects of direct solar rays
upon the coffee tree, inducing it to
excessive and early bearing, is the
only drawback of no shade. In the
shade the tree develops slower and
bears more timely and sparingly.
But when one succeeds to insure
abundant nutrition to its roots by
improving the soil, the no shade
situation will have no evil effects.
The best shade plant would be
some variety of tall marketable ba
nanas, like Cuban, placed in such
a way as not to interfere with har
rowing and cultivation.
NICHOLAS RUSSEL,.
Traveler Find Chamberlain's Cough
Kcineily Everywhere.
Mr. C. W. Eckerman, manager
of the Smith-Premier Typewriter
Co. at Omaha, Nebraska, U. S. A.,
who is a staunch friend of Cham
berlain's Cough Remedy, says: "I
have taken particular notice that
this remedy seems to be carried by
drug stores in all parts of the,
country, which is quite an item
when one is traveling. It gives me
pleasure to say that I have used it
for years and have always found it
highly satisfactory, effecting a cure
in a shorter time than any other
medicine." For sale by the Hilo
Drug Co.
Subscribe for the Trijiunk
Island subscription $2.50 a year. ,
CRESCENT CITY
BARBER SHOP
CARVALHO BROS.,
Proprietors.
The Old Reliable Stand is
still doing
UP-TO-DATE WORK
Razors honed, Scissors and all edged
tools perfectly ground. Satisfac
tion Guaranteed,
lUuuuuuiuuiuuuuuuiuiuuuuuuuumtauuuiiuuuuR 1 m,M !o d
Koa! Koa!!
Koa Lumber in small and large quantl
ties; well seasoned.
Furniture made to order, any style
wanted. Repairs made on any kind or
furniture. Prices moderate.
Sorrao Cablnot Shop.
Apply toJOSK O. SERRAO.
$
r
SUITABLE FOR
EVERY DAY
PRESENTS
FANCY GOODS
Wc have opeued a choice lot, such as :
Bohemian Glassware
Carved Swiss Woodwork
Italian Statuettes, Busts, Vases, etc.
German Music Boxes
" Steins "
Bronze Goods
Japanese Fancy Goods
Satsuma Ware, Vases, Cloisonne Ware
CIGARS
A new shipment of the favorites of Hiln
smokers just to hand :
"LaPlonta"
" El Belmont " Needles, Perfectos, etc.
" Cremo "
Call on us and inspect them.
H. Hackf eld & Co.
LIMITED
Waiauueuue Street, Hilo.
A,
fe
:
&
PUNTERS, ATTENTION!
SPECIAL ATTENTION IS CALLED TO THE FACT THAT
THE ONLY
ORIGINAL AND
CELEBRATED
A
FERTILIZER
Is that which has been manufactured for the past fifteen
years exclusively by the
California Fertilizer Works
SAN FRANCISCO, OAL.
Whcu purchasing be sure that in addition to the brand
the name of the California Fertilizer Works is on every
sack, otherwise you will not b getting the genuine article.
A large stock of our Diamond A and our
XX HIGH-GRADE FERTILIZER
Is kept constantly on hand and for sale at San Francisco
prices, plus only freight and actual expenses,
By Our Hilo Agonts,
L. TURNER CO.
LIMITED
Hilo Electric Light Co., Ltd.
Houses Wired and
Lights Installed
In accordance with the rules of the Na
tional Hoard of I'ire Underwriters
A complete stock of
ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES
Fixtures, Shades, Tabic, Bed nnd Desk
Lamps, etc., always on hand.
Fan Motors . . . SIB
Fan Motors, swivel frame 8
Sowing Machlno Motor 20
Power for operating them $t a month
Installation charged extra.
Estimates furnished on all classes of
Electrical Work and Contracts taken to
install apparatus complete.
HILO MARKET CO.,
LIMITED.
Telephone No. 39.
Bkidgk St. - Hilo, H. I
Meat Market
Front St., Hh.o, H. I,
Choice Cuts of
PAY FOR THE BEST
IT'S CHEAPEST
AND THAT'S THE CLASS OF WORK
EXECUTED UY
CAMERON
THE PLUMBER
FRONT ST., Op. SPRECKEL'S 11L0CK
Beef, Mutton,
Pork, Veal.
POULTRY of all Kinds
FRESH ISLAND BUTTER
Flno Fat
Turkeys.
. Sucking
Pigs.
Notich Neither the Masters nor
Agent of vessels of the "Matsou Line"
will be responsible for any debts cou.
traded by' the crew. R. ' T. GUARD,
Agent.
Ililo, April 16, 1901 34.
