Macadamia Nuts in Hawaii: History and Production - ctahr ...
Macadamia Nuts in Hawaii: History and Production - ctahr ...
Macadamia Nuts in Hawaii: History and Production - ctahr ...
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Figure 25. Harry F. Clements, the s<strong>in</strong>gle most important <strong>in</strong>dividual<br />
<strong>in</strong> the commercialization of macadamia nuts <strong>in</strong> the state<br />
of <strong>Hawaii</strong>. As consult<strong>in</strong>g plant physiologist at both Castle<br />
& Cooke <strong>and</strong> C. Brewer, he researched, urged, <strong>and</strong> implemented<br />
the <strong>in</strong>itial plant<strong>in</strong>gs at Keaau <strong>and</strong> Ka'u, <strong>and</strong><br />
their subsequent expansion of acreage <strong>in</strong> both areas.<br />
expansion was Harry F. Clements (Fig. 25), who<br />
conv<strong>in</strong>ced the management at Castle & Cooke that<br />
macadamia was a good bus<strong>in</strong>ess, led the group <strong>in</strong><br />
a l<strong>and</strong> search, <strong>and</strong> f<strong>in</strong>ally recommended the l<strong>and</strong><br />
at Keaau. In this search for l<strong>and</strong>, Clements,<br />
accompanied by Moltzau <strong>and</strong> others, surveyed the<br />
entire state for l<strong>and</strong> not then <strong>in</strong> sugarcane or<br />
p<strong>in</strong>eapple. The l<strong>and</strong> search <strong>in</strong>cluded an area <strong>in</strong><br />
Kapoho <strong>in</strong> the Puna district of the isl<strong>and</strong> of<br />
<strong>Hawaii</strong>, where the Lyman Estate owned huge<br />
parcels of l<strong>and</strong>, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g ab<strong>and</strong>oned sugarcane<br />
l<strong>and</strong>. However, s<strong>in</strong>ce Kapoho was 30 miles from<br />
Hilo <strong>and</strong> s<strong>in</strong>ce sugarcane l<strong>and</strong>s are generally very<br />
high <strong>in</strong> soil arsenic due to past use of arsenicals <strong>in</strong><br />
sugarcane weed control, the search was directed<br />
toward forested virg<strong>in</strong> l<strong>and</strong> nearer Hilo. The<br />
search f<strong>in</strong>ally ended when Castle & Cooke<br />
purchased 1000 acres of forested aa 1ava l<strong>and</strong> from<br />
the W. H. Shipman Estate at Keaau, named the<br />
plantation Keaau Orchard, <strong>and</strong> planted the first<br />
grafted macadamia nut tree on January 3, 1949.<br />
Later, 2000 adjo<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g acres were acquired. John F.<br />
Cross served as general manager <strong>and</strong> Gordon T.<br />
Shigeura as horticulturist on the planta tion.<br />
Incidentally, Clements' great enthusiasm for the<br />
macadamia nut was engendered at the 1945<br />
meet<strong>in</strong>g where Theven<strong>in</strong> gave his talk.<br />
Castle & Cooke copyrighted its br<strong>and</strong>, Royal<br />
<strong>Hawaii</strong>an, at a small store <strong>in</strong> Danville, California,<br />
20<br />
<strong>in</strong> the mid-1950s (Fig. 26), <strong>and</strong> is credited with<br />
populariz<strong>in</strong>g the nuts.<br />
In the early 1960s the Honomal<strong>in</strong>oAgricultural<br />
Company, headed by Willis Jenn<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>and</strong> W. A.<br />
Morriss as general partners <strong>and</strong> George Scha tta uer<br />
as operational manager, started the 3500-acre nut<br />
plantation on aa lava l<strong>and</strong> at Honomal<strong>in</strong>o <strong>in</strong><br />
South Kona. However, due to some basic errors <strong>in</strong><br />
earn<strong>in</strong>g projection, tree spac<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>and</strong> variety<br />
selection, the venture was not profitable. The<br />
orchard, as Mac Farms of <strong>Hawaii</strong>, Inc., formed<br />
under ownership headed by Gary Cadwallader,<br />
Dorn Schmidt, <strong>and</strong> Lonnie Brown, with David<br />
Rietow as operational manager for the last three<br />
years or so. CSR of Australia purchased the<br />
orchard <strong>in</strong> 1981. With the current management<br />
still <strong>in</strong> control, the outlook cont<strong>in</strong>ues to be<br />
positive. A smaller acreage <strong>in</strong> the orig<strong>in</strong>al orchard<br />
is operated as <strong>Macadamia</strong> <strong>Nuts</strong> of <strong>Hawaii</strong>, Inc., by<br />
W. C. Morriss. Larry Beck also owns an even<br />
smaller acreage there.<br />
C. Brewer <strong>and</strong> Co., Ltd., began its macadamia<br />
nut operation as a part of its l<strong>and</strong> utilization<br />
experiments <strong>in</strong> 1956. The commercial macadamia<br />
orchard was started <strong>in</strong> 1960 <strong>in</strong> the area previously<br />
planted to sisal, <strong>and</strong> has been exp<strong>and</strong>ed on both<br />
sides of Pahala town to cover over 2000 acres.<br />
Harry F. Clements, by then on the staff at C.<br />
Brewer, was aga<strong>in</strong> the major proponent of this<br />
venture. Richard A. Cooke (Fig. 27), project<br />
leader, <strong>and</strong> Gordon T. Shigeura, horticulturist,<br />
were <strong>in</strong> charge of field operations.<br />
Figure 26. Acree's Market <strong>in</strong> Danville, California, where Castle<br />
& Cooke's macadamia nuts were orig<strong>in</strong>ally sold to<br />
establish the Royal <strong>Hawaii</strong>an label.