Macadamia Nuts in Hawaii: History and Production - ctahr ...

PREFACE
Although macadamia nuts were brought into Hawaii over 100 years ago, they remained a delicious
oddity for about 50 years, laboriously prepared and consumed only by the affl uent sugar barons who came
to the Islands to start the sugar industry. In the period beginning about 1920, curiosity about the nuts
became more intense with field planting of nuts on Round Top and on marginal sugarcane lands in the
Honokaa area. Although Walter Naquin's obituary says he began planting nuts in 1918, plantation field
records indicate planting began in 1924. Ernest Sheldon Van Tassel began planting on Round Top in
1922. Because of this confusion, the authors feel credit for development should be assigned to both men.
The historical aspect of this industry has been casually developed in past publications, which simply
quote unresearched entries in the older papers, and neither justify nor do credit to all the work and effort
that went into the development of this industry. Consequently, this paper is an attempt to put more substance
into the efforts extended by past workers, in Australia as well as in Hawaii. The senior author was
fortunate to make three study trips to Australia to gather historical and agricultural data on the nuts.
This paper is also an attempt to make available in one publication the large body of scientific and
growing information scattered among many publications in several disciplinary areas in macadamia
production.
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