  Pineapple was first introduced to the islands by a counselor to King Kamehameha the Great in 1813. Today's industry got its greatest impetus from Captain John Kidwell, an English horticulturist who searched the world for a pineapple variety that would be most suitable to Hawaii. The Jamaican variety known as the Smooth Cayenne which he introduced is still the predominant strain grown in Hawaii. In 1899 a young New Englander, James B. Dole, built a cannery next to pineapple growing on his own lands in Wahiawa on Oahu. The first year's output in 1903 was 1800 cases. Today the Dole company packs this amount in just a few minutes. Pineapple takes nearly two years of careful tending before it matures. Then each low-growing plant yields only one fruit. A year later the same plant will produce one or two more pineapples; then the whole process must be repeated. At harvest time, pickers move through the fields placing the fruits on long-armed conveyors, a process which at the peak of the season continues on into the night with the help of lighted booms. Only those who have tasted a field-ripened Hawaiian pineapple know what real pineapple is all about. The airport is full of enlightened visitors who are taking cartons of these succulent fruits home with them. Hawaii produces 45% of the total world production of pineapple. Hawaii produces 45% of the total world production of pineapple. OAHU OAHU WAIKIKI WAIKIKI Major hotels
HONOLULU HONOLULU Points of interest
North Shore North Shore East End East End Windward Oahu Windward Oahu Waianae Coast Waianae Coast Central Oahu Central Oahu  |
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