Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Experiment Station

Advice was sought from an older established industry in Louisiana, where Dr. William Carter Stubbs, the doyen of sugar cane experimentalists, had already, for a decade, been conducting experiments at Audubon Park.

Educated at the Zurich Polytechnic, Maxwell entered at an early age the service of the United States Department of Agriculture at Washington, D.C. and was detailed almost exclusively on sugar work.

The two years previous to his arrival in the Hawaiian Islands had been spent in Louisiana in association with Dr. Stubbs; he was thus well fitted for the organization of, and pioneer work connected with, a new experiment station.

90 of the Office of Experiment Stations in the United States Department of Agriculture, entitled "Irrigation in the Hawaiian Islands" contains in detailed form the results of Maxwell's studies in this direction.

[1] Maxwell left in 1900 to undertake a post under the Queensland Government, and was succeeded by R. E. Blouin, who, owing to ill health, only remained one year in the islands.

The final results of this latter work, covering a period of nine years, yielded conclusions of exceptional value and formed a great part of the basis on which local fertilizer recommendations were made.

[1] Originally the Experiment station was concerned only with agriculture in its restricted sense, but in the early years of the 20th century, it became apparent that economic entomologists and botanists were equally necessary to combat the insect and fungus pests of the field.

[5] In its later years, with downsizing of the industry and reduced financial support, the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Experiment Station experienced cutbacks in activities and staff.