Chapters 23-25 Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 23, Mark Twain tackles the topic of Hawaii's sugar production, claiming that the country yearly produces up to thirteen thousand pounds of sugar per acre on soil without using manure, a number which far surpasses anything from Louisiana. Since the introduction of bat guano, Hawaii's sugar production has increased by numbers that are "scarcely credible."

Twain gives a quick history of Hawaii's sugar production. Despite being a young industry, Hawaii's sugar production shows astronomical growth. Twain provides a list of yearly production rates, measured in millions of pounds. He also offers a list of sugar yields broken down by region. Twain compares these numbers to the cost and overhead of running a sugar plantation in Louisiana.

Twain looks at sugar plantations currently in operation and offers figures regarding their stability and profitability. He adds that Hawaiian farmers never...