A warm and sunny subtropical climate helps make Hawaii an important sugar producer. History records that sugarcane was already present when Captain James Cook discovered the islands in 1778, and that the first successful sugarcane plantation was started in 1835 by Ladd and Company at Koloa. The first recorded export of Hawaiian sugar was in 1837, when two tons were exported with a value of $200. Problems faced by early sugar planters were many and included shortages of labor, water, and money. The ingenuity of the early sugar planters in solving these problems was a factor in their long-range success. They imported Chinese immigrants to work in the fields, were innovative in their acceptance of new machinery, began to irrigate, and formed an organization, the Planters' Labor and Supply Company, for their mutual aid and support. Currently the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association runs an experiment station that is known throughout the world for its research in many scientific disciplines. This booklet concludes by describing the sugarcane plant, the harvesting process and machinery, and what happens when sugar arrives at the raw sugar factory. The text incorporates photographs and illustrations and could be used in secondary level state history and geography courses. (RM)