The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1864-03-19
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
MARCH 10

est IN the future prosperity Of this country and
especially should it interest those who compose
the Government; fox 1t is right to suppose tina;
they regard not only the interests Of the present,
but OF the future also and not only the welfare
OF themselves, their friends and neighbors, but
OF the whole community. 1t will be 8 happy
thing for the country, if they or others can do
anything in this matter that shall lead TO proper
action on the part of land-holders. That there
Is reas1n for solicitude, the following remarks
and extracts will show.
1t is a fact too well known by intelligent peo-
pie of the present day, to need reasserting here,
that forests, especially on the hill-tops and wind
ward slope Of mountains, have a great influence
upon the supply of water to the land, by increasing
the condensation Of the moist atmosphere driven
across the land by the winds, by keeping down
the temperature and thereby attracting the pass
ing clouds. and by shading the ground and coy-
ering 1t with leaves which check evaporation and
give time TO the rain to soak into the porous
earth and rocks, 10 find its way to the surface
again at some lower point. in life-giying springs
and streams.
1t is noticed by old residents, that in some
parts OF these islands, severe drouyhts are more
frequent of late years than in former times. and
that in many places there is much greater risk in
planting than there was a few years ago. In
early times, before the feet of whalers and other
vessels were here supplied with wood, before
the city of Honolulu with its bakeries and hum
dreds OF cooking stoves, annually burning car
goes OF wood and charcoal, was built. and before
sugar plantations, each consuming hundreds of
CORDS OF wood per annun, had been commenced,
the amount of wood used was very small indeed.
and the forests were undoubtedly on the increase.
There are many remains of old water courses.
and signs of cultivation with irrigation, in places
where now no water could be procured to run in
those old aulcais, were they to be put in repair
again. In old times there were no herds Of
wild or tame cattle and focks of goats roaming
the woodlands and h~ill-tops to break down, eat
and otherwise destroy the young wood springing
up from seed or root. From these causes and
from the constant cutting down of Young trees !
Tor fuel and %frewood, the streams on this island
have sensibly decreased in volume, even during
the time OF our older inhabitants.
lhe consumption of wood, especially on the
sugar Plantations, is greatly on the increase, and
the destruction of young shrubs and trees by
cattle, horses, and almost worthless goats, is con-
stantiy going on and the ~gatherers of fungus
are lending efficient aid in the general waste.
The amount of wood used and destroyed by some
sugar plantations is astonishing, and will
strip a large forest in a few years and this fact
ought to lead the proprietors of those plapta-
tons' and everybody in their vicinity. to the adop-
ton OF measures for economiziug and PROTECTING
the living trees, and for planting seeds of trees z
on hiiisides and other places not cultivated. The 4
might be fenced 50 as to keep out cat
tie and with concert of action on the part of
owners OF lands running to the tops of the
ranges, the goats could be hunted out and killed
Of.
I The Pride of India and Algeroba trees grow
quickly when protected, make good fuel and tim
Der Tor fences, buildings, &c, and bear the dry
well, and the former grows very rapidly
N a moist soil, as may be seen in Hilo and in
Aona, Hawaii And there are many other kinds
valuable trees that grow quickly in sheltered
places, and when planted close together. protect
ach other and form tall and useful TRUNKS. vain.
bile either for fuel, houses or shin timber
a sugar plantation cannot be carried ON af nil
without fuel and water, and cannot ha mado
without cheap fuel, cheap labor. and t
considerable water. Having no coal mines in .
his country, we must rely upon wood for fuel. c
VI u present mlSInan-
wood must every year decrease in quanti-
: and increase in value. The cost of labor is
ependent upon the expenses of living, in which
'od Is an important item and food cannot be d,
reduced cheaply without frequent rains and a !
BOD supply of running water, and if the land I
stripped of the living wood, the supply of v
alter will fail.
The eminent Hungarian agriculturist. Lads
JUS Won k~orizmick, at the recent meeting of
"garian physicians and naturalists in Pesth.
ad a paper on the present drought in Hungary.
tier first pointing out that the meteorological
IN 1870, were the same as those of the
resent year, he stated the want of plantations .
trees and the unequal division of water. to B.
the chief reasons of this misfortune. OF the in
tire country of Hungary, only 22.66-at most
are planted with trees, which in itself
ouid not be SO bad a proportion, were the plan
tions not so unequally divided. In the Mar =
arose Comitate, for instance, about % parts of ..
e soil are planted with trees while in the Al
provinces only about 0.03 have any at all. wi
detailed statistical items, the lecturer farther de
owed lncontestably the close relation of tree -
and the distress in special countries.
The following extracts from an article on
Failure of Springs in the East published in y
Magazine for July, 1868, contain Is
my notorious facts bearing uEsAU Ibis subject We
Among al the departments tT.atural pbiloso. I pn
y, none, perhaps, ~ more obscure than that which ]
lCerDa the origin and b,e,orr 80 Q