The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1866-05-05
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
SATURDAY, MAY J..
Forests and Fuel.

- i"-N'D' SNllHs VI i "Ni' III All 49,
lated and limited country like ours, where the
coal mine and the peat bog are, as yet, undis
covered, and where the ancient forests, fast
diminishing in extent, form our only internal
supply, is Of special Importance. Fuel, second
only to food in Importance and equal to cloth
ing, is one of the great wants of man. Espe-
ciaily in the advanced civilization Of our day is
this want the more urgent. The arts de
pend more or less for their success on its supply.
Nations rise and fall as this supply is increased
or diminished and holding, as it does, a place
in Importance far above the golden products of
the worlds mines, it may be regarded as the
primum mobiie Of civilization, arts and manu-
features.
Much as the reckless destruction Of our for
csts ought to excite alarm, on account of the
rapidly diminishing supply, with increasing cost
Of fuel, yet there are other and graycr causes of
alarm than these. The influence which trees
have on climate is well known and the i'm
mense evils which result from stripping a coun-
try of its forests are also well understood. His
tory abounds in instances which dispcl all doubt
on this subject. Countries once populous and
fertile have become barren and parched, and
uninhabitable from no other apparent cause than
the destruction of their forests.
Our woods are the legacy of past ages to our
selves and our children. They crown our hill
tops: they cluster in our valleys they cover
our uplanI plains, hanging to the rocky pail;
softening the outlines of the craggy peak or far
up, where the wildness of nature rcigns undis-
turbed by man, there, everywhere, they are
natures ever acting, never firing assistants.
Condensing the vapors by their GOODNESS, draw
ing fertility from the air and the rocks, render
ing summers moist and favorable to health, and
our winter storms and ircShets less destructive
IN their results, adding new variety and beauty
to our diversified landscape, their influence is
unceasing.
1t is our duty to protect them by laws go that
We may leave them unimpaircd in value to those
who come after us. The too common practice
is to cut for frcwood right and left, without
reference to anything else than TO make the
most money in the shortest time. Cattle are
allowed to run where the woods have been cut
away, and thus all chance of another growth Of
trees is entirely lost and thus it goes on, and
probably will go on, until the most accessible
woodlands being exhausted, the price OF native
fuel viii be greater than the imported. Our
are circumscribed We have no forests,
vast in extent, TO depend upon. 1t is well that
'NAN sSiA OhHdEi vi - VI III VIII
woods are, to all intents and purposes, perfectly
inaccessible otherwise it seems probable that
the entire surface of the islands would soon be
stripped Of the trees, and be changed in conse-
quence TO Il state of barrenness which has no
parallel this side of Palestine, except on the
suano islands of this ocean.
\ reform must come and better now than
years hence. \. systematic course of forest
should be Introduce by legislation,
if other means fail. In France and other Euro
pcan countries the governments have taken the
natter in hand, and Il system Of forest culture
Ias been adopted which bids fair to be most
in its results. Preservation here
would be not only better, but far cheaper than
uture culture. Shall the reform be DELAYED till
'ur mountains become bare? Till hundreds of
Of fertile land are ruined by the increasing
mount of debris from the neighboring heights
Ill the destructive power Of our winter floods is
realty augmented, and our mill streams and
have dwindled to half their present
and till damaging droughts become of fire. '
ucnt occurrence, and Of longer duration? The
emedy lies in proper attention to the wood
lnds protection from animals, q iudicious re- l
Of certain portions, and planting trees.
t ought to be Il rule that the SUBMITS of the
ills should never be touched for the profits p
an in no way counterbalancc the injury done. -
likewise should all bare hill tops, so far as prac- q
cable, be planted with trees. The soil in such !,
laces is usually poor, and of little use for any '
ming else but in this way it may be made Il
roftabIe. besides increasing the value of the ri
nd adjoining. p
Although, with proper DsaHGgcmcnt, we may s.
ave fuel sufficient for cooking purposes through a
time, even if our population should increase !,
re fold and also hard timber for domestic T.!
such Is fencing, bridges. carts. &c., yet it :,
n fixed fact that the sugar mills must, as a h.
neral thing, soon look elsewhere for their fuel. :,
or Is it greatly 10 be regretted. The use of W
al would free many planters from the yexa- til
Dns and losses connected with the use of wood 4
ii traSh-scarcc. wet and damaged. as it often
Increased demand and importation will q.
the price of coal till its use with trash viii II
found more economical, ON some Plantations "-
rtainly, than that Of wood.
Experiments III the West Indies have shown N
at one ton Of English coal. costing there about an
e pound Or five dollars. Will concentrate one at