The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-06-19

dealt with.
The item passed a. in the b.il.
ABOUT FORESTRY.
Maintenance of nurseries. SD 600
Mr.. Castle asked for some information
on this item. Forestry was hobby of his
and he was DESTROYS OF promoting it, but
the Minister should submit 4 plan in de-
tail for the guidance OF the committee.
His Excellencv M GuIick said he could
do no better than refer 20 the report OF his
department, from which he read the fol-
lowing: 1t Is not eighteen years since the
Government OF the British East Indies had
their attention directed TO the possibilities
presented by her forests. The subject was
taken up in earnest. bureau OF forestry
organized, experienced officers were en-
ploved. care and intelligence were exer-
cised in the selection of suitable plants TO
be cultivated, and to-day the products OF
her forests rank fifth in the list Of her
revenues" They might not be 50 success
full here as the Indian Government have
been. but the conditions of latitude, climate
and soil being similar To those where the
Indian experiments had been tried. they
might even be still more successful. The
plan was hardly in form yet. A suggestion
had been made for the employment of
scientific expert in forestry. Let him take
the subject in hand and report completely
about ii. He had approached the subject
with great degree of hesitancy, however,
and he would like to quote another para
graph from his report which explains that
feeling The report states: AS has been
remarked before, these recommendations
/ IL. F,,lI. ~, II
the disinterested efforts which this com
munity has SO long enjoyed from the gen
tlemen who, until the present time, have
had these matters in charge and it is con
fidently hoped, if the recommendations are
carried out, that the public will continue
to reap the advantage of their aid and ex
| perience in these matters The experience
and knowledge of the gentleman now hav-
ing charge of the matter would be invalua-
BILE to whoever comes.
Mr.. Castle was in accord with the object
proposed, but he had expected to see some
plan brought forward.
Mr.. Dole supported the item as in the
! bill The Minister of the Interior had
| asked for the establishment of a bureau of
| forestry, but no bill had been presented for
| that purpose. a great deal of valuable
work had been done in the formation of a
! forest and 1t should be continued.
Mr.. Paehaole moved that the item pass
at $11 900.
Mr.. Brown supported the item as in the
! bill. He was one of the committee APP
pointed to visit the nurseries, and he was
astonished at the number OF trees on Maii
hill. When they got up there they found
perfect forest of young trees, thrifty and
well grown. The rainfall was greater now
on the plains than it had been before the
algarobas were planted. He remembered
when a month passed without a shower on
the plains; now they had showers every
day. Climatic changes were being effected
by tree planting Forestry should be en-
| couraged.
His Excellency Mr.. Gibson said the mat
| ter was of the utmost Importance. 1t
! was not one of his hobbies, but he took
/ great interest in the matter. When his
colleague, the Minister of the Interior, was
! preparing his report they had talked the
matter over considerably, and were in
favor of establishing bureau of forestry.
/ But that would entail an expense of $40
| 600, and as they were not fully prepared
/ with the plans, it was thought best to let
the old item remain in the bill He would
really like to have the matter fully con-
sidered by the Assembly. There had been
| excellent work done, and great number
of trees planted but the question was
whether the best possible results had been
attained for the large sum expended in
the aggregate over several years. 1t had
I H. hot he of
forestry there would be decline of people
but with the increase of forestry there
would be an increase of people. The gen
| tleman in charge of the Government nur-
series had done very good work and was
very painstaking. The session was ad-
vanced, yet he thought they would have
time to discuss the matter thoroughly
| The best methods of India and Germany
might be adopted and carried out for the
representation of the forests of Hawaii. He
+ would therefore suggest that the matter be
! referred TO a special committee, to report
this session Several of the members who
Had spoken were warmly interested in the
7 matter, and they would doubtless be able
to present a carefully prepared plan before
the close of the session. If they thought
| the time was too short for that, then let
the item be voted for as in the bill.
Hon Mr. Bishop said the matter was Of
general interest The cultivation of forest
trees will be for many years an expert
ment. What had been done in the past
by private persons, and at the public nur-
sery, was an experiment with foreign
trees and plants. The planting of native
forest trees had been sOfar failure. So that
beginning with forest trees it was a matter
of years Forest planting had been going
on at Lihue plantation, Kauai, for the
past seven years, under charge Of a skill
full German forester, with a number Of
assistants, who were constantly employed.
Many of the experiments there had been
failures He was disappointed when he
was there some time ago. The forester
had a great deal to learn, as he came here
to a different soil and climate from what
he had been accustomed TO. Mr.. Jaeger
had been living here Tor many years be
fore he took up forestry for the Govern
ment. He had had experience in his own
ground He has a fair knowledge OF
botany and tree planting, and had been as
good a man as could be got. There was
not sufficient time this session to consider
the matter Of bureau. The experiments
were going on prosperously, and he would